[BondoMan]

This thread will be my chronicle of preparation for, and travel to, Moab for a week of off-roading.

In a middle school library circa 1994 a younger version of me was thumbing through a copy of Peterson’s 4 Wheel & Off-Road. In it was an article for this thing called Easter Jeep Safari, chock full of pictures of rigs climbing over crazy obstacles in this otherworldly place called Moab, Utah. Younger me said “someday……”

Life happens and “someday” continued to be the mantra until late last fall. Some things happened that reinforced to me how fragile life is, and none of us know when our number will get pulled. Time to take my list of “somedays” and turn them into realities. Moab is one of the oldest so it’s one of the first to get crossed off.

Where I reside in the upper Midwest, off-road jeep access is few and far between, but there are plenty of atv/utv trails and my family off-roader is a 2021 Pro XP4. A Jeep was always the vehicle of choice for the trip, but an upfitted rzr isn’t much of a compromise. Being married to a teacher means trips happen at the holidays, during spring break of over summer. This plus existing schedules and commitments means we’re going early June. I’ve got time to prep the ride, but I also want a couple shakedown runs before making the 1,326 mile journey.

For starters, I installed turn signals and a horn to be on the way to street legal. You’ll also see a switch on the panel for the Halo disconnecting rear sway bar and the NRP lockout shifter.

Today I dug in and installed the snorkel gear retainer upgrade and Ace 325 + Ranger low gear reduction. Disassembly was straightforward outside of one stubborn axle and one of the trans drain plugs that was so tight I broke the Allen socket and ended up welding a 3/4” nut in to remove it. PSA to any Pro XP owners - Polaris uses a shit ton of green loctite to adhere the rear axles to the hub. It’s not bad removing them in the shop but I would not want to attempt it on the trail so “break the seal” and replace the loctite with never seize at home.

Time to crack the case and get to work! @Crash City SxS has some awesome YouTube videos that were great resources having never done this kind of project before. Poof! Just like that the new parts are installed and the case sealant curing overnight before filling and reinstalling.

One item worth noting, it looks like Polaris actually used some decent bearings in the trans.

Reassembly starts tomorrow and there are a number of other upgrades on the docket. More to come!

 

[Thestir]

We are doing a similar trip to the Rubicon Trail for the UTV Conquest in August. Just put my transmission in today after getting a gear reduction for the crawling, quality bearings, and Super Single reverse chain. I cheated though! Pulled the tranny and had ZFG UTV, PNW shop, do the internals. Only thing left to do for our trip is install my UHMW skid plate.

 

[Crash City SxS]

Awesome! Hope You have an awesome trip! We hope to get out west to ride one of these days!

 

[superjunior]

Same here, its on my bucket list of "someday.." My job doesnt let me just up and go when I want, I feel like my company will implode if I'm gone more then 3 or 4 days. Was supposed to go to WV this Thurs but probably cancelling due to weather. Not going to spend $700 in fuel and another $700 for the cabin to sit and watch it rain/snow for 4 days.

I really envy you guys that can pick up and leave for a couple weeks and go enjoy life. Ahh... someday.... 😐

 

[BondoMan]

We are doing a similar trip to the Rubicon Trail for the UTV Conquest in August. Just put my transmission in today after getting a gear reduction for the crawling, quality bearings, and Super Single reverse chain. I cheated though! Pulled the tranny and had ZFG UTV, PNW shop, do the internals. Only thing left to do for our trip is install my UHMW skid plate.

I think removal and reinstallation of the trans takes more time than the internal work. Depending on one’s time/desire, mechanical aptitude, work space and tools, I can see why many just send the trans out.

Rubicon will be awesome, be sure to post the trip with pics for us!

 

[Thestir]

Moab or Sand Hollow are on our bucket list. We pick one big trip per year for off road. We almost enjoy the planning and prep for the trips as much as the trips.

We do both events and just destinations.

Just sucks how has prices are.

@BondoMan, I pick my battles for RZR work. I usually do everything but in this case I was just lazy. Having the opportunity of a highly regarded local shop go through, inspect and make sure everything was right inside the transmission was worth it to me because I don't plan on being inside it again lol.

 

[UTV Obsessions]

Enjoy your trip. We were fortunate enough to go to moab for the kids spring break in 2019. Had a great time. It was also the first real trip we did with our RZR. We’ve since purchased a new RZR and made many upgrades. Moab is a wonderful time with so much to see. Enjoy your trip.

 

[BondoMan]

Moab or Sand Hollow are on our bucket list. We pick one big trip per year for off road. We almost enjoy the planning and prep for the trips as much as the trips.

We do both events and just destinations.

Just sucks how has prices are.

@BondoMan, I pick my battles for RZR work. I usually do everything but in this case I was just lazy. Having the opportunity of a highly regarded local shop go through, inspect and make sure everything was right inside the transmission was worth it to me because I don't plan on being inside it again lol.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned to pick my battles. I haven’t been able to release the grip on my vehicles and toys, but remodeling, landscaping and such are all hired out now.

 

[BondoMan]

Same here, its on my bucket list of "someday.." My job doesnt let me just up and go when I want, I feel like my company will implode if I'm gone more then 3 or 4 days. Was supposed to go to WV this Thurs but probably cancelling due to weather. Not going to spend $700 in fuel and another $700 for the cabin to sit and watch it rain/snow for 4 days.

I really envy you guys that can pick up and leave for a couple weeks and go enjoy life. Ahh... someday.... 😐

Nothing worse than making plans and then Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate!

 

[superjunior]

Nothing worse than making plans and then Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate!

I hear ya, shoulda known better then plan a trip in early April..

 

[Thestir]

As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned to pick my battles. I haven’t been able to release the grip on my vehicles and toys, but remodeling, landscaping and such are all hired out now.

Yeah, it will sound funny, but I would not want anyone to pull and install my transmission! Yet I had some do the internals…

How are you aligning the clutches? I used the Hunterworks tool and it made it stupid simple.

Looking forward to what else your doing, may have to move Moab up the ol’ bucket list!

 

[Acaywood]

I’ve never been to off-road on that weekend but have driven through. The crowds are unreal. There’s plenty of good times to be had just make sure the crowds are accounted for in planning the activities and trails.

 

[DaGoat]

I think removal and reinstallation of the trans takes more time than the internal work.

I’m sure there are a couple of Polaris engineers laughing it up right now 😁
Fairly easy to unbolt everything , but finding that sweet spot to physically get the transmission out of the chassis was challenging 🤪

 

[Crash City SxS]

I’m sure there are a couple of Polaris engineers laughing it up right now 😁
Fairly easy to unbolt everything , but finding that sweet spot to physically get the transmission out of the chassis was challenging 🤪

That sweet spot always seems to change too. Even on the same model🤣🤣🤣

 

[BondoMan]

Yeah, it will sound funny, but I would not want anyone to pull and install my transmission! Yet I had some do the internals…

How are you aligning the clutches? I used the Hunterworks tool and it made it stupid simple.

Looking forward to what else your doing, may have to move Moab up the ol’ bucket list!

I bought the hunterworks tool to align the clutches. Good to hear it’s simple!

I’m not going too wild on mods, at least no portals and 37s or anything like that, but am making some changes that increase rock crawling abilities while not losing too much of the trail capability it already has. And hopefully I’ll be preventing any breakdowns too.

 

[BondoMan]

I’m sure there are a couple of Polaris engineers laughing it up right now 😁
Fairly easy to unbolt everything , but finding that sweet spot to physically get the transmission out of the chassis was challenging 🤪

To follow the service manual you have to drain the coolant, remove a list of motor parts and disassemble half the ass end of the car to get the trans out. I found a 30mm deep impact socket holding up the back of the motor, combined with some colorful language, was enough to save that hassle

I was worried about the primary removal after watching what @Crash City SxS went though in a couple of his vids. Had the wonder bread ready to go, but it popped right off without any fuss. My impact must be bigger

 

[Thestir]

I bought the hunterworks tool to align the clutches. Good to hear it’s simple!

I’m not going too wild on mods, at least no portals and 37s or anything like that, but am making some changes that increase rock crawling abilities while not losing too much of the trail capability it already has. And hopefully I’ll be preventing any breakdowns too.

I love the idea of a jack of all trails build. We can only afford one rig so doing the same.

 

[Acaywood]

Same here, its on my bucket list of "someday.." My job doesnt let me just up and go when I want, I feel like my company will implode if I'm gone more then 3 or 4 days. Was supposed to go to WV this Thurs but probably cancelling due to weather. Not going to spend $700 in fuel and another $700 for the cabin to sit and watch it rain/snow for 4 days.

I really envy you guys that can pick up and leave for a couple weeks and go enjoy life. Ahh... someday.... 😐

its not the implosions don’t happen, it’s just that we can watch the chaos as well remotely as we can on-site.

 

[BondoMan]

Made a little progress on the front tonight, tearing down the drivers side. The upper stock ball joint already had some slop in it, the bottom was still tight. Limit straps, tie rods, brake pads and ball joint install on the way!

Not sure how I did it but I boogered up one of the output radial seals on the trans so I ordered a new one. Figured I’d wait to install the trans until the new seal is in so I don’t f*k that one up too

 

[BondoMan]

Still waiting on the seal to arrive (looks like a usps issue) so I buttoned up the front today.

Here’s the drivers side. LM ball joints, L&W tie rods, Rhino 2.0 axles, Sandcraft limit straps and EBC R series pads. The original pads had about 50% life remaining in front and maybe 30% in the rear so I just replaced them all. Not visible in the pic are the Sandcraft drain plugs in the diff. The sway bar is in for now but will come out before the trip to Moab. I’ve waffled on upgrading the diff, but I’m leaning about 60/40 on just leaving it for now. These upgrades should get me up and down obstacles with a lower risk of breakage. The eibach springs were set at ~15” clearance in front on stock tires, so I should be about 16” with the 32s.

The passenger side axle fought me coming out of the diff and I had to bust out the slide hammer. I used very generous amounts of anti-seize on the new axles.

I set one of the zillas in place just to see how it looks. 🤤

And finally, I wired up rock and fog lights in front. The fogs were $90 scratch and dent of eBay that I disassembled and wrapped the lenses with yellow film. Two of the rock lights are visible on either side of the fairlead.