Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's AWD Polaris isn't 4wd!!!

Went up to the camp on Friday to check things out and figured that I'd take the wheelers out to give them a mid winter run. The old Big Red 300 Kawasaki pulled right out and went through the snow like it wasn't even there. That one is solid axle and wears the front tires, so I know there is no slip happening with that front axle. Then came the 400 Polaris Sportsman AWD and the thing barely made it out of the garage! I'd always suspected that the front end wasn't doing much, but this little episode sure proved it. What a pos that we'd best keep for just going to the mailbox or maybe not at all.

Mine did fine a few days ago. Did about 15 miles. Got another 4 inches last night and it's coming down hard, so maybe I'll do another run a bit later. The AWD system doesn't lock but kicks in when slip is detected at the rear tires. Might want to check your machine out.

Something wrong with that machine ......I have owned about 20 different Polaris ATVs over the years..... Starting in about 98....Never been stuck in one..... Used in rough muddy and rocky terrain... Climbed more that a few steep rocky snow covered hills.....

I have a '12 RZR. I dont know if the front end works like an ATV but when the front kicks in it has all kinds of traction. When the rear axle slips about 2' the front locks, assuming the switch on the dash is on.

What would be a good way to test it? I was backing out. Does a Polaris AWD system work any differently going in reverse? The back wheels were throwing lots of snow and it was making kind of a clicking sound, but I couldn't tell what the front end was doing, if anything. I might tie the hitch to the truck next time I'm up there and have the wife see what is happening slipping on snow.

put the rears on ice and the fronts on dry ground. Try to spin the tires. If it's working right you might get a slight bit of spin then just drive away. Or, jack up the rears and do the same thing. Just make sure the jacks won't damage anything when you pull off of them.

With my Razor, it never seems like the front is pulling, except that it just keeps going through mud and over large rocks. I can be spinning through mud or snow and when either front hits dry ground, away it goes. I can drive straight into a large rock like it's a wheel chock and the fronts will just climb over it.

The only wheeler I've ever had that left me stranded was a Polaris. And it happened twice.

Might want to fix it, my ranger don't have any problems up here in the winter besides getting hung up.

Yes - it works different in reverse - you need to use the override switch to engage 4wd if your machine has one. If you hear a clicking sound you've fugged something up.

The override button also gives you full power. It should be called the "I screwed up, went beyond my ability, and need to back out of here" button.

My 500 Sportsman had pulled the 4wd wire from the switch... it runs like a scalded dog now... check it out...

All atvs have some problems - I've run polaris for 25 years and not had much trouble...

So that is what that little yellow button on the left handlebar is for!!! Why don't they just call it the true fwd button or something similar? I never figured that I needed to override something. Heck, manuals are for guys with no imagination.

Did you hit the AWD switch while the rear wheels were spinning? That can do some damage. You can shift at any speed or when stopped but not if they're spinning. I just leave the AWD switch on all the time since it's not engaged until the rears lose traction.

The right hand switch only says AWD and 2WD, so we leave it in AWD and on dirt roads that seems to be more stable, so that must be doing something. I'm anxious to get back up north to use that yellow button on the left handle bar to see what kind of a difference it will make. I've always used that wheeler to pull the pontoon boat out of the water for the winter and from looks of the holes I dug with the rear wheels, that front end wasn't pulling much. Learning about that yellow over ride button is like an epiphany for me. I guess mamma raised a dummy.

Putting the tongue weight of a pontoon trailer on an ATV will certainly leave the front end light and make the rears dig in. Most of the Polaris atv's have a towing capacity of about 1200lb. I don't know the rated tongue weight but I'd bet that it's 300 or less. You probably had the fronts spinning along with the rears.

RC, I only need to pull it out of the water up onto the bank and it is only a little 14 footer on a small lake. I take the motor off and I can almost lift the front end by myself. Given how I saw that little 300 pull with all four wheels, I am thinking that one in low range might be even better for that pull. Both have trailer hitches, but I like the heavy metal racks on the 300. I use the little one to push the boat back in the water in the Spring. Works well.

The polaris is an all wheel drive system, when the 4WD is engaged and the rear wheels slip Approx 1/20th of a turn the fronts will kick in.


Jack the rear tires up, sit on it, start it and give it a little gas, if the front tires don't try to pull you thn your front clutch disks are not working. Most times this is due to the oil never being changed in the front hubs or the front diff. It depends on the year where the clutches reside.

Sometimes the wires going to the clutches are bad.
Sometimes it's the cages for the clutch because someone was spinning the wheels when they engaged the 4wd, it can be several things you'll just have to check it out.

Since we're talking about the Polaris AWD system - NEVER pull in reverse. If you have to pull someone out of the mud, be sure your ATV/UTV is going forward. There's a weakness in the front clutch somewhere that will self destruct if you overload it in reverse. I'm not sure exactly what piece is the weakness but I've read any number of bad luck stories about it. I've never tried it to verify it.

Less, probaby 35-50pound tongue rating. What year is the Sportsman 400?

The override button is for reverse ONLY.

Holy smokes, a whole bunch more information here than I thought. You guys are a wealth of good stuff. Thanks.

I'm standing corrected on the all wheel drive not being 4wd. I got up north over the weekend and cranked that Polaris up through a foot of snow. Yes, going backwards it is only driving off the rear two wheels UNTIL you hit the yellow button on the left handle bar and then, wallah, you have all four wheels driving going backwards. What a difference that made! Then I tied the trailer hitch to a pole and found out all four wheels spin going forward. I like it better now, but maybe not so much better that I didn't look for a new Yamaha Grizzly this morning. All sold out until maybe June, but the showroom was full of Polaris ATV's which told me something.

Polaris is made in the US and they're busy. All the rest are imported and likely sitting on container ships somewhere. That makes Polaris available while the rest aren't.

No. The Arctic Cat factory is 60 miles SW of the Polaris Factory. The world's supply of Grizzly and Kodiak 700 have been assembled in Georgia for years. The Kawasaki factory in Nebraska has made more than 3 million units over the decades. That doesn't mean they build the same quantity as Polaris.

Polaris built a factory in Mexico about eight or nine years ago. The four wheelers and SxS's for the most are made there. They shuffle their stuff around. AC which also makes Tracker are made here in MN. Honda SxS complete chassis are made here too.

Sounds like my info is out of date...and just when I'm getting up a good 'buy American' rage.

It's really hard to keep score.
American steel production is next to zero so most all of the steel tubing and sheet is imported. I can only speak about Honda and AC. Both use independent fabricating company's to make most of their parts both steel and plastics. Honda ships the tubing to the contractor and they laser, bend and weld the sub components, the sub components ship to Honda's North Carolina plant to be welded together and painted and finial assembly. The powertrain and electronics are about all that is imported. I believe Kawasaki does the same.
AC builds pretty much the whole thing here including the powertrain. They sublet out most of the steel fabrication and plastic molding but it is US company's.
Polaris does all of it's own fabrication including plastics in their Mexico plant and then ships it back here for final assembly. Their powertrains are assembled here.
Polaris made their move during the Obama administration. They hurt a lot of business when they canceled their contracts and laid off a lot of their own workers. It's taken a while but Honda and AC have picked up the slack and most if the subcontractors are back to running three shifts trying to keep up.
It's like buying a truck. What really is 100% made in USA anymore?