Back in 2014 when the Polaris XP 1000 was introduced, the secondary clutch used a round roller. Owners started complaining of the rollers flat spotting and causing issues, so in 2016 Polaris changed the design and started using flat rollers instead. An unintended consequence of this change is that it created a more expensive problem. It started wearing the aluminum secondary itself.
Enter Hunterworks out of Collinsville, MS with a solution.
Hunterworks experimented with many different materials to come up with a solution for the problems that plagued the 14-15 model year Polaris UTVs. They adapted that design into a larger round roller that fits the opening of the flat sliding design in the 2016+ models. Installation is fairly simple with the correct tools and will save you a ton of money in the long run. Different models will have very slight differences, but the overall installation is pretty much the same.
First you need to remove your clutch cover. It helps to remove the clutch vent tubes and get them out of the way as well. The clutch cover screws and hose clamps are all 8mm. If you want to remove the frame clamp to completely move the tube, that bolt is 10mm. Remove the 15mm bolt holding the secondary on and the clutch should come out. If it does not, we’ve found that partially threading it back into place and giving the bolt head a few taps with a deadblow will help break it loose.
Once the secondary is removed, place your secondary on your work bench and use a clutch compression tool to put some pressure to keep the spring from popping out. The helix has a spring that will become a dangerous projectile. Don’t remove it without a way to retain this.
Also, on the back of your secondary you will see two molded “X” marks on the secondary. Theses clutches are balanced from the factory and must be put back together in the same position, so be sure to note and mark the locations for later re-assembly.
Depending on your model, there will be four or five T25 torx bolts with lock-tite holding it in. You must apply heat to the bolts to minimize the risk of stripping out the torx heads. After removing the bolts, release the pressure on the spring with your clutch compression tool.
Once the spring and helix are removed, you will next want to knock through the two roll pins on the inside of the clutch with a 1/8″ punch. You don’t have to remove them completely, just enough to be able to pull out the roller retainers. Be sure to contain your work area so that you don’t lose these pins if you do knock them all the way through. They will be re-used. Once they’re out of the way, rotate the roller retainer back and forth while pulling to remove the factory flat slider.
Once the retainers are out, simply slide the old roller off and put the new round rollers on. With the roller retainers out, the clutch sheaves can be separated and it is a great time to clean the clutch as good as possible, remove any residues and lightly scuff the aluminum belt contact surface with a fine grit abrasive pad. Do not use any grease or oils on the clutches!
Finally, re-install the new rollers, put the roll pins back in place, tighten down the spring and helix and lock-tite the T25 torx bolts and put back on to your machine and you’re done!
We want to tell a little more about our side note on the type of torx bits we ended up using on this. Our traditional torx bit broke when attempting to remove the torx bolts. We were fortunate that we didn’t have to drill it out. We simply used a little heat and the broken off part fell out. We’ve discovered that the hardened traditional bits can be too brittle for jobs like this one, especially the smaller sized ones. Dewalt and a couple of other companies make the FlexTorq bits for jobs that are likely to break other bits. We highly recommend them.
