# Need advise on full time 4x4 ATV



## reagan (Nov 2, 2004)

I am buying my first 4x4 ATV, the ATV I am looking to get stays in four wheel drive all the time. People have told me to stay away from the full time 4x4 and get a push button 4x4 instead where I can engadge it when needed.What do you think ? they say the main difference is when you try to turn it. Thanks Reagan


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## Old Whaler (Sep 6, 2005)

Don't get a full time 4wd. Turning is a pain. Get a push button. I have a Kawasaki Prairie 300 full time and wish I'd never bought it. Also, go with a Honda. I thought I would use 4wd more often, but I think you'll find you will use it less than 20% of the tim.


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## asolde (May 22, 2004)

*True*

When you try to turn your ATV when you are in four wheel drive it is harder, You should look at an ATV that you can engage or disengage four wheel drive when you want to. I have a polaris sportsman 500 HO.


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## Hobiecat (Jun 21, 2006)

*4X4 help*

You want to have the option of choosing when you are in 4wd. Don't need it enjoy the extra pep of 2wd. Think about what all you are going to do with the 4whlr. If you are going to haul anything that has weight to it you will probably want to look at a solid axle. You give up some softness in the ride but make up for it in performance. The independent rear suspension will squat when it get loaded and you will lose what you originally thought was extra ground clearance. I have had Kawasaki in the past and now have a Honda Rubicon. Wouldn't take for the power and smoothness of the Honda transmission. The ESP (electronic shift) and fully automatic (low and high) gives you the best of all worlds

Just my opinion.


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## redlegg (Jan 31, 2005)

Hobiecat said:


> You want to have the option of choosing when you are in 4wd. Don't need it enjoy the extra pep of 2wd. Think about what all you are going to do with the 4whlr. If you are going to haul anything that has weight to it you will probably want to look at a solid axle. You give up some softness in the ride but make up for it in performance. The independent rear suspension will squat when it get loaded and you will lose what you originally thought was extra ground clearance. I have had Kawasaki in the past and now have a Honda Rubicon. Wouldn't take for the power and smoothness of the Honda transmission. The ESP (electronic shift) and fully automatic (low and high) gives you the best of all worlds
> 
> Just my opinion.


Are you saying your bike has selectable 4x4?

I also have a Rubicon, it's full time 4x4, I say bow up, my lil boy rides a 97 model 300 4x4 and he never complains about it being hard to steer. Both bikes have 6 ply tires which helps.


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## reagan (Nov 2, 2004)

The ATV I am looking to buy is the Arctic Cat 400VP it does not have a selectable four wheel drive, it stays in four wheel drive all the time. It has the solid rear axle with shocks and I will use it for trail riding,I just don,t want to have problems turning it at low or high speed.


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## TimOub007 (Jun 10, 2005)

I also agree that selectable is better. I riden a 10 year old Polaris very hard and it had treated me very well.

There is an aftermarket thing-a-majigy that you can get to make a full time 4wd ATV selectable. Take a look at this:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0020826521357a&navCount=1&podId=0020826&parentId=cat20161&navAction=jump&cmCat=MainCatcat21412&catalogCode=IG&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20161&hasJS=true


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## Redfishr (Jul 26, 2004)

I have a full time 4x4 and a selectable 4x4 and I cant see any differece in ride or turning on mine.
I use the full time one more and its a little slower than the selectable but I dont have them to race with.
The full time one gets me to where I want or need to go to hunt and thats all that counts.
Either way in my oppinion.


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## Viking48 (Jan 24, 2006)

I have a Honda full time 4X4 and don't have any trouble turning it whereas a friend of mine has a 2 wheel drive Suzuki and I can turn rings around him. Biggest difference is he has a straight axle and mine has a differential. Also, his was even worse before he put new tires with decent tread on it. I don't need 4 wheel drive very often where I go but glad to have it when I need it and it doesn't bother me that it's on all the time. I might feel differently if I had selectable to compare to but no complaints as it is. Also, you can't go wrong with a Honda - had mine for12 years and it still fires on first push of the starter and had given me virtually no problems over the years.


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## TOP FLIGHT (Jun 10, 2005)

Old Whaler said:


> Don't get a full time 4wd. Turning is a pain. Get a push button. I have a Kawasaki Prairie 300 full time and wish I'd never bought it. Also, go with a Honda. I thought I would use 4wd more often, but I think you'll find you will use it less than 20% of the tim.


To each his own, just curious, What don't you like about the Kawa? In your opinion, why would the Honda be better?

I haven't had any problems out of my Prairie 700, other than the battery.

I wouldn't even consider full time 4 wheel drive. Where is the benefit? If you ever decide to get larger tires you will be sorry.

My 2c


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## Old Whaler (Sep 6, 2005)

I got a sweet deal on the Kawasaki from a friend. It had been used very little, but the carb was so fouled up it had to be replaced. I have owned Honda's, Suzuki's and now the Kawasaki. The Honda's just seem to be better built. My Father-in-law has a Honda Recon and it is just solid. My Kawasaki will go through just about anything, but I use it a lot for moving boats and trailers and the full-time 4wd is a pain.


TOP FLIGHT said:


> To each his own, just curious, What don't you like about the Kawa? In your opinion, why would the Honda be better?
> 
> I haven't had any problems out of my Prairie 700, other than the battery.
> 
> ...


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## TOP FLIGHT (Jun 10, 2005)

300 is full time... Didn't know that. I see what you mean. The 360 now has selectable 4X4.


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## Quackerbox (Feb 6, 2006)

I have an 01 honda rubicon it came a full time 4x4 but I added a warn 424 disconnect and that thing is worth its weight in gold. Put that machine in 2x4 and it will spin the 26" mudlites that are on it on pavement!!

I've only owned hondas WILL NEVER OWN ANYTHING ELSE my rubi's got right at 1500 miles on it. Performed flawlessly from south texas to 10,000 feet snow covered mountain tops in Colorado


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## bullred123 (Apr 16, 2005)

I have a full time 4x4 honda rancher don't have any problems turning mine.......get what you are happy with they will let you ride them then you decide..... good luck with your new purchase.


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## williamcr (Aug 8, 2006)

Selectable is better then full time. It is very hard to turn a machine that is true four wheel drive that is locked in all the time. The Polaris will let you select and all wheel drive function and what this means is it will go into true 4 wheel drive (meaning the front lock in and does not slip when the back tires have turned 1/3 revolution and the front tires did not move), in essence it will go to 4X4 when the back tires slip. And then when there is no slippage it will go back to 2 wheel drive. The BRP or as they are called now Can-am has a Visco-lock system which works very similar both are good machines.


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## Ag96 (Feb 17, 2006)

Quackerbox said:


> I have an 01 honda rubicon it came a full time 4x4 but I added a warn 424 disconnect and that thing is worth its weight in gold.


How hard was the 424 to install? I am thinking about adding one of these to my Rancher.


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## Quackerbox (Feb 6, 2006)

Ag96 said:


> How hard was the 424 to install? I am thinking about adding one of these to my Rancher.


Pretty easy if you can do something like brakes and rotors its a snap. Getting the factory one out is easy, putting the new one in is kind of tricky. You have to take the front case loose from the frame, its almost as if the 424 is about 1/4 inch longer than the factory I had to take a rachet strap and pull the diff foward with that so that it would hold it then slide the 424 in, and then let the diff slide back to it original position. Other than that getting the cable adjusted which took a while its like you have to break in the locker, sometimes if my bike sits for a week or so in 2x4 when I lock into 4x4 I have to go into reverse for a few feet and then pull the unlocker back into 4x2. From what I've read its normal.

Its pretty straight foward.....if you do it and run into problems PM and I'll see what I can do for ya. Its worth the 240 bucks I paid easy!!!!


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## Ag96 (Feb 17, 2006)

Sweet thanks for the response and offer of help...much appreciated.


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## twdjr (May 8, 2005)

redlegg said:


> Are you saying your bike has selectable 4x4?
> 
> I also have a Rubicon, it's full time 4x4, I say bow up, my lil boy rides a 97 model 300 4x4 and he never complains about it being hard to steer. Both bikes have 6 ply tires which helps.


The 06 Rubicons have TraxLox selectable 2/4 wheel drive.


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