Totally Brand New to the World of UTV's

[smcrea]

Hi,

My Family and I just returned from a vacation where we were frustrated by the fact that we were not able to access interesting places via off road tracks even in our 4WD SUV. However we saw folks happily going through in UTV's.

So We decided that it maybe a nice idea to get a UTV especially as we are also in the market to replace our travel trailer with a 5th wheel Toy Hauler.

We need to seat 5 people. Admittedly our 4 year old boy could possible squash in between his sisters on the back seat of a 4 seater, but 4 year old boys have a habit of growing into 6' teenagers rather quickly, so we want to plan for seating 5 full sized adults.

We DO NOT want a high performance top of the market hot rod with all the features!!!!.. I want to be be very clear on that!

The budget is sub $12K, just need something to get us to the top of the mountain and carry our picnic! If it does this at a snails pace then no problem!

As I mentioned we're also buying a Toy hauler. I see that a lot of toy haulers have a 12' garage. I was looking at the Polaris 800 ranger and that is 12' long.. this is a tight squeeze!.. it would be nice if we could find a 5/6 seater that was 11' 11" LOL! If not then we'll need to start looking at Toy Haulers with 14' garage.

Also..

We live in Kalifornia but most trips are out of state. I understand that in order to take this on public roads it would need plates. Unfortunately KA does not allow them on the road and DMV won't issue plates. Does anyone have work arounds that we can register somewhere else and get plates so when we are lets say camping in Utah we can go to the local convenience store in it rather than firing up the truck!

Another question: talking about trucks.. is it possible to tow the UTV rather than put it on the bed? If we want to explore a place off road and that place is lets say 40 miles from our camp site then we need to get the UTV to the trailhead. We've seen trucks with the UTV in the bed but nobody towing? It seems to be taht towing one to the place of adventure would be preferable. Can someone advise?

Sorry for all the dumb questions, but like I said, this is my first exploration into the world of UTV's :-)

Thanks,

Steve

[nocturnalsixer]

I have only experience with my only one utv i owned it's 2 seater and its about 15' long... but with Google search there's the ranger pursuit that seats 5

http://www.polaris.com/en-us/ranger-utv/6-seater/ranger-crew-800-polaris-pursuit-camo/

Also there's ode's that i heard is very good but a bit problem of backseat getting hot in summer..it seats 5 at 11k brand new

http://www.odesutvs.com/ODES_800cc_DOMINATOR_5_Seater_4_Door_UTV_p/odes8004.htm

There's also hisun 5seater but from what i heard its a clone of i believe Polaris... but not as good quality as Polaris... again remember i only heard this so it's hearsay i don't know anything else about those

This is where i heard about odes hot back seat issue...

http://www.utvboard.com/index.php?/topic/2972-2013-Dominator-800cc-EFI---ODES-UTVS-is-Doing-BIG-THINGS#entry17322

2013 Dominator 800cc EFI - ODES UTVS is Doing BIG THINGS

Utv is lot of fun to me to go trail riding and to cram it in back of pick up i have seen people do that it barely fit in a long box with the tailgate down it looks like very very tight fit to me lol.

Also welcome to the world of utv i hope you find something and enjoy it a lot with your family!

My best advice is to go out and look at those models and test drive and test drive again and maybe find someone near u or friend, somebody that would let you ride or drive their utv!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[smcrea]

I have only experience with my only one utv i owned it's 2 seater and its about 15' long... but with Google search there's the ranger pursuit that seats 5

http://www.polaris.com/en-us/ranger-utv/6-seater/ranger-crew-800-polaris-pursuit-camo/

Also there's ode's that i heard is very good but a bit problem of backseat getting hot in summer..it seats 5 at 11k brand new

http://www.odesutvs.com/ODES_800cc_DOMINATOR_5_Seater_4_Door_UTV_p/odes8004.htm

There's also hisun 5seater but from what i heard its a clone of i believe Polaris... but not as good quality as Polaris... again remember i only heard this so it's hearsay i don't know anything else about those

This is where i heard about odes hot back seat issue...

http://www.utvboard.com/index.php?/topic/2972-2013-Dominator-800cc-EFI---ODES-UTVS-is-Doing-BIG-THINGS#entry17322

2013 Dominator 800cc EFI - ODES UTVS is Doing BIG THINGS

Utv is lot of fun to me to go trail riding and to cram it in back of pick up i have seen people do that it barely fit in a long box with the tailgate down it looks like very very tight fit to me lol.

Also welcome to the world of utv i hope you find something and enjoy it a lot with your family!

My best advice is to go out and look at those models and test drive and test drive again and maybe find someone near u or friend, somebody that would let you ride or drive their utv!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

I have only experience with my only one utv i owned it's 2 seater and its about 15' long... but with Google search there's the ranger pursuit that seats 5

http://www.polaris.com/en-us/ranger-utv/6-seater/ranger-crew-800-polaris-pursuit-camo/

Also there's ode's that i heard is very good but a bit problem of backseat getting hot in summer..it seats 5 at 11k brand new

http://www.odesutvs.com/ODES_800cc_DOMINATOR_5_Seater_4_Door_UTV_p/odes8004.htm

There's also hisun 5seater but from what i heard its a clone of i believe Polaris... but not as good quality as Polaris... again remember i only heard this so it's hearsay i don't know anything else about those

This is where i heard about odes hot back seat issue...

http://www.utvboard.com/index.php?/topic/2972-2013-Dominator-800cc-EFI---ODES-UTVS-is-Doing-BIG-THINGS#entry17322

2013 Dominator 800cc EFI - ODES UTVS is Doing BIG THINGS

Utv is lot of fun to me to go trail riding and to cram it in back of pick up i have seen people do that it barely fit in a long box with the tailgate down it looks like very very tight fit to me lol.

Also welcome to the world of utv i hope you find something and enjoy it a lot with your family!

My best advice is to go out and look at those models and test drive and test drive again and maybe find someone near u or friend, somebody that would let you ride or drive their utv!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Thanks for the feedback.. this is VERY useful!.. the bummer that I'm finding is that all the e 5 or 6 seaters are 12.0xxxx ft long. A lot of the Toy hauler models have exactly 12' garages. I've talked to the helpful folks at heartland RV and they said that the fit would be to tight and when they say a 12' garage they mean 12 FEET!.. no wiggle room!

However I'm seeing a 14' garage that would work and leaves the UTV selection open.

Also can you or anyone tell me about towing the UTV without a trailer? is it possible to lock the steering and use a tow bar. Also can you connect the wiring from the tow vehicle to the UTV for brake lights and signals or would you have to make your own jig or maybe they sell them?

As you mentioned.. putting it on the bed of the truck is a poor option!

Thanks

[nocturnalsixer]

I wonder if its the tires that stick out the 12'? I would see about deflating the tires a bit to make it shorter if its possible but air up before you drive it out and deflate after u get in if you must get the rv with 12' garage... personally i would just go for 14' then i could put a bit more cargo in there like lawn chairs and etc...

I don't know of anyone or any way to tow the utv's...with my utv and possibly all other utv...i can't lock my steering at all.. wiring is a nightmare since mine was from China. I don't know if cvt contiously variable transmission (belt driven automatic) can be towed but i imagine maybe yes but at long period of time and at high speed...i wouldn't chance it myself... hopefully someone else here will chime in.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[lniefer]

I have purchased 2013 800cc dominator 2 seater. 19 hours, it has a over heating issue and now a fuel relay or pump has quit. Support dealers have not been helpful. I contacted texas because the dealer in alberta said there was a dealer in BC but texas could not help me with this. If I has a chance I would have choosen a machine that has been around long that was more reliable. There is another odes owner having the same issues with 57 hours on his machine and has replaces water pump, thermistate, relays, and had to buy the parts and the company still has not refunded him the cost. so the warranty is not good. Remember Odes only has 3 months warranty on labour from factory but the dealers say zero on labour. but that parts are 6 months. so if you do like I did, bought it and didn't use it for the first month and a bit, now the three months is up and there isn't any warranty except on engine parts. So I will keep every one up to date on the problems are resolved, and the service I can find on this brand.

[smcrea]

It sounds like it's best to pend the extra $1500 and get a Polaris!!

I'm still struggling with figuring out how to get the UTV from camp site to fun site!... this is a deal breaker and may terminate my plans if I can't figure it out!

Considering that I will have a hitch in the back of my truck then just driving the 12' UTV into the bed and leaving the butt sticking out isn't an option. If I could just raise it above the hitch then I would be OK. Any ideas? I was looking at the diamond back truck cover, bit that simply makes the situation worse because its not as stable. The width of the truck bed is 62.5" where the width of the Polaris 800 crew is 60" so it will fit with 2.5" to spare. http://www.diamondbackcovers.com/atv-carrier/atv-carrier/packages.php What would work would be a couple of ramps flat on top that were 12' long and would fit in the bed of the truck. This would raise the UTV above the hitch gear. Low tech and probably a lot cheaper

Of course towing would be best but we've discussed that this would damage the UTV. But how about getting a very small folding tow dolly for just the front wheels?.. would that work? has anyone done this or has ideas?

Thanks again!

[nocturnalsixer]

I don't know About Dolly But How I Seen People Do It Was They Would Drive It Up Into Back Of Truck With Ramps And Back Wheel Would Be On Tailgate And Ramps Would Be On Side In The 2.5" space or under the utv if I remember right but i believe that was an 2 seater though.. that was like two years ago last time i saw that done. Now everybody including me haul it on a flatbed trailer. i just drove into my hometown and back home for fun but my hometown is lax about utv's and ATVs only 1200 people in Small Iowan town... from what i heard some states allow utv on the public roads Iowa unfortunately do not. But im an part time farmer so i just tell the cops I'm going from one work site to other and they are fine with that as long as its not in dark (ughh) i still sneak sometimes but not wise lol. i regret going into courthouse and telling them its an utv and getting atv title when i had an automotive title for the utv to make it street legal!

Edited:

ALSO.....i believe all utv have their share of problems. My trooper have 5 speed manual transmission and locking rear and front diff and 1100cc 4 inline cylinder engine that's what appealed to me the most. I have had to overcome bad fuse block that let water get in and burn out fuses... then i had to work around overheating by buying higher cfm radiator fan and then i got an bigger radiator but i haven't installed the radiator yet... my rear differential blew up so i went for renegade differential instead of trooper for better gear ratio for my 32" mud tires (highlifter outlaw 2 29.5's)

Now I'm going to get electronic fuel jet kit for hp gains and I'm going to replace my outer tie rods and possibly ball joints and wheel bearings. I also broke an rear swingarm but i beefed up the new ones now they are good. My differential also had to be shimmed...tighter tolerance because factory sell them with really loose tolerance and that would cause differential to blow up again.

Overall I'm very happy with my team Joyner trooper 2 seater.. next time i think i probably would go for wildcat or just buy an Jeep XJ (Cherokee) 1989-1998 classic square body and then build it up or buy one already built and built one would be able to go where utv go but jeep are a bit wider. Your other alternative is to get two or three atv's if you feel comfortable with that. I still feel utv can go where ATV can't.. especially the trooper it will go where other utv can't go lol. Other people on Joyner section here and i agree about the t2 being more capable off road than other utvs but wildcat is very nice and rides great and faster from what i heard...

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2