P500 Who wants a diff. Lock ?

Livinthelegend

Livinthelegend

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I plowed our entire road, and all 7 of my neighbors driveways last time we got snow- I got a 'thank-you' from only two...

You would get beer from me. I drink bud light. When I give him a six pack of Bud he says I am “over paying “ by giving him fancy beer all the time. So I thrownin the blue ribbon from time to time. On his Birthday I gave him Bud Platinum. I thought that 60 year old man was going to cry. He said it was the fanciest gift anyone had even given him.
 
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JWB

JWB

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You would get beer from me. I drink bud light. When I give him a six pack of Bud he says I am “over paying “ by giving him fancy beer all the time. So I thrownin the blue ribbon from time to time. On his Birthday I gave him Bud Platinum. I thought that 60 year old man was going to cry. He said it was the fanciest gift anyone had even given him.
Wow!
 
JWB

JWB

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I put the plow on as soon as I got home, and drove it around a little bit- not as bad as I feared- having the tires pumped up really does make a big difference. They're still calling for 5-8 in. of wet snow and sleet- it's gonna be a mess. I'm hoping it won't pile up on the roads too much due to all the rain today, and above freezing temps... man, I am so ready for winter to be over!
 
Smitty335

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I put the plow on as soon as I got home, and drove it around a little bit- not as bad as I feared- having the tires pumped up really does make a big difference. They're still calling for 5-8 in. of wet snow and sleet- it's gonna be a mess. I'm hoping it won't pile up on the roads too much due to all the rain today, and above freezing temps... man, I am so ready for winter to be over!
Me too!
 
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Ragincajun92

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JWB

JWB

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I did end up plowing some snow yesterday, and the spool really wasn't the problem I thought it might be- still heavy steering, and requires more thought, but still worth the trade-off vs that stupid open differential. It just took a little planning to avoid having to make hard turns in 4wd, and in one tight spot on pavement, it just required an extra 'point' in the turn around to avoid loading the steering too much. As far as pushing.... I'm not gonna keep going on and on about the difference in traction cuz it sounds like I'm exaggerating, but if you've ever driven a track-loader, or dozer, the machine now has that 'feel' to it....
 
Hondatoy

Hondatoy

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Total newbie to Forum. I purchased a Honda Foreman 500 a couple years ago with electric locking diff. I also own a Rhino 660 with locking diff. Locking diff on a quad is awesome.... On a side by side, it's a must IMO. I am ready to replace the Rhino with P500. I was kind of shocked to find that they do not come equipped with a locker. It would be a deal breaker for me. I went to the Torq-Master website and found that they still are only listing for the Can-Am. Is there an ETA on this product being available to purchase? Sorry, if it's already been covered.
 
jay_man81

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Torq Master is about to send out a few limited lockers for testing to make sure there are no issues that need addressed. Once everything clears and any refinements that may need made are made, they will go into full production. No official date yet but I’m guessing mid summer.
 
JWB

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I did a bunch of vids today to demonstrate the improvement the spool has made, and of course, I had to show off the the suspension a bit too. Unfortunately, I finally broke a component on my machine. One of the upper control arm mounts started to tear away from the frame. Apparently this has been slowly bending and changing my front alignment. I thought that the spool was just accentuating the wierdness I've been starting to notice over the last hundred miles or so, but apparently locking the front diff. just finished it off. After a brief inspection I found that both of the top rear mounts aren't particularly well supported, and the one that has pulled away, had a really poor weld holding it to the frame. Won't be a big deal to fix, but I'm going to investigate the possibility of adding some additional support to that particular area. Here's the link to the folder in my one-drive account... enjoy the vids- be sure to cut the old fat guy a bit o slack- he's a newbee to the video thing;).. I numbered them all, but they didn't upload in the correct order, so if you do them in order they will make sense...kinda..... Here's the Link: JWB vids
EDIT: I took these vids down- ran out of space but I still have them and can re-post a link.
 
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JWB

JWB

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Total newbie to Forum. I purchased a Honda Foreman 500 a couple years ago with electric locking diff. I also own a Rhino 660 with locking diff. Locking diff on a quad is awesome.... On a side by side, it's a must IMO. I am ready to replace the Rhino with P500. I was kind of shocked to find that they do not come equipped with a locker. It would be a deal breaker for me. I went to the Torq-Master website and found that they still are only listing for the Can-Am. Is there an ETA on this product being available to purchase? Sorry, if it's already been covered.
Welcome to the forum! Check out the vids, and I completely agree with you on the locking front diff., and so do alot of other P500 owners!
 
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Gassygordo

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I did a bunch of vids today to demonstrate the improvement the spool has made, and of course, I had to show off the the suspension a bit too. Unfortunately, I finally broke a component on my machine. One of the upper control arm mounts started to tear away from the frame. Apparently this has been slowly bending and changing my front alignment. I thought that the spool was just accentuating the wierdness I've been starting to notice over the last hundred miles or so, but apparently locking the front diff. just finished it off. After a brief inspection I found that both of the top rear mounts aren't particularly well supported, and the one that has pulled away, had a really poor weld holding it to the frame. Won't be a big deal to fix, but I'm going to investigate the possibility of adding some additional support to that particular area. Here's the link to the folder in my one-drive account... enjoy the vids- be sure to cut the old fat guy a bit o slack- he's a newbee to the video thing;).. I numbered them all, but they didn't upload in the correct order, so if you do them in order they will make sense...kinda..... Here's the Link: JWB vids
Those are GREAT videos. THANKS!
 
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Seg

Seg

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I did a bunch of vids today to demonstrate the improvement the spool has made, and of course, I had to show off the the suspension a bit too. Unfortunately, I finally broke a component on my machine. One of the upper control arm mounts started to tear away from the frame. Apparently this has been slowly bending and changing my front alignment. I thought that the spool was just accentuating the wierdness I've been starting to notice over the last hundred miles or so, but apparently locking the front diff. just finished it off. After a brief inspection I found that both of the top rear mounts aren't particularly well supported, and the one that has pulled away, had a really poor weld holding it to the frame. Won't be a big deal to fix, but I'm going to investigate the possibility of adding some additional support to that particular area. Here's the link to the folder in my one-drive account... enjoy the vids- be sure to cut the old fat guy a bit o slack- he's a newbee to the video thing;).. I numbered them all, but they didn't upload in the correct order, so if you do them in order they will make sense...kinda..... Here's the Link: JWB vids
thanks for taking the time to do the videos!!! Finally we can see what this machine is supposed to be capable of!
 
hondasrule

hondasrule

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I did a bunch of vids today to demonstrate the improvement the spool has made, and of course, I had to show off the the suspension a bit too. Unfortunately, I finally broke a component on my machine. One of the upper control arm mounts started to tear away from the frame. Apparently this has been slowly bending and changing my front alignment. I thought that the spool was just accentuating the wierdness I've been starting to notice over the last hundred miles or so, but apparently locking the front diff. just finished it off. After a brief inspection I found that both of the top rear mounts aren't particularly well supported, and the one that has pulled away, had a really poor weld holding it to the frame. Won't be a big deal to fix, but I'm going to investigate the possibility of adding some additional support to that particular area. Here's the link to the folder in my one-drive account... enjoy the vids- be sure to cut the old fat guy a bit o slack- he's a newbee to the video thing;).. I numbered them all, but they didn't upload in the correct order, so if you do them in order they will make sense...kinda..... Here's the Link: JWB vids

Love the videos JWB
I am so glad your having fun with the spool. i am having a blast with mine too. waiting for the nicer weather to do some mud bogging videos.. still minus 9 here :( stay tuned...
cheers
 
pFive

pFive

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Hey @JWB , you don't think that the added strain of the locked up front end caused that to tear do you?
 
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JWB

JWB

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Hey @JWB , you don't think that the added strain of the locked up front end caused that to tear do you?
I don't think it caused it- in fact I'm going to just state flatly that it didn't cause it. My last trip to H/M trails, I noticed that my front wheels seemed to be 'toed-out' more than I thought was normal, but I was thinking that It was being caused by the ride height I had the suspension set at, and I also noticed that it was getting a little 'darty' or 'twitchy' when I was road ripping on the pavement- just figured it was time for an new steering rack cuz I had previously torn a rack boot- didn't notice it, and had subsequently gotten the rack full of dirt....
It may also have been causing the heaviness I was feeling due to the alignment getting progressively worse as the mount moved...
I will say that between the spool, snow plowing with the spool, then doing all the demo's definitely finished the job of pulling it out of place completely.
I'll try to get some good pics when I fix it, but it's hard to get the camera in there right now. I can clearly see where the weld broke on the back-side. The weld was a real turd- no penetration, and no bigger than a pencil in diameter- basically a poor spot-weld.
I'm gonna try to get the machine in the shop next weekend, but we're getting really busy quick- boat shop in spring.... so it may not happen that fast.
 
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JWB

JWB

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Something I forgot to mention in the videos. When backing down a steep hill without the spool, or having the front diff locked, the machine tends to lock up one of the front wheels, and it causes the front to start sliding around and get you sideways on the hill. If you haven't experienced that- trust me, it's no fun, and makes it completely uncontrollable with an open diff, backing down a steep hill.
With spool- front diff locked, it ties all four wheels together (obviously) so they all have to turn at the same speed, and that means you have complete braking control, making it way easier to back down a steep hill safely. Big, big difference.
 

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