A continuation of the tractor thread. Went with an old crude Honda Atv as a backup to my Polaris. Well it’s old and crude, no doubt. It does run well tho. Changed the oil and spark plug first off. Judging by the plugs apparent age I then decided all the fluids should be changed. Two differentials and a transfer case. Fairly certain they were original fluids in those. Hard to say what those fluids once were, they did t look like a lubricant I ever saw LOL. Basically muck. I flushed all three while running with kerosene to get even more muck out. It’s better than thy were. Front differential was almost dry, bad seal I assume. I’ll watch everything for leaks. Tried engaging the Warn 424 drive system,,,,,now that I know what it is,,, it engaged but makes a clicking noise. Reading the web that night I noticed the OEM tire size. I knew they put larger tires on but originally the fronts were two inches smaller than the rear. Now they’re both 26” That’s not good, can’t do that with a 4wd. So I jacked up all tires off the ground and ran it. No clicking, runs nice, all four tires engaged. I was afraid the whole thing was torn to shreds in the front. Think I may as well try two new tires in the front,,,,or maybe rear, properly sized and see what happens. Took it a for a couple mile ride in the woods. damm it’s rough. Polaris is like a Cadillac in comparison. I’ve dropped the tire pressures down to 1lb and that’s better. These tires have sidewalls designed for a machine twice its weight. It won’t do anything better than the Polaris but it also doesn’t have a computer that decides when vacation time is
Darn computers; buddy has JD 65 horse tractor with a cab and AC radio.. it’s Nice Ye ole Kubota has none of it BUT it always starts and runs.. not so with John Deere computers..
Yeah I’m not sure what we’re really gaining by these computers having full control of a vehicle. Nice when they work but I have a female version,,,,sometimes she’s just not in the mood. 2 days ago I fired it up and it cleared its own codes and ran fine. I need to put some time on it and see if it conks out again. Scheduled to go in the shop on the 27th but if it’s not in limp mode it will be a waste of time. In this case the codes alone are useless.
Occurred to me that just running it in the air empty may not tell me the whole story. This is what I came up with for a way to put some pressure on the front drive line without the rear LOL Yeah just spinning on steel but it pulled pretty hard. No clicks, no gnashing of gears or splines. Think it’s still ok. The seals in the front differential leak, probably melted from the wrong size tires on there. It’s worth ordering two tires to see if the 4wd will work.
All too common...most people don't change their diff oils enough, especially after mudding/deep water. Honda calls for 80w-90 hypoid gear oil, but any 80-90 will be better than muck! For engine oil just 10w-40 motorcycle oil...or at least nothing synthetic, it has 2 wet clutches to keep happy. Keep the foam air cleaner clean and then spray it with foam filter oil, it gets sticky and does an excellent job of catching fine dust. I prefer the spray on oil, but the pour on oil is fine too, just more messy to apply. As for your tire size dilemma, you could try running something like 3-4 PSI in the front, and about double that in the rear...all you really need is to keep the ratio about the same as factory, about an inch taller in the rear than the front. If you push it by hand across dry pavement, you'll be able to tell when you have the ratio about right, it will push fairly easily, vs very hard when it's not right (4x4 engaged) Some of those aftermarket tires ride really bad, so stiff!
Another thing that is common is the rear wheel hubs not being kept lubed and tight on the axle...once they get dry n dirty (rusty) they start to work loose on the splines and will strip eventually. If they are cleaned and greased occasionally, then the nut retorqued every once in a while, they hold up just fine.
Yeah I read about the strict demand for hypoid gear oil. Went to Napa and the only one that said Hypoid was that Moly brand. Wasn’t sure if they actually put molybdenum disulfide in their gear oil,,,,,,wasn’t sure if that would be a good thing or not. All the other brands say in the directions they’re good for hypoid drives. I went with close enough LOL. After opening up those differentials I wasn’t concerned anymore. A kerosene bath didn’t even worry me anymore. These tires are stiff. Much stiffer than the bear claws on the Polaris and I thought they were tough. I recall when I began shopping for a used Atv back in 2018 all the used bikes had multiple plugs in multiple tires. I was under the impression little sticks would be popping tires like crazy. Maybe they’ve made them tougher since then? I’m down to 1lb in all the tires and they’re still stiff. Two cheap tires will cost about $130 plus someone to install them on the rims. YouTube makes it look easy but I’ve found it’s not as easy as they say The alternating air pressure may work with another set of tires on the front. Can you elaborate on the push method? Push it on tar in neutral and feel for resistance? Toy with the pressures till you lessen it? Also read about the splines giving out on the axle. Didn’t read anyone suggest cleaning, greasing and resnugging. There is a slight play in the rear somewhere. I’ll check that out. Thanks How tough are the seals in the front differential to replace? Should I assume bearings too?
Yep. Oh boy, it's been so long that I've done one, I can't really remember! I don't recall them being too terrible to work on. I would say you have about a 50/50 shot on the bearings being bad...front diffs usually hold up pretty well on those, but she does have some age on er now... If you have slop in the back, it could be from the hubs, axle/diff bearings, or swingarm pivot bearings.
The OEM tires were 2 ply, and responded to the slightest air pressure changes readily, they actually held up pretty well, but a good quality tire sealer was still always helpful too! Dang locust thorns! Those tires you have are probably 4 ply (6?) and MUCH stiffer than OEM!
4 wheel independent suspension makes a big difference in ride. I don't recall if the Honda has any adjustment on the suspension spring rate... I'd say no, but I'm not sure anymore
Nope no adjustments on the shocks. When I took it for a 2 mile jaunt through the woods at 4lbs of pressure it beat me up pretty good Dropped to 3lbs and felt maybe a touch better. Was gonna try 2lbs but decided last minute to go to one. That was noticeably better. Could probably pull the valve stems out and ride on flats. Machines just so light. The one nice thing about the solid rear axle is tongue weight doesn’t sag the machine. Usually not a problem with a properly loaded log arch but sometimes not everything is proper,,, Also the ground clearance is rated lower than the Polaris but even my fat azz lowers it. I thought I’d be hitting more rocks, so far it’s going over some that even the Polaris taps on. I did take the Polaris for a ride last night. Felt like flying an airplane.
I made the mistake of mounting 42lbs each tires on my grizzly. Completely changed the handling and ride. Stock had too much sidewall roll combined with the lean from IRS for me. It felt like a walrus in the corners. I fixed that with a stiff flat profile rear tire (mud wompers) but picked up a hundred pounds of unsprung weight in the process and turned catching a root or rock with the fronts into a dangerous affair for my wrists. I used that bike as a sport machine more than a work machine...shoulda bought a Raptor but hindsight and all.
My Polaris utility edition came with Kendra Bear Claws 25x12.5x12 (rear) No idea why their cheapish Atv version came with better tires than stock. They are a flatter profile tire than normal. I like the way they handle at speeds. On moderately packed gravel a little yank on the handlebars with the throttle opened up and they’ll power slide around corners nicely. Or rooster back and forth on the straights if you’re so inclined. At the same time they’ll grip and run straight if you’re not in the mood to play Looked it up, that size weighs 26lbs.
So today I decided to try the arch in front. I like it for light duty moving on flat ground, easier to see and maneuver. Not sure why I never tried it this way before,,,,. In the woods it’ll probably remain a pull maneuver. If it ever disconnected from the ball while pushing things would get exciting fast.
A note of appreciation brenndatomu. Yesterday afternoon I pulled the needle valves out of the front tires, reduced the air to zero. Put them back in a did a two mile loop in 4wd. No clicking, no gnashing all seems to be well. Not entirely sure what fixed what, whether it be the oil in the differentials or tire radius. Anyway you saved me a set of tires with your suggestions, Thanks.
