Reasons To Keep Your UTV Clean
There are many advantages to keeping your UTV clean after each ride. If you ride your Side By Side hard in the mud and water, you’re going to have to repay that hard working UTV with what it desperately wants – a bath! Here’s just some of the reasons keeping your Arctic Cat UTV, or any other brand SxS you may own, clean is important:
• Mud gets in behind your brake pads! It then hardens and on your next ride, your brakes are held slightly on. This creates a “squeak noise” and wears your pads prematurely.
• Electrical connections, clamps, bolts and nuts. These all get packed with dirt and mud, and when it comes time for your regular maintenance you will have problems with breaking connectors, clamps and stripping nuts and bolts.
• Wiring Harness Damage! Your wiring harness is not held perfectly tight to your frame, and mud is able to get packed between your frame and harness. This mud then hardens, and on your next couple of rides it will slowly rub and vibrate sharply against your harness, causing shorts and other issues.
• Suspension, keep your shafts and seals safe. Don’t let mud start to pile around shocks and springs as it can cause leaks and drastically affect the suspension’s performance.
• Plastics. Heavy packed mud on fenders can cause so much extra weight that fenders can crack or deform. In addition, leaving mud on the plastic of your UTV can cause uneven sun fading and ruin the look of your side by side quickly.
• Radiator servicing. You have to keep the rad clean and clear of mud. If you don’t, your UTV will not be able to properly cool itself and major engine damage WILL occur. Your fan motors are not designed to work through the mud and will become damaged. Even a partially plugged rad will make your SXS run hotter and work much harder than it has to.
Your Arctic Cat Wildcat and/or Prowler are built for some fun in the mud. But if you know you are working your machine hard, there are extra maintenance steps you must follow. There are service intervals outlined in your owner’s manual, but it ultimately comes down to you and your use of the UTV. Hard mudding may require:
• Extra Air Filter Servicing
• More Frequent Oil Changes
• More Frequent Bushing and Bearing Servicing and Replacement
• Extra Brake and Clutch Servicing
• More Frequent Radiator Servicing and Coolant Flushes
We definitely don’t want to discourage you from running your Arctic Cat Side by Side or any other brand UTV through the mud. At Ralph’s Motorsports, we definitely agree that some of the best fun, is NOT clean fun. But a few extra steps now, will save you having to replace your SxS early, or from costly repairs. Have Fun Mudding!