Congrats on the new ride... The AWD mode engages when it senses the rear axles are loosing traction, if it doesn't sense traction loss it doesn't engage...

 

appreciate the reply. should I worry about that growl? it is not like anything is grinding together, but it is enough that I notice the noise and the pull in the steering

 

My 2012 xp4 awd growls also. I think that there is something wrong. Sometimes my awd won't disengage unless I stop and put it in park and then back in gear.

 

I have the same issue with mine. ive talked to my dealer and will be taking it back in when i get home. I use mine at work 7 days a week and is tought to be without it. and im in west Pennsylvania and havent found a dealer im comfortable with taking mine too. i should have mine in to the shop sometime mid next month to find out whats going on. its cretainly not supposed to be like this. LoL

 

The growl is normal from what i can tell. Mine does it, my bros does it, and a friend of mine does it as well. We all have 2012 XP4 LE

 

Regarding the growl...there's a fairly long shaft stretching from the transmission (behind the rear seats) to the front differential. The shaft also rides through a carrier bearing under the floor board (pull the rear access panel and look between the skid plate and the front end of the car and you'll see it) just behind the front row seats.

Two things: 1) When shafts rotate through joints at uneven angles a vibration will likely occur. I don't remember all the physics behind this but practical experience in lifted 4WD vehicles reminds me of this. 2) I have no experience with carrier bearings but it seems to me like a shaft rotating through one right below your arse might make you wonder what's going on down there.

My disclaimer...I'm no expert here. I'm a newbie to the XP4 myself and have only put 3 miles on mine so far.

 

that sounds reasonable, and it would make sense that under a load such as accelerating on a hill or whatever would just amplify that. looking through various posts here it doesnt sound like there are a multitude of problems with front dif, driveline, or carriers.

 

Ran my XP4 900 LE through the Silver Lake sand dunes last week (for the first time). Engaged AWD and I can definetely tell when the front tires kick in. I feel it in the steering wheel and feel it in the floor boards. A slight growl/vibration is heard as well.

By the end of the day I was going wide open full throttle up dunes with the AWD kicking in hard and didn't have any problems.

 

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I'm not sure anyone here can really respond to this, but I think the 4WD activation system on most RZRs is really poor. First off, it doesn't kick in until you needed it just before then. In other words, your rear tires have already lost traction before getting any help.

Second, when the front comes into play, there has to be some jolt, or stress on parts, as the rears are already spinning when the fronts are possibly not moving at all and have to engage.

Third, when descending a hill, the front will not hold back unless you accelerate slightly. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Just so you know, I mostly bought my RZR for health reasons. I'm not saying it doesn't look great and is sporty, just that, to me, the 4WD is not a very good feature in its design.

GJRonK

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I agree with the fact that the 4wd doesn't engage right when you flip the switch but mine doesn't engage when it spins it waits until I am usually going slow and it's under no load. You guys make it sound like yours engages while you're spinning and then disengages once you've stopped spinning even with the switch in 4wd. Mine will never engage while spinning the rear wheels and once mine engages 4wd it's always locked in 4wd whether I stop, backup, cruise slow, or run 70mph. I've never felt it disengage or re-engage after the first time I flip the switch. Am I misunderstanding your posts.

 

you are misunderstanding.

when you flip the switch, the AWD will not turn on until you are below a certain RPM/load level.

the front wheel drive only engages after the rears have spun.

my 570 also does the crazy howling/light vibration. at least i'm not alone. i also believe it is a bad design...part of the reason i bought an extended warranty. simple fixes says engaging half a drivetrain at higher rpms causes a much heavier shock load then it ramping up from idle. kinda like a 5 speed racecar with a 7k clutch dump.

 

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It's a little murky when 4WD actually disengages, but it's set up so it will only engage after the rears have spun 1/5 of a revolution in relation to the fronts. This is if your 4WD switch is in the on position.

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the awd drive is a hilliard clutch design. the ecu will only let it engage once the rpms are below a certain level. What happens is that an electric current is sent to the front diff which energizes a magnet and creates drag on the armature plate. this in turn twists the bearing carrier which forces the roller bearings to bite into the drive shafts. It is all actually smooth bearings being pressed against a smooth surface on the axle. No teeth have to mesh or anything like that. the ring and pinion are always spinning in your front diff whether you have awd engaged or not.

The way the system works is it will not let your front tires turn slower than your rear tires but they can go faster. think of a ratchet, it is one way.

A good way to understand how it works is to lift up your machine on jackstands so all 4 tires are off the ground. start it up and run it in awd. all four tires will spin. You can grab a front tire and spin it faster. It will go faster than all the other tires, once it slows down to the same speed as the rears it will lock in again and stay that speed. This is why the awd system does not make it harder to steer.

 

The hillard clutch is also the reason you don't have 4 wheel engine braking. This also allows you to steer the machine because there is actually a hillard for each front wheel.
Pipefitter's description of how it works is right. Nothing is engaging at different RPMs...
Polaris has used this set up (Demand Drive) ,in one form or another, since their first 4x4 quads in the 80s.
It works good, not too complicated & not too expensive to repair if necasary, unlike some of the other systems out there.
Mine growls too. I also looked at the propshaft & atribbuted it to that.
Rock on!

 

Just to clarify the AWD system will not be ACTIVE if the switch is turned on while the engine is above 3100 RPM..ie you won't see the AWD icon on the display and the front drive will not engage. One the RPM drops below 3100 the icon comes on and the AWD can engage with no RPM or speed limit. The RPM limit is only for initial activation when the switch is turned on this is to keep it from engaging while the rear tires are spinning. If the switch is on and the icon is present there is no RPM limit.

Also the AWD growl under load is pretty typical for the XPs. And while it's not a perfect system IMO it engages quickly enough that most can't detect the rear tires slipping prior to engagement..that's probably what the system does best lol.

 

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Also the AWD growl under load is pretty typical for the XPs. And while it's not a perfect system IMO it engages quickly enough that most can't detect the rear tires slipping prior to engagement..that's probably what the system does best lol.

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Unfortunately, the spinning of the rear tires every time 4WD comes into play also means that the trail gets torn up some every time--in my view--unnecessarily. Plus, it means more unnecessary wear on the rear tires. Not even counting how, in my case, it tore up my tailgate when the rear tires spun trying to force the front wheels over the rear wheel hump inside the p.u. bed.

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Most of my experience has been with Polaris or Yamaha. I do know that the '07 Grizzly I had was near perfect. No spin needed to engage to either partial lock or, with the flip of a lever, 4 wheel lock. Much less unnecessary spin in everything from loading on a trailer to climbing rocks to loose dirt hills. Plus, downhill had all those choices.

It's hard to like anything less than that.

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I hear ya..but what I dont like about that system is the need to choose diff lock to get all wheels to pull..partial lock is 3 wheel drive basically..when do you engage diff lock..im betting often its after spinning in partial lock..since people dont want to deal with the stiff steering they will try partial lock first..sure with some experience guys know when to choose what..but have you never tried partial lock then decided it wasnt enough after spinning and switched to full? Then as said in full lock unless you travel in a straight line you are tearing up the trail..I'm not putting down you preference in systems..we all have our opinons..just think the trail damage thing is uncalled for..that's all we need is some activist citing a complaint from an owner about the AWD system being a trail destroyer lol. I try to take care of the land myself..but if the type of AWD system comes into the equation maybe we just shouldnt be riding. I think we can all find something to complain about...with any of them systems.

 

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I've been off-road a lot. It's never a problem with full lock. If my front was going to have one wheel in the air--I went to full lock. Once beyond, I would flip one thumb switch in 1/2 second and, bingo, I was in three wheel drive. Never a problem figuring out what to do. Never. Choice is good. With Polaris, you have much less choice. No question. No comparison.

This is based on the presumption that you know how to ride off road. Many people don't really know why they should be doing certain things. In that case, the dumbed down Polaris system is probably better.

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So all that off road expertise told you that climbing over the wheel wells was risking the rear tires getting more bite on the flat tailgate right? I guess you ignored that knowledge had to be the machines fault. ..guess it wasn't dumbed down enough lol.
I'm just giving you crap..you prefer a different system...I won't say it's perfect in my book either. Just don't think the way it engages is bad at all..I can tell you think it caused you a bad experience and you have a sour taste..

 

The diff basically works like a Detroit locker and only allows wheels to speed up when turning. Why would you ever want it fully locked?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

One thing other than the no front engine braking that I'm not crazy about is the fact that the front and rear have to be geared at different ratios..this causes the rear to have to always push the front..even after the front is engaged the front tires turn slower than the rear..this is kind of what Ron was talking about I think..I still don't think it would have mattered much if any in a over the wheel well loading situation where the fronts likely have a lot less traction than the rear..but in certain situation where all tires have equal loss of traction it can cause a performance difference that say a machine that pulls with all 4 at the same speed like Visco QE for instance..hard to explain but after riding ATVs with both systems on the same terrain the QE all four pulling the same speed (but still allows one front to turn faster for steering) has a more controlled and capable feel in certain situations. I definitely wouldn't want all 4 locked, as in a true diff lock, without PS..And obviously even with PS it would need to be turned on and off as you need it..locked machines don't steer very well regardless of whether you can easily turn the wheel just by nature of the tires turning the same speed..as I'm sure you know.

 

Good explanation I can now see how it would be nicer to have. For the riding I do most of the time the front end works fine but on certain occasions front engine braking would be nice for me. I have seen someone on here replace the roller cage with a solid piece and weld it all together but that would lock it full time.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

Newbie question, should I leave on a ride already in AWD or shift to it once I need it?

 

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If it's in AWD, it will only activate with front wheels pulling AFTER you need it anyway. So you might as well leave the switch in AWD all the time as it's only running in 2WD.

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The one place you guys left out is that the polaris system really sucks is that it does not work in reverse. If you get stuck going forward in 4x you reeally need 4x in reverse. I will say going forward it works really good, not too much feed back and still keeps you going forward even if the person driving wouldn't know when to lock in the front dif.

 

The one place you guys left out is that the polaris system really sucks is that it does not work in reverse. If you get stuck going forward in 4x you reeally need 4x in reverse. I will say going forward it works really good, not too much feed back and still keeps you going forward even if the person driving wouldn't know when to lock in the front dif.

If your AWD isnt working in reverse something is wrong with your machine...it's supposed to work in reverse.

I can't say for sure on this machine, I've only had it for a few days haven't even gotten the tires dirty. but on my 02 6x sportsman that's the way it was and this sounds like it works the same.

 

So your saying no 4wd in reverse?

 

Just got done reading this whole thread, WOW some of the stuff people come up with.

Face it people, no machine is perfect. What may be great for some, sucks for others.

Fully locked 4wd? no thanks, great for very technical rock crawling, but who wants to fight understeer ever time you come to a corner? Stop and back up alittle and re-steer as someone said? What fun would that be? That would be more annoying than sitting on your trailer while everyone else rides.

Annoyed that the rears have to spin before the front grabs? Its1/5th of a tire rotation. Its not like your tires are wildy spinning away and it just slams in gear.

Everything is this world today is built to make things easier. That why everything is automatic. Most of us dont want a bunch of different switches we have to flip to go from 1wd (turf mode) to 2wd to 3wd (4x4 with an open front diff) to 4wd.

Its a point and shoot machine, and I like it that way.

 

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KSM,

You have some problems with your thinking. 4WD lock is NOT annoying. If it's on a vehicle that has that option (like Yamahas), it is there only when you want and need it--like rock crawling. Most people will just not need the capability except rarely.

Yes it is a problem when your rears have to spin 1/5 of a turn before the fronts engage. It means you lose momentum, traction, and you tear up the approach to an obstacle. You wouldn't know this if you were a newbie to off-road driving, of course.

Perhaps you are just too mechanically challenged to be able to move a switch to get the exact drive mode you want, but most people want some choice. For people like you that are too lazy to push a switch, then, yes, having something as simple as the poorly designed Polaris drive system is easier.

The majority of riders, I suspect, like the RZRs because of the size, sportiness, and nimbleness of ride/handling, not because of the drive system. Few are entralled by the quality of workmanship.

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Wow, quiet a thread you all have going here. To address causes of the growling. The way the ring / pinion depth is maintained in a Hilliard is with an adjustable wear plate. I recently replaced mine and about 30 miles later it began to growl in AWD. The wear plate had apparently worn in because it was way out of adjustment. This might be something to check out for the guy's with newer rides that are growling.

My.02 on the Hilliard vs. standard systems is this. The Hilliard is as good as anything out there and, as stated, anything is better than Can Ams little system. I've had the front differential apart on some standard systems and the Hilliard. The way the locker works on say the Arctic Cat system is scary fragile looking. The plastic cage on the Hilliard is only sufficient for stock HP and sensible users. Neither is perfect but having owned and seen the guts of both, I'd take the Hilliard any day.

If you've ever wondered what's in there, here you go:

https://stealth4x4portal.com/files/Front Differential Manual.pdf

 

the newer rzr the cage is now aluminum and if you awd is working good you will never notice the tire slip face it you just dont like it so in your mind its junk... all in all it is the best out their for a sxs as of today... i have had my rzr in sand mud rocks and it has never let me down works perfect even with a tire or two in the air cant say that with some of the otheir sxs out their a tire comes off your stuck... as to loading in your truck i did that for 2 years and never had a problem never spun a tire put in low ride the brake some and it goes right in... maby you need to learn throttle control better????

 

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I stand by everything I said in my whole post. For example, to repeat myself: "The majority of riders, I suspect, like the RZRs because of the size, sportiness, and nimbleness of ride/handling, not because of the drive system. Few are entralled by the quality of workmanship."

But you do what makes you happy, I don't care.

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.......not because of the drive system.


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How many people reading this thread would (and did) pick The RZR over the Can-Am because of Can-Ams visco loc 4wd system?

I picked the RZR over the Commander just because Ive seen videos of both and one of the places I want to ride (tuttle creek ORV) the RZR 4wd sysytem is much better suited for. Way to easy there to get one wheel off the ground when climbing.

Stand by words if you want to. All Im saying is the Polaris sysytem is not junk. (to me) Like I said before, whats great in someones eyes is junk in anothers. But I didnt come in here and post that someone must be fat, dumb and lazy because they have a differing opinion.

 

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I never said you were fat.

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