Belts and other BS ?'s...

acme

Active Member
Jul 21, 2015
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So now that we have a dog in the fight I have look at all the threads/sites and have a few questions for the racers:

1) Which belt are the racers having the best success with: Gates/Dayco/Polaris??? ours is a 2014 XP4 NA car with an STM clutch

2) What are you guys running for Ft diff fluids?

3) Which belt temp gauge do you find holding up to race use?

4) Anyone using a Racepack dash, I'll buy ya a beer to pick your brain?

Gracias!
 

facteryfmf

Looking For a Few Good Men - UTVUnderground Approv
Feb 8, 2009
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LoL. These questions have cost us a couple hundred thousands of dollars to answer and you wanna buy a beer!

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 

ironworks

Active Member
Jan 18, 2010
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So now that we have a dog in the fight I have look at all the threads/sites and have a few questions for the racers:

1) Which belt are the racers having the best success with: Gates/Dayco/Polaris??? ours is a 2014 XP4 NA car with an STM clutch

2) What are you guys running for Ft diff fluids?

3) Which belt temp gauge do you find holding up to race use?

4) Anyone using a Racepack dash, I'll buy ya a beer to pick your brain?

Gracias!
1 - Yes
2 - Gear oil
3 - none
4 - no

Corona please
 

Kalop

XP900
May 3, 2013
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1. OEM if racing, gates is ok if on budget or as backup.
2. Polaris oem oil
3. Razorback is best.
4. No idea what that is .

PS) I DON'T RACE ... so take it for what its worth, nothing much.
 
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Rynomx785

Active Member
Jun 21, 2015
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I've heard the factory Polaris belts hold up better. I got 1250 miles out of my factory belt and just switched to a Gates so I can't personally back that up yet. Gates are supposed to be faster to change as they don't have cords in them so they don't get tangled in the clutches.

Front diff oil, based on everything I have read, has been OEM oil across the board. Heard a couple guys say hydraulic oil but no reason to switch from Polaris oil IMO.

The Razorback gauge has pretty good reviews.

Was Racepak the dash Anderson was running in XP1K3? That's only time I have ever seen one.

As stated above, I'm not a racer but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Lol I have done a fair amount of reading belts and oil....
 
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Bajaxp

SXS Racer Extraordinaire - UTVUnderground Approved
Jan 21, 2010
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FWIIW...my 2 pesos. Maybe I don't know chit, but here goes. :)
1-OEM belt is best from what I have seen. Just be sure to wash the new belt in warm soapy water before install, and rinse thoroughly. Really. Then break in for 40+ easy miles before racing. Any sub 15 mph running should ALWAYS be done in low range including driving onto a trailer. Lots of blown belts while racing have occurred due to starting a race with a 'hurt' belt due to a high range trailer loading.
2-The Polaris front 'diff' isn't a differential. It is a Hilliard clutch and is very sensitive to what fluid it is put into it. Go OEM, the stuff isn't that expensive and W O R K S. Buy the aluminum Holz front Hilliard cage because plastic OEM cage is junk for racing applications.
3.-Belt temp gauge is helpful. No clue on the best one. Just remember if you see sustained 200 + deg F belt off temps you are going to have a bad day.
4. Racepak dashes are amazing. Totally love what they do.
 
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george.felix

George
Jan 11, 2015
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The Gates belt won't ball up on the clutch when it goes like the OEM belt so if you change your OEM belt every 250- 500 miles you probably won't have belt issues and you'll end up with plenty of "play" belts.
 
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megadesertdiesel

Well-Known Member
Jan 25, 2009
1,838
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Mesa, AZ
i would put //Airdam on the payroll and ask him all the clutch questions. seems like he has his hands in alot of race programs and knows what works and what does not. One catch though, you have to purchase a batman style beacon, burn patchouli oil incense and only call him when the blue speckled tortise runs north, and then he MIGHT answer the phone.

really //Airdam is worth the hassle.
http://airdamclutches.com
 

JoeyD23

#utvunderground
Jan 9, 2009
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www.utvunderground.com
So now that we have a dog in the fight I have look at all the threads/sites and have a few questions for the racers:

1) Which belt are the racers having the best success with: Gates/Dayco/Polaris??? ours is a 2014 XP4 NA car with an STM clutch

2) What are you guys running for Ft diff fluids?

3) Which belt temp gauge do you find holding up to race use?

4) Anyone using a Racepack dash, I'll buy ya a beer to pick your brain?

Gracias!
1) Polaris Factory Belts
2) Not sure but we definitely upgraded from the factory fluid.
3) We are running the Razorback Technology gauge and it is great. Reads well since its digital and not analog.
4) Yes we are running the Racepak and its bad ass. We have yet to install some of the additional sensors that would allow for more read outs but so far we love it. I installed them in both of our XP1K3 video cars, our UTVUG / CageWRX desert race car and my new Turbo sand RZR.
 
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acme

Active Member
Jul 21, 2015
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LoL. These questions have cost us a couple hundred thousands of dollars to answer and you wanna buy a beer!

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
1 - Yes
2 - Gear oil
3 - none
4 - no

Corona please
Thanks for the input guys and to the "brain trust" for the constructive comments! I pay on my offers so Ironworks, I guess I owe you a beer? Do you drink beer or just Corona?o_O

As an observation: If it took you a couple hundred grand to figure those 3 things out, you have too much money and maybe you need to ask more questions...

As for asking questions: We have always answered basic questions from racers in the various classes we've had experience in and most of the racers don't mind. Ironically you would be amazed at who and how many have "asked questions" via PM or email about the B1K course from the post I made and trip I took a couple of weeks ago or for additional input based on having raced in Mexico a number of times. Maybe I need to be more selective in answering questions or posting insights as it's all top secret racing stuff? But then we're just simple desert racers and Ex Buggy Dorks and not B.A.'s like some. We'll figure it out and I'll try not to be in your way out there! ;)

FYI Matt: Were the ones that raced the 4 seater in SCORE & BITD and spoke at San Felipe in staging. Going to give the UTV class a shot despite the drama, thanks for all the info! Also Thanks to Adam, Reid-BAM, Suspended Fab, Cory S and Joey D and any I missed for all their insight and info on the class while we considered it: IMHO you guys are the class of the class!

One last question: In UTV's do we call the co driver a caddy? Cheers!
 
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Johnny

UTVUnderground Approved
Jan 15, 2009
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Mesa Arizona
1) Polaris Factory Belts
2) Not sure but we definitely upgraded from the factory fluid.
3) We are running the Razorback Technology gauge and it is great. Reads well since its digital and not analog.
4) Yes we are running the Racepak and its bad ass. We have yet to install some of the additional sensors that would allow for more read outs but so far we love it. I installed them in both of our XP1K3 video cars, our UTVUG / CageWRX desert race car and my new Turbo sand RZR.

are you fucking serious ? how many race miles has you car raced ? we we we come on .. Back to the side lines wana be racer ...
 
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Old509cc

New Member
Sep 30, 2015
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For what it's worth I have an Alba Racing water temp gauge on my 99 sportsman and I ride it hard. I'm surprised I have not rattled the guts out of them yet. 1,100 miles and 220 hours later the Alba and VDO gauges are still working fine.
 

BiggJim

I Hate Rules - UTVUnderground Approved
Jan 15, 2009
2,079
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Bakersfield
we used to use the alba belt temp gauge. it seems to work really well, but when we would blow a belt the belt would hit the cover so hard that it would blow our plug to pieces. So after a dozen or so new harnesses we ditched it all together.
 
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ALBANATE

Active Member
Feb 13, 2012
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we used to use the alba belt temp gauge. it seems to work really well, but when we would blow a belt the belt would hit the cover so hard that it would blow our plug to pieces. So after a dozen or so new harnesses we ditched it all together.
I was always curious where you guys mounted the sensor? You guys were, and still are our record holder(by about 10) on how many sensors you went through... lol.

Nate
Alba Racing
 
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