Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's Polaris Ranger Crew 800 (new to me)

OK, Gents, I picked up a 2014 Polaris Ranger Crew 800 EFI today. One owner, garage kept, 277 actual miles. It's all factory right now. This is my first side X side though I've owned numerous quads over the years. First on the list is changing all of the fluids, which I'll try to knock out this weekend. I know I want a windshield and roof, and possibly doors down the road (just has cargo nets now). I don't know squat about this stuff (yet) but would like to order a windshield very soon. I don't want to toss out tons 'o cash but don't want junk either. What do you fellas recommend? I want a full windshield, and want ventilation for the hot summer months.

Not exactly an action shot, but It's what I've got right now.

Superatv windshield. WINDSHIELD

I love this thing on my Razor. Most of them have to be closed when on rough trails. This one can be left open while riding. It's made of polycarbonate and is very durable. It has 3 positions - closed, vent (a 2 or 3" gap at the bottom), and open.
Read up on cleaning it. Don't just wipe off the dust. Dust is abrasive and wiping it dry is like using 1000 grit sandpaper on it. I carry a small spray bottle of cleaner and a soft cloth to clean it. This applies to all polycarb windows, not just this one.

hint - they recommend that when trailering, tie a rope or strap around the bottom to keep it shut. The latch is quite strong but if it should come loose and flip up, a 70 mph wind is going to damage it.

About that cleaning of plastic stuff - that applies to plastic eye glasses, too. Wiping them with a dry rag will leave tiny scratches that reduce the life expectancy of your glasses. Only clean them wet.

Thanks, RC, That looks like a good option. Do you find that you use it in the open position? I've read that the 1-piece with vents in the bottom are more solid.

We use it open whenever possible. Open allows dust to blow through instead of swirling inside the cab. The vent position helps with dust but open is better. Also, visibility is much better with nothing in front of you. It's more outdoors which is the whole point of riding.
OTOH, a couple weeks ago we were driving it while elk hunting a desert area at -2. Closing it was the difference between hunting and saying screw this.

Changed all the fluids and went over everything to make sure it's ready to rock, then cleaned it up. I've put about 50 miles on it so far and really like it!

Looks good. There have been a few times when we wished we had a 4 seater but what we have is a 50" so it'll fit in the back of our pickup plus being able to ride on limited width atv trails. No one makes a 50" 4 seater.

We may ad a 2-seater 50" fun machine down the road. We still have kids at home and often have extras around, so this model will work well for us. It's not a power-house so it's great for them to drive around on, too. We have BLM about an 1/8 mile from the house with vast amounts of space to explore, so it should see as much trail riding as work.

800CC is what I have in our '12 Polaris RZR 50" 2 seater. It weighs about 1000 curb wt. I'm guessing yours weighs a LOT more than that and with the same engine. They sell a lot of 1000's.

Something to be aware of with that engine (I guess it's the same one in the '12 and the '14). There's a little oil pressure relief valve down inside the engine. If you don't keep the oil changed regularly, it can stick shut, letting the oil pressure build to the point that it stalls the engine. If that happens, the fix is to completely dismantle the engine and replace it. The part costs $10, the labor will top $1000. The mechanic told me to run only Polaris PS4 oil. A lot of guys use Mobile 1 and that's what I was using but he said that there's an additive in the PS4 that helps prevent the sticking. He said it's a very rare problem but expensive when it happens. I guess I won the lottery on that one. Mobile 1 and PS4 cost about the same so I just use what they recommend. It's a lot cheaper on Amazon or Ebay than you'll get it for locally.

Thanks for the info, RC. I used all Polaris fluids/parts for this service. The oil change kit was $35 and the kit for the other fluids was $55, so ~$100 for everything. Air filter looks brand new so I didn't worry about it. I ordered the windshield you recommended this morning.

This machine weighs ~1500 lbs. dry but performs pretty well for what it is. My Dad has a 900 Ranger single cab that performs very well, and a friend of mine has a Razr 1000 turbo that's in a whole different league. This one will do what I need and will hopefully provide good service. I'd strongly considered a new Kawasaki Mule Pro but didn't like the price as I prefer to pay cash for toys.

you need the raised seat and roof so the kids have a place to shoot from....

I'd raise that seat at least 6". When a jackrabbit pops up at 20 yds someone's going to hit the roof.

That's a pretty cool set-up

I got the SuperATV flip-up windshield installed today. Thanks for the rec, RC! I think I'm going to like it.

Looks good. Yours lifts higher than ours. Ours is almost horizontal when open.

We bought ours used, too. It came with some nice options added, like...

steel doors. I don't know the brand, they aren't labeled, but they're just the right height to rest an arm on. I made vinyl covered foam pads for them as it got hard on the arm. Also, they were black and got really hot in the sun, enough to burn your knees if they touched it. I extended the pads down inside to rest my knee against and I painted the outside white. That cooled them down a lot. They really help in sagebrush although they get scratched up. I painted them with a stock Rustoleum color so I can just touch them up when they get too scratched up.
hard roof. Cabelas brand. I added some driving lights on top with switches over the drivers seat
skid plate: it's some kind of fiber stuff that extends full length and width. It makes a big difference when bouncing over rocks and we have plenty of those

I added this stuff. We don't have much mud or sand. We have rocks, so I added some stuff to help with those.

2" lift kit: I found one pretty cheap and it only took an hour to install. It just extends the shock brackets 2".
Sedona Ripsaw tires. These are the best rock tires I've found. They're so-so in mud and will bury you in soft sand. I went 1 size larger which with the lift kit gave me a 3" lift.
winch: I added a 3500lb Viper winch. In 3 years the only time I've needed it other than for plowing snow, we got high centered on frozen snow. The only anchor I could find was a sagebrush and it pulled that out by the roots. Good thing I had an army entrenching tool with me. Now I have to invent some kind of anchor to carry with us. I think a couple cut down steel fence posts and a heavy hammer should do it.

Rock Chuck,

Carry some earth anchors/ trap anchors with you for flatland no-tree winch anchors. You have to leave them behind most times, but they do work VERY well. 4 or 5 will pull out a pickup truck. They drive in with a long metal rod. You can make your own or buy them pre-made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWZTa8BKZuQ

Thanks for the info, gents. I've already ordered the stuff for a winch install, some LED driving and backup lights, and a few other things. Haven't decided on the roof yet but will ad one. I'll also be ordering a street legal kit for it as I registered it as an on-road vehicle.

Those should work. However, I have a large stack of old steel fence posts on hand and a 3lb hammer. I can just cut a couple off about 18" above the fin and pound them in.

Get a bigger hammer......

We don't have rocks here.

Those street legal kits are interesting. They're allowed in many places but they don't meet the US requirements for safety testing, emissions, and all kinds of other rules that apply to cars. I'm sure that many states/towns don't allow them but I don't know where you'd look to find out which ones. I know that many of the small towns here do allow them.

Have you driven yours at top speed on a good road just to see how fast it can go? Mine has the same engine and the fastest I've ever got it was 45. It was getting pretty squirrely at 40 but it's shorter and only 50". That said, 95% of our driving is below 30mph and most of that below 20.

I've got several friends who run the generic UTV turn signal kits and haven't had any issues here in NM, but this state is pretty relaxed on such things.

Max speed is 45 mph, and other than the tires, it feels fine at speed. It's certainly more comfortable at 35-40 mph, though. I ride about .4 miles to the BLM road turnoff, and occasionally 2 miles on the shoulder of a 2-lane state hwy to the gas station. It's pretty common to see them out here where I live. I can access the local 'city' virtually all on dirt roads if I want, and could see us running into town to grab ice cream and gas while there. The BLM roads I take to town come out in the most popular OHV area in the northern part of the state, so SXS traffic is extremely common and they're regularly in town.

These guys have all the stuff

DOT glass W/S.....buy once/cry once

https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/

Took it out to play in the quickly-melting snow. The new windshield makes a yuge difference in comfort...just wish it didn't rattle so much. Seems to be because of the width and lack of support in the center. I may see what I can do about that. Link to a short video of it (you'll need to turn the sound on): https://imgur.com/a/th7GyMD

Winch and winch mount installed but not wired yet. I'm adding a second battery, turn signal kit, Blue Seas fuse box, and some other stuff so I'll do the wiring all at once. I chose the Badlands ZXR 5000 because I wanted a steel cable instead of rope, and wanted to buy it locally as dealing with an exchange on a heavy item can be a PIA when shipping. I used the SuperATV winch mount which, overall, is good. I had to enlarge the holes for their regulator bracket to make it fit, and the fairlead mount is 6" on center while the Badlands fairlead is 6.5", so that part has to wait t a bit.. It's pretty darned solid when all bolted up, and it fits perfectly behind the factory body/bumper. Looking forward to putting it to use when I get all of the electrical done.

Um, the idea is to NEVER have to use it. Other than for plowing snow, I've only needed mine once in 4 years. I talked about that on another thread. I needed it but couldn't find an anchor other than a sagebrush and it pulled that out by the roots. Before spring, I'll have invented some kind of portable anchor to haul around with me.
I prefer the rope rather than the steel cable. It looks flimsy but the dang things are strong.

About that rattling windshield - mine doesn't rattle a bit but it's on a 50". Maybe that makes a difference.

I think in my circle we use the winches more for deer/elk work than 'wheelin. Most of the guys I know around here prefer cable because of the sandstone.

I haven't messed with the windshield yet but I'm going to try and slide the brackets down to put a little more downward pressure on the bottom section. If that doesn't work I'll add the center bracket/suport.

The 50" version doesn't have a center support. That's probably why they added it on yours.

don't bring that Limo here to this 50" trail

A helmet cam messes with the perspective on how steep a trail is but as for rocks, etc., my wife and I have had our 50" Razor on worse trails than that many times. A 60" 4 seater? Um, no. We have hundreds of miles of 50" trails around here. We have a ball driving them. A lot of miles of them are in hunting unit 54 in so. central ID. It all burned off this summer so it's going to be interesting to see what it's all like now.

Hey RC, it didn't come with a center support, I'm just thinking about making one. I spent a bunch of time adjusting everything earlier and it's a lot better now, but will still rattle on the rougher stuff.

Tikka, that trail looks fun, but I'm under no illusion about the limitations of a Ranger Crew. A 2-seater trail rig may be in the cards down the road.

Went exploring the backroads this afternoon with the wife and daughter #2 and had a ball! hit some great sand washes that still had a little snow in them and that was a good time. This rig is a pretty good fit for what we need right now.

Is the bottom piece rattling against the body? I looked at mine and can't see anything else that would rattle. The rubber molding is tight against the body. If I had that problem, I'd try cramming a piece of ensolite foam under it before I got too fancy.

No, it doesn't appear to be the bottom section. I believe it's flex in the center which causes the outside edges to rattle against each other. I'll wedge a piece of minicell foam under the bottom center before my next ride and see if it makes a difference.

I looked at mine again in better light and I can see that the latch slightly bows the top section so the outside corners could rattle against the bottom section. I don't have a problem but I can see that you might. Try putting some foam backed tape in the track where the section meet.

There's already a rubber strip between the top and bottom sections but it doesn't prevent the rattling. I tried the foam block under the center of the bottom section, and while it helped, it didn't cure it totally. I'll try wedges on the outside corners next.

Found a decent ATV trail that's part of the BLM system today; about 4 miles from the house. Here's a short clip: https://imgur.com/20XBAAS

I was thinking more like 1/4 to 1/2" thick, like foam insulation tape.

Last week we had several inches of snow and I put the snowplow on mine. Today it was almost 60 and would have been a beautiful day for 4 wheeling - minus the snowplow. We're leaving for NM on Wed for a week. It'll probably be too cold for trail riding when we get back. It only takes a minute to take the plow off but the mount hangs down a couple inches. It makes a big difference in clearance for rocks. In the spring I'll take the mount off for the summer. That takes a lot longer.

We have the same machine but not the Crew version. Good UTV. We put a set of soft doors and front/rear glass windshields