Our ToyHauler Magazine Project - The RZR!
Since we are ToyHauler Magazine, we thought it appropriate that we devote a little time and attention to the toys we haul around. UTV’s have become the fastest growing segment in the motor sports industry. In fact, if you share a camp spot with us, you’ll usually see just about every brand and model of UTV (also known as side-by- sides) well represented. While the OEM manufacturers certainly offer some excellent new machines, UTV owners seem to share a trait with Harley Davidson owners in that they just can’t leave well enough alone. Rarely do you see a UTV out in the sand dunes, deserts or forests without some degree of modification and personalization, and we here at ToyHauler Magazine are not at all immune to that phenomenon. While we were quite excited about our new Polaris Ranger RZR, we certainly saw room for improvement. We decided to build a project RZR upgraded to excel in the riding environs we most frequent and make it a bolt-on project anyone handy with a set of tools could complete.
When Polaris introduced the Ranger RZR in the summer of 2007, it changed the UTV landscape as we had come to know it. Until that introduction, UTV’s tended to be more utilitarian than sport-minded but the RZR changed all that. Driven by a spirited 800 fuel-injected twin, the RZR is 99% sport and 1% utility. Polaris had done an excellent job building one of the all-time great smile producers with their first effort in the RZR, but they left plenty of room for improvement. Several areas that needed to be addressed were obvious from the get-go. Suspension, power, ground clearance, protection, safety and appearance were all areas that we wanted to try to improve upon. Thanks to a very healthy UTV aftermarket, we were able to upgrade all of the mentioned areas with top quality components more geared towards the type of riding we do here on the West Coast.
One of the key features of the stock RZR is its 50-inch wide stance that allows it to share trails with ATV’s that are limited to that width. While this is important when trying to negotiate a trail head marked by posts set 50 inches apart, it is also a hindrance because of the lack of stability inherent to such a narrow stance. We wanted it wider, we wanted it longer, and we wanted more and better suspension travel. Who better to help us in those areas than Fabtech Motorsports. Fabtech is one of the premier suspension system manufacturers on the planet and their fabrication and engineering teams really hit the nail on the head with their RZR long-travel suspension kit.
A quick call to Dave Winner at Fabtech and our RZR was headed to their facility in Chino, CA, for a complete suspension makeover. A full 12 inches wider and 4 inches longer overall, this LT kit immediately addressed our needs for improved stability. The beefy A-arms are really a thing of beauty while the Fabtech Dirt Logic 2.0 Resi Coilover shocks helped increase suspension travel to a full 13 inches per wheel and also added a much-needed 3 inches of ground clearance. Because of the added leverage of the longer A-arms, Fabtech also installed a complete frame/A-arm gusset kit to help increase frame strength in critical areas (welding is required). While they had the RZR, the Fabtech guys also added a set of Mastercraft suspension seats and four-point padded harnesses.
Suspension and stability taken care of, we then shipped our RZR up north and left it in the very capable hands of the guys at Factory UTV in Sacramento, CA. After a lengthy discussion with FUTV’s fabrication guru David Fowler, we decided on performance modifications that would give us good results without sacrificing reliability. Wanting an engine performance component package that was designed to work together, we went with a complete RZR performance kit from Dirty Dawg Performance. The kit included a camshaft that improved torque throughout the powerband and was matched with a bored throttle body and a Boondocker fuel controller to dial in the RZR’s new FI requirements. To complete the package, Dale at Dirty Dawg also sent over their complete clutch kit, including adjustable weights, primary and secondary springs along with a rubber dampened rapid reaction secondary clutch and new helix. We then went with a full stainless steel Gibson Exhaust so the engine could really breathe while barely raising the noise level. We really liked that the Gibson was not obnoxiously loud and included a silencer that would never require repacking.
The meat and potatoes of our RZR project now taken care of, we were still left with several areas that required attention and Factory UTV had the answers we were looking for. If Polaris dropped the ball anywhere on the new RZR, it was with the RZR intake filtration system. Even with a service recall having been completed to address these intake issues, we were still not at all confident that dirt would be kept from our engine. FUTV developed a new bolt-on system designed specifically to work in heavy dust environments. This new filter has three separate filtering processes before reaching the engine, including a dirt separator, and inner/outer twin filters, all housed in a slick new airbox.
Satisfied our filtration issues were finally resolved, we moved to undercarriage protection. Polaris equipped the RZR with a thin plastic skid that was pretty much shredded by our second trip out in the desert. With our fuel tank and other vital items resting just above this skid, we absolutely needed some better protection and FUTV’s full coverage UHMW skid plate package was just what the doctor ordered. A full 3/8 inches thick, this UHMW skid is super slick and super tough. We also installed a set of FUTV A-arm guards for complete UHMW undercarriage protection. A set of FUTV doors not only looked awesome, but allowed us to get rid of the clip-on nets, a necessary nuisance that drove us nuts every time we had to fumble with getting them clipped in place. The opening/closing doors make the routine required to get in or out of the RZR a great deal easier and look amazing. Lighting improvements were taken care of by an FUTV light bar that included three 7-inch HID lights to blaze the trail for those midnight romps across the desert floor we enjoy so much. We also added a Livewire LED whip, which is not only very cool looking at night, but really enhances safety on those nighttime dune rides. You can pick out the bright red and white whip we chose from literally miles away. We replaced the low quality biased ply stock tires and heavy steel rims with a full set of ITP Terra Cross radial tires mounted on Douglas Rockstar rims with Champion beadlocks. Finally, we got the custom look we were after with a super trick Maier Mfg carbon fiber plastic body kit, complete with fender flares, roof and scooped hood. Matched with the anodized red beadlocks, it’s a real head- turner now. Installation of the Maier kit was very straightforward with the excellent directions supplied.
We had addressed just about every area where we felt the RZR needed upgrading and on paper we really had a great looking, highly capable machine on our hands. We don’t ride on paper, however, so off to the desert we went to test just how well all these upgrades worked as a cohesive unit. A turn of the key quickly ignited the newly modified power plant and we were immediately greeted by the new Gibson exhaust tone that, although barely louder than the stock exhaust, gave out a much healthier tone. Somewhere between a Ducati and a modified VW, we absolutely loved the new sound!
We slapped the shift lever into forward gear and headed out to put our new RZR through its paces. The Fabtech suspension modifications were nothing short of pure magic. The Dirt Logic shocks soaked up the big hits with aplomb, yet remained supple enough to flatten out those nasty square edge bumps in the trail that jarred the stock suspension. The Dirt Logic shocks were up to whatever task we threw at them, including long periods of abuse with nary a sign of shock fade. We comfortably hammered through whoops at speeds we wouldn’t dare take the stock RZR through and the widened stance gave us an entirely new perspective on cornering the RZR. Where we had tiptoed our way through corners before because of the tippy feel of the narrow stock stance, we could now throw the RZR into corners with an inspired confidence. This truly was an entirely new machine.
Suspension, handling and stability light years ahead of the stock setup, we headed over to competition hill to see how our new motor and clutching responded to some heavy-duty hill climb runs. It became readily apparent that the Dirty Dawg clutch setup provided an excellent bang for our buck. We didn’t realize the stock clutch was so lazy out of the hole until we started launching the RZR with the new Dirty Dawg setup. Wow! What a difference. Although we didn’t put it on a dyno, seat-of-the-pants feel told us we had an excellent increase in power all through the RPM range. Where the stock RZR really started to bog against the stock clutch and belt drive towards the top of Comp Hill, the RZR now pulled hard all the way up and over the top. We had a slight miss right off the bottom rpm’s, but were easily able to dial that in with the Boondocker controller. Considering we had done mostly bolt-on mods, we were extremely pleased with the RZR’s new power delivery. Substantial gains without sacrificing any reliability or rideability is exactly what we were after and just what we got. The RZR is as comfortable blasting up Competition Hill as it is plonking through the rock beds of the Rubicon trail.
In the end, we have taken an excellent first effort from Polaris and greatly improved on some of the shortcomings inherent to an OEM machine. In the process, although we wouldn’t have thought it possible, we’ve taken the smile factor of the stock RZR and doubled it. We are also fairly confident that at some point we’ll be able to wipe the grin from our faces! Knowing a return romp will bring back those same smiles, we decided we’ll just have to learn to live with it. A huge thank-you to our project sponsors, Fabtech Motorsports www.fabtechmotorsports.com, Dirty Dawg Performance www.dirtydawgperformance.com, Gibson Exhaust www.gibsonperformance.com, Maier Manufacturing www.maier-mfg.com, Livewire Whips www.livewirewhips.com and Factory UTV www.factoryutv.net.
Also a big shoutout to our editor Terry Gluckman for overseeing the entire project. Our Project RZR is one sweet machine.
-Bob Balunda
