Posted on another thread but maybe this helps others that are new. As much help as I had from people like Eric at Rockstar, Dan at LSR, Bill at Jagged, Dale at Dirty Dawg, Daniel at Turner etc it still comes down to you have to be responsible for managing your own car...imo. I'm not saying I have all or any of the "secrets" but this is what I've learned so far.............So my experience is anything can wear out or break.....not every issue is directly related to racing. Some of the issues non racers have I've had and other issues haven't been a problem at all. So here are the things I believe are random or related to the specific car since Polaris QC is all over the place. This is what we experienced after a little more than a year of racing the car. 2600mi
NOTE: The cage was built by LSR. Being new the first thing I did was roll the car 3 times in my first race....a record I don't expect will be broken anytime soon. Once was at 70+ mph so I can't stress how important the cage is. The only thing I would add that might be helpful to others so you don't break my record is be careful on high speed silt roads and if you get in trouble hit the throttle not the brakes!
Carrier bearing - no issues
Stator - replaced one believe it was just random
Voltage Regulator - no issues
Electronic steering and throttle - no issues
Drive Line - no issues but a little floppy after a year of racing so replaced u joints with Koyo greaseable
Exhaust - no issues
ECU - no issues
Radiator/fan and cooling system - no issues
Motor no issues....one fuel injector (MTBE fuel related) and replaced fuel rail before it leaked (preventative)
Transmission - no issues but changed the bearings to Ceramic and 200 miles lost the input bearing. Changed to Koyo bearings and no issues after 350 mi. Installed Air Dam clutch support brace (I think a good idea to take the load off the bearing)
Front Diff - Changed sprague and springs
Rear bearing carriers - no issues
Front spindles - no issues
Wheel bearings has been a crap shoot. Brand new Oem sometimes not tight so I only use Koyo from All Balls. Less expensive and seem to be better quality. I check wheel movement frequently and surprisingly with all the silt etc they seem to last a while but its random. Every now and then I get a wobbler.
Wicked Bilt steering box has not been a problem and I like the heavy duty rod ends. I drill the spindle out to 1/2" and use a plain old grade 8 bolt. Never broke a bolt and doubt I ever will. The new ends are 3/4" so I use a 3/4 x 1/2' brass bushing so I don't have to drill the spindle out to 3/4". That just sounds too big but might have enough meat still.....idk.
Axles are always an issue. Turner are heavy axles and maybe not necessary for desert car. However, the cv is heavy duty too which is the reason I use them and support is local here in Houston. Turner changed the grease they use and seems to be ok. However, if you thrash the car and the cv is working hard at a steep angle I'm not sure if there is a cv that will last under those conditions.
Clutch - no problems just replace springs every race or every other race. Dirty Dawg has been great help. Running a bilge blower helps in slow speed silt but imo the best cooling is the Starting Line 2" grommet screens to vent out the heat. We have air intake high on the roof of the car and it blows crazy air without a light bar. The air flow over the roof seems to start at about 3-4" above the deck so anything low isn't going to catch much air.....at least on our car. We use Gates C-12 belts and unless we smoke one driving in high when we should be in low then they last a race. Using a clutch alignment tool helps too.
Lone Star suspension haven't bent anything except when I rolled the car. On all 4 wheels no issues. The Spherical take a pounding and the uniballs need to be checked but they last a good while. Control arms Delrin bushings are good.
Attachment points- we have weld washers on the chassis at all the attachment points that we can including the radius rods to the chassis. We also have 12 mm bolts wherever we can. 12.9 grade and don't have to change them like we did the 10.9 grade10mm. I was seeing bolts bent after most races but never broke one. Still a pain in the ass to change all the bolts every race.
Sway bar we have is Shock Therapy and works good but sheared off the attachment plate on the chassis. We use a UTV Inc support to keep it from flexing back and forth. A bitch to install the clamps but it can be done. We need to shim the sway bar clamps because they were putting too much pressure on the neoprene bushing and the bar was too tight. Now we have to take the bar off to grease it. Don't like this. If you have access thru the firewall then it wouldn't be so bad. I THINK THE REINFORCING THE SWAY BAR ATTACHMENT TO THE CAR IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY OR IT WILL BREAK OFF EVENTUALLY. Utv Inc part is an easy bolt on fix. This is the second time I've said it and I don't even have a sticker out of the deal but I think it works.
Front Sway bar reduces body roll. Nelson and Nelson works good but there are others......LSR I think has one.
Skid Plate- We almost put a rock thru our trans so we installed a 3/16" hardened steel plate over the vitals. Heavier than plastic or alum but I never worry about rocks down the middle of the car. With a lesser plate it dented into the factory support and almost pushed it into the trans. Just the impact on the skid plate transferred into the factory plate then into the trans case could jack up your trans imo.
Wheels- Used Sti and they are junk! Changed to Method and they are a great value and racer quality for a good price.
Brakes- no issues other than don't buy cheapo brake pads. Rocky Mountain has good pads for 50% of the cost of OEM. The biggest factor with pads is the abrasive silt wearing them out not stopping the car.
Shocks - Still working on the Fox 2.5 and 3.0 internal bypass. No way they work right out of the box but way better than stock Walker Evans set up but not being in love with our set up I can't say what the answer is. I know some like the WE after rework. Radflo also has some good reviews.
I'm sure I miss a lot of stuff but thats what this Joe Schmo has experienced......don't know if it helps. I'm by no means an expert but I've learned a lot and still learning.
NOTE: The cage was built by LSR. Being new the first thing I did was roll the car 3 times in my first race....a record I don't expect will be broken anytime soon. Once was at 70+ mph so I can't stress how important the cage is. The only thing I would add that might be helpful to others so you don't break my record is be careful on high speed silt roads and if you get in trouble hit the throttle not the brakes!
Carrier bearing - no issues
Stator - replaced one believe it was just random
Voltage Regulator - no issues
Electronic steering and throttle - no issues
Drive Line - no issues but a little floppy after a year of racing so replaced u joints with Koyo greaseable
Exhaust - no issues
ECU - no issues
Radiator/fan and cooling system - no issues
Motor no issues....one fuel injector (MTBE fuel related) and replaced fuel rail before it leaked (preventative)
Transmission - no issues but changed the bearings to Ceramic and 200 miles lost the input bearing. Changed to Koyo bearings and no issues after 350 mi. Installed Air Dam clutch support brace (I think a good idea to take the load off the bearing)
Front Diff - Changed sprague and springs
Rear bearing carriers - no issues
Front spindles - no issues
Wheel bearings has been a crap shoot. Brand new Oem sometimes not tight so I only use Koyo from All Balls. Less expensive and seem to be better quality. I check wheel movement frequently and surprisingly with all the silt etc they seem to last a while but its random. Every now and then I get a wobbler.
Wicked Bilt steering box has not been a problem and I like the heavy duty rod ends. I drill the spindle out to 1/2" and use a plain old grade 8 bolt. Never broke a bolt and doubt I ever will. The new ends are 3/4" so I use a 3/4 x 1/2' brass bushing so I don't have to drill the spindle out to 3/4". That just sounds too big but might have enough meat still.....idk.
Axles are always an issue. Turner are heavy axles and maybe not necessary for desert car. However, the cv is heavy duty too which is the reason I use them and support is local here in Houston. Turner changed the grease they use and seems to be ok. However, if you thrash the car and the cv is working hard at a steep angle I'm not sure if there is a cv that will last under those conditions.
Clutch - no problems just replace springs every race or every other race. Dirty Dawg has been great help. Running a bilge blower helps in slow speed silt but imo the best cooling is the Starting Line 2" grommet screens to vent out the heat. We have air intake high on the roof of the car and it blows crazy air without a light bar. The air flow over the roof seems to start at about 3-4" above the deck so anything low isn't going to catch much air.....at least on our car. We use Gates C-12 belts and unless we smoke one driving in high when we should be in low then they last a race. Using a clutch alignment tool helps too.
Lone Star suspension haven't bent anything except when I rolled the car. On all 4 wheels no issues. The Spherical take a pounding and the uniballs need to be checked but they last a good while. Control arms Delrin bushings are good.
Attachment points- we have weld washers on the chassis at all the attachment points that we can including the radius rods to the chassis. We also have 12 mm bolts wherever we can. 12.9 grade and don't have to change them like we did the 10.9 grade10mm. I was seeing bolts bent after most races but never broke one. Still a pain in the ass to change all the bolts every race.
Sway bar we have is Shock Therapy and works good but sheared off the attachment plate on the chassis. We use a UTV Inc support to keep it from flexing back and forth. A bitch to install the clamps but it can be done. We need to shim the sway bar clamps because they were putting too much pressure on the neoprene bushing and the bar was too tight. Now we have to take the bar off to grease it. Don't like this. If you have access thru the firewall then it wouldn't be so bad. I THINK THE REINFORCING THE SWAY BAR ATTACHMENT TO THE CAR IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY OR IT WILL BREAK OFF EVENTUALLY. Utv Inc part is an easy bolt on fix. This is the second time I've said it and I don't even have a sticker out of the deal but I think it works.
Front Sway bar reduces body roll. Nelson and Nelson works good but there are others......LSR I think has one.
Skid Plate- We almost put a rock thru our trans so we installed a 3/16" hardened steel plate over the vitals. Heavier than plastic or alum but I never worry about rocks down the middle of the car. With a lesser plate it dented into the factory support and almost pushed it into the trans. Just the impact on the skid plate transferred into the factory plate then into the trans case could jack up your trans imo.
Wheels- Used Sti and they are junk! Changed to Method and they are a great value and racer quality for a good price.
Brakes- no issues other than don't buy cheapo brake pads. Rocky Mountain has good pads for 50% of the cost of OEM. The biggest factor with pads is the abrasive silt wearing them out not stopping the car.
Shocks - Still working on the Fox 2.5 and 3.0 internal bypass. No way they work right out of the box but way better than stock Walker Evans set up but not being in love with our set up I can't say what the answer is. I know some like the WE after rework. Radflo also has some good reviews.
I'm sure I miss a lot of stuff but thats what this Joe Schmo has experienced......don't know if it helps. I'm by no means an expert but I've learned a lot and still learning.
