[flying121]

Hey Guys

I am new to the world of side x sides and wanted to introduce myself. I am a dirt bike guy and always will be but I am making a transition into a side x side for the first time. It was between the Teryx Sport, Prowler 700, a used Rhino and the XTZ 1000. I believe I made the right choice.

I just bought an XTZ from John over at MotoCity in Avondale, AZ. I will be picking it up later today. I want to thank Sandchris a fellow Prowler Talk member for taking the time on the phone to answer a ton of Arctic Cat questions for me. After speaking to Chris this morning I felt comfortable buying the Cat even knowing there are a few problems out there. I am sure that with all of the knowledge and the type of crowd that owns these we will sort out the problems. I am going to take my first ride this weekend in my XTZ from Lake Pleasant , AZ to Crown King. I have done this on dirt bikes many times and always thought it would be great to have a side x side for this, well at 5pm today I will have one. I will post my pics later. I know every one has seen a stock XTZ before but you haven't seen mine. I look forward to being a part of the side x side community and I am proud to support an American company like Arctic Cat. Thank you John at MotoCity for the great deal you gave me. Thank you Sandchris and thank you to the members of ProwlerTalk.net for all of the insight to helping me make my purchase.

Regards,

Todd

 

[GlamisProwler]

Welcome to our Madness!!!!!

I am an X moto rider also, Well I still get on my two wheeler occasionally. This XTZ is the only UTV I have found that you can ride like a 2 wheeler. It has the power you are going to want coming from a moto back ground!

Congratulations!!!

 

[SDHQ SERENA]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Split]

well? update? did u drive it ?

 

[sandchris]

Hey Todd,it was nice talking with you today.Congratulations on your new prowler.I got a feeling your prowler is gonna get a lot more miles on it lately than your dirt bike.Crown King is a great trip.Tire plugs and co2 for sure on that one.
Chris

 

[Desertcat]

Welcome and congrats. I have made that trip with my XT 650 and it was a lot of fun. Don't forget the pictures.

 

[flying121]

Hey Guys

I took the XTZ for a spin today at mile marker 11 off of Carefree Highway and I thought it was great. We rode the dirt bikes first so I did not stay out to long on the Cat but I did 20 miles of trails and sand washes. I did have a problem and I will get to that in a bit. The power feels nice and the ride over the whoops and rocks was not bad for stock. Lot's of bump steer and I hit the sidebars way too much. They are going to have to come off and I will put a kick plate of some sort under there for protection. I did not have any over heating issues.

After a 20-mile break in ride I got back to my trailer and loaded up. I noticed a smell of gear oil or diff fluid while we were in the trailer so I started to look around and bam there it was. Under the rear axles/half shafts I could see the skid plate full of lube. It was probably 8 ounces or so. I didn't have the energy to start trouble shooting so I headed home. I called John at AZ MotoCity and told him of the problem and he said to bring it by and they would get on it. What they found was my left axle had come out of the diff about a 1/2-inch or so and that is where the lube/oil was coming from. They said they thought the C clip failed and we could put a new axle in and try it out. They did not have any axles in stock so they used a new C clip off of another Prowler axle and cleaned it up and put it back together. I am going to do the Lake Pleasant to Crown King ride Sunday and will report back if it does this again. Just out of curiosity I looked at another XTZ1000 that he had in for a 100-mile service and guess what.... the left axle was out about a 1/2 inch but no oil leak yet. I told John and the guys at the shop and they were all shocked. John is going to call Arctic Cat on Monday and let them know of this potential problem that we have on the XTZ's. I am not feeling all that comfy about doing 60 + MPH knowing this could be a problem on my Cat. I am going to check the axle frequently on my Sunday ride. I did read on a forum that someone else had a left axle come out at 60 mph on his XTZ 1000 does any one know who that was? It seems to be the left rear axle on all of these. Any thoughts or input would be appreciated.

 

[sandchris]

Todd, i have had that problem as well.My own fault though.I know this is going to sound crazy but after i did my motor swap i was due for the second diff oil change.No big deal right.Did the oil change and filled it to the fill hole.Went out and did a nice ride with some friends.At the end of that ride i was doing some high speed straight runs.Nothing crazy about 65-68 miles per hour.I loaded it up and smelled diff fluid.Same as you i looked around and found that i was leaking out the left side of the diif.Took it home changed that seal filled it up again and had the same problem.Got to reading the service manuel and realized i was over filling the diff.AC claims full is one inch down from the fill hole.
Yes the axle was pushed out.And yes after i got my head on straight it stopped pushing the axle out and no more leaks.Other than the big leak when the side cover let go but that is another story.Same thing was happening to my buddies 650 when he overfilled it.His did not push the axle out though.His did push fluid out.But again he only has a 650 engine.Once he filled to the correct level no more problems.
I know that that sounds crazy to push the axle out because of it being overfilled.
I have had no more problems pushing axles out.Broke some though.The diff on the xtz is different than mine but i am still betting on it being over filled from the factory.

 

[flying121]

Sandchris

Thank you for the input. Why would it be the left axle on all of the 1000's though? I will check the level with the recommended zip tie method and if it's to high I will let some fluid out. I will pass this along to the guys at AzMoto as well. I will post some pictures from Sundays ride when I can. Have a nice weekend.

 

[sandchris]

Todd the ring gear is on the left side and it is tight on that side.The right side more room.Any way there is more turbulence on the left side do to the ring gear and the breather or expandable condom on that side.Also the thrust from the ring gear puts pressure on the left side.The diff cover has a thrust button in it for high load applications.In other words if the ring rear flexes too much it will rub the thrust button on the side cover.That is how the 650-700s i have seen are.
Warlock and I both have heavy duty billet side covers made for our cats.We had them machine or drill and tap a full hole down 1 inch from the filler hole.Makes it nice when you fill it up it just runs out.
I don't have answer to your question other that everything thrusts to the left or driver side as far as the diff is concerned.

 

[Desertcat]

Hi guys,
The dealer in Wichenburg told me about one of his 1000 customers having the same problem. AC had him replace the C clip and o-rings and this took care of the problem so fare. Keep in mind that he had to drain the diff for this repair and I am sure he refilled to the proper level. Another thing to keep in mind is these machines are put together in MN which is a cold climate. With oil expansion due to temp increase, the problem may be as simple as correcting the oil level.

 

[flying121]

Sandchris

Thank you for stopping by to help with my XTZ 1000. Chris is a great guy and knows his stuff when it comes to the side x sides. My left axle did not have the O-rings that should be there according to AC’s parts diagram. If you look at the rear suspension diagram on the AC website it is part number 24. I am going to do the Crown King run tomorrow and see what happens. I am sure that AC will have a campaign to fix this problem. Thank for all the help.

Desertcat

Thanks for the info.

 

[prowlerbob]

i had an 06 prowler and had axle seal troubles from day one. AC first installed a new seal, then they installed and new two stage seal, then they installed a three stage seal and that finally helped the problem. It did not however cure the problem.I think the oil level thing may have merit, as silly as it seems.My dealer finally gave me 3 seals and said to put them in myself . That was ok, but i think the oil level might have built up pressure and pushed the oil out. Good work!

 

[Desertcat]

That's what this site is all about. Go Prowler Nation

 

[flying121]

I am not happy right now so I will make this short. Rode 10 miles today and my right axle came out this time and leaked all over. First the left and now the right....is my drive shaft next? I hope that Arctic Cat can sort this out. I know that the 3 O-rings are missing on both my axles. I hope that is all it is because I love the XTZ.

 

[prowlerbob]

Thats not what i wanted to hear. I was hoping that ac had that problem fixed. Has anyone else had a problem with rear diff's leaking oil in either xtz's or other models? We need to get AC on this . I battled that with my 650 for 1 1/2 years an never got it totally solved.We, my dealer and I just thought it was a seal problem. Oh ya i smoked my first highly modded Rhino yesterday.Not bragging but it sure did feel good.

 

[Split]

no offense flying121 but you probably bought the prowler i was supposed to from AZmoto, i backed out...glad i went to a diff dealer..whew... Have they fixed the issues yet? sorry about what you are going through.

 

[flying121]

Split

None taken. The dealer has been great and done everything they can for me. I would buy from them again. I don't think I took the one you were going to buy because they have 4 of them in stock. They have sold 21 of the XTZ'z this year alone. Great dealer as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Split]

yeah i think they had just gotten in like 8..crazy...hope all goes well for you...thank god there is a warranty!

 

[flying121]

No ****! Sweet.