Weighed My Setup Today

[Cummins12V98]

There is lots more to towing than down the freeway in top gear. I'm sorry you don't get that .

Sorry for sidetracking your threadTFucili.

Not listening I guess. 5th with 3.42's are the same RPM's in 6th with 4.10's.

PLEASE explain what 4.10's "WITH" AISIN will gain you over 3.42's?

 

[Cummins12V98]

Off highway, the 4.10's are a win win.

PLEASE explain why? Cummins engine with 3.42's and AISIN in a SRW will turn those wheels like no ones business.

Have you guys driven a truck with AISIN? I wish I could lock out 1st its so low when bobtail. My son's 3500 SRW along with OVERSIZED tires CHITS N GETS. Loaded or unloaded he has zero complaints with performance on/off and towing. If he was not happy he would have swapped out the gears long ago.

 

[Cummins12V98]

JR I realize you have the 3.42's with 68rfe, that combo may be more of an issue off road I can see that with it's higher starting gears. You want options, the AISIN is an option that will get you better off road performance in low gears.

 

[NIsaacs]

It's also about down hill, with 3.73's you ride the brakes on roads like this and 1st gear low range 4x4 up hill, the transmission and coolant gets hot. My son said I should have used 2nd so the converter would lock. I am used to my NV5600, lol Not a very good 4th gen driver.

 

[mpaulson]

If you pull in any soft soils or road surfaces anymore than just pulling into a driveway, the 4.10 with the Aisin DO make a big difference. You can never have too much low speed torque. You also get better drivability with the 4.10's while loaded because you have closer gear splits as you are splitting 6 gears between your 0-65 speed rather than 5 gears giving you more options for rpm picking. There's a reason big rigs have more gears and running six of them while loaded is an advantage rather than 5 gears if you're always locking out 6th gear. You get better torque multiplication as well putting less stress on the engine and transmission and better engine breaking performance. I have never regretted having 4.10's on my last two trucks and i even went from 3.73 to 4.56 gears on my 07.5 mega cab dually that I had. That thing was like a beast towing. YES, the 3.43's will do the job, BUT!

 

[Cummins12V98]

I agree a 4.10 will be better but is it really going to be all that much better? I would be on one end of the ratios or the other makes no sense to split the difference.

Honestly to do it again even towing 33-35k all the time I may go with the 3.42's with AISIN that combo is rated at 29,300# combined. They don't break as soon as you pass those numbers. Tow in 5th and enjoy much better mileage running BobTail.

If economy is NOT a factor get the 4.10's if possible.

 

[TFucili]

I took a couple shots after loading up to head home today. I cheated the X3 back a few more inches, and still can walk behind it, and maintain some angle on the straps. See where it is relative to the axles.

 

[JR]

I bet that's a blast! Always wanted to run the dunes.
I know your a Cat guy but what do you think about the new Talon?

 

[TFucili]

Time will tell, but not enough horsepower for a serious duner. That rear suspension is odd. It will be a good trail unit. It's sort of a shame that Honda lost their killer instinct quite a while ago, especially after Mr. Honda died. Their powersports line is ho-hum at best.

On Edit: You'll notice that is not a Cat in my trailer. They totally lost their way with poor management, then Textron scraped up what was left, and they are worse yet, management-wise. I am glad to be out of that racket.

 

[JR]

I was a die hard Honda guy in their hay day. Had most of the big boys, trx 250r, atc 250r and 350x, cr 250, I bled red for a lot of years. Still got my old rincon for beating around the property. I wish they would build a sport 4x to compete with the Renegade and Scrambler, I'd be on one in a minute. My renegade xxc is a blast on the trails but reliability just sucks. One hard week at Hatfield or Wayne or wherever else costs me alot of wrench time. I can't tell you how many times I've gone through the front end. OEM brake pads aren't good much past a few weekends so I been experimenting with aftermarket stuff. It eats one way bearings in the primary like crazy - although I think I found a set that seems to be holding up alot better than the brp stuff.
The rotax is strong but the bike around it could be much improved. Thats what I miss about Honda - OEM parts were and continue to be top notch. Thats not the case with brp, at least from my experiences.

 

[TFucili]

I'm with you on BRP. Single shear mounts everywhere, everything super thin stampings. I would not have given them a second look until they finally put the Smart-Lok setup in the X3. Visco-Lok is a joke. The turbo R triple is 172 hp stock, so good for dunes. It has lots of travel, but the factory setup is so far off the mark it is horrendous. $2K in suspension tuning by a tuning genius, and now it is amazing. Even the X3 is made out of tin foil. I had to totally redo the front end and install gussets and shock tower bracing, as they fold up on hard hits, and rip the a-arm tabs out of the frame, because they are single shear.

 

[Jeff Knight]

Honda has a new sport sxs called the Talon coming out soon.

 

[TFucili]

Honda has a new sport sxs called the Talon coming out soon.

It looks like a decent trail unit, but not enough horsepower for the dunes, or serious desert runners. After taking so long to enter the sport segment, I was disappointed that Honda didn't learn from the mistakes of others, and chose to use single shear suspension pickup points almost everywhere. I hope they have improved their DCT transmission, which had some issues in the Pioneer.

 

[JR]

The Pioneer and Big Red is the most popular utility UTV by far around here . Lots of farmers use them and prefer them due to the DTC over the belt. Of the ones i know I've not heard of any issues. They just seem to run in true Honda fashion.
Not that it's indicative of anything, but the Forest Service up by my folks cabin in Wyoming runs a few of the Big Reds. My brother is friends with one of them and he (the Ranger) had stopped in at the cabin for a few minutes to shoot the breeze. We got to talking about his rig which looked pretty rough - it had just turned 30k miles! No major engine/transmission overhauls. Most of this from running service roads. Not abusive by any means. But impressive none the less to see a UTV with so many miles under its belt.

 

[JR]

It looks like a decent trail unit, but not enough horsepower for the dunes, or serious desert runners. After taking so long to enter the sport segment, I was disappointed that Honda didn't learn from the mistakes of others, and chose to use single shear suspension pickup points almost everywhere. I hope they have improved their DCT transmission, which had some issues in the Pioneer.

Im interested in seeing some real world feed back. If the numbers i saw are correct the Talon has over 100 lb ft torque which puts it up there with the turbo motors . I know that doesn't make up for the HP deficit but i bet it won't be as big as expected with a real 6 speed transmission to put the power to the ground

 

[TFucili]

The Pioneer and Big Red is the most popular utility UTV by far around here . Lots of farmers use them and prefer them due to the DTC over the belt. Of the ones i know I've not heard of any issues. They just seem to run in true Honda fashion.
Not that it's indicative of anything, but the Forest Service up by my folks cabin in Wyoming runs a few of the Big Reds. My brother is friends with one of them and he (the Ranger) had stopped in at the cabin for a few minutes to shoot the breeze. We got to talking about his rig which looked pretty rough - it had just turned 30k miles! No major engine/transmission overhauls. Most of this from running service roads. Not abusive by any means. But impressive none the less to see a UTV with so many miles under its belt.

They had an issue with smoking clutches, and there was a fix issued to improve oiling to the clutch pack. Some of this was due to people not using low range, but not all of it. People who did serious trail riding, like easier parts of Moab had serious issues on steep climbs, even in low range. They also have an overheating issue that is being kept quiet. The fan may cycle a while, then the ECU simply refuses to turn the fan on again, and they boil over. If you shut it off and restart it the fan will resume cycling for a while.

Don't take me wrong, but having been in the industry Honda gets a free pass on many issues. Are they a good unit? You bet! Are they miraculously trouble free? Not so much.