If you want your rig to take care of you, it is crucial that you first take care of it. And this means conducting the right maintenance procedures at the right intervals. Everything from air filters to spark plugs need to be checked and changed periodically, and if these protocols aren't conducted, the results are guaranteed to be detrimental. Regardless of whether you do your own vehicle maintenance or if you take your bike in to have it checked out by the mechanic at the dealer, here are the maintenance schedules for Polaris RZR side-by-sides as well as some other tips related to servicing, upkeep, and vehicle preservation!

Maintenance Schedule For The Polaris RZR PRO XP

Maintenance Schedule For The Polaris RZR XP Turbo

Maintenance Schedule For The Polaris RZR XP Turbo S

Maintenance Schedule For The Polaris RZR Trail

Maintenance Schedule For The Polaris RZR Trail S

Maintenance Schedule For The Polaris RZR Trail S 1000

Maintenance Schedule For The Polaris RZR XP 1000

Maintenance Schedule For The Polaris RZR 170

Oil Changes

When changing the engine oil, differential oil, and transmission oil in your Razor, make sure to check both the color of the oil as well as the magnetic drain plug for contaminants. It’s normal to see some fine particles stuck to the magnet, but if you see bigger chunks of metal, this is usually indicative of a problem that requires immediate attention. You typically see more contaminants on the first few oil changes, but it’s not uncommon to still get small, sand-like fragments of metal on your magnetic drain plug after 5,000 miles or more.

Air Filters

Regarding air filters, the servicing periods will be greatly extended after installing products like pre-filters and particle separators. K&N makes a pre-filter that slides over the stock-size air filter, but it does restrict airflow slightly, which is why many riders instead opt for particle separators like the ones by S&B. Washable foam (oiled gauze) air filters for the Polaris RZR are also an option, but they allow fine dust to pass through which leads to long-term engine problems. Additionally, the oil on such reusable UTV air filters can also coat sensors in the intake path on fuel-injected vehicles, causing error codes to be thrown erroneously and reducing performance in other ways.

A simple finger swipe of the intake tubes will show you that your engine is eating grit with a foam filter. Ergo, paper air filters are advised for any vehicle that sees its fair share of dust and dirt. Furthermore, paper air filters for the Polaris RZR also help to prevent the engine from hydrolocking. Unlike foam filters, which allow water to pass through and get swallowed by the engine, paper filters saturate with water and choke the engine off from oxygen before serious water damage occurs.

Cleaning Your Belt And Clutches

To prolong the life of your clutch system, it’s important to keep the belt, the primary clutch, and the secondary clutch clean. Many riders hit the area where the belt rides on the clutch rollers with brake cleaner and a Scotch Brite pad, and checking the spider nut on the primary to ensure that it’s tight is a smart thing to do as well.

Before you do anything, however, after removing the clutch cover, make sure to blow out all the dust with an air compressor, a leaf blower, or the exhaust side of a shop vacuum. Do this even if everything looks clean, as big pockets of dust and dirt will build up in places that aren’t visible from the outside. By using a blow gun while simultaneously rotating the primary – only in the direction the engine runs, not backwards – you’ll hit pockets of dust that you would have otherwise missed. And for good measure, you should blow out the two exhaust ports on your clutches as well.

Checking Your Brake Pads

Look for uneven wear when inspecting your vehicle’s brake pads, and if you notice that one side of a pad is less worn than the other, you might need to grease the slide pins on the brake caliper. If you do a lot of water / mud riding, sintered brake pads will hold up better in moist and abrasive conditions. Or if you ride mostly hills, trails, and woods, brass brake pads could be your best bet – although they aren't the best for high-speed situations.

Flushing your brake fluid regularly can also help prolong the life of your brake pads, and by running mud flaps on the rear trailing arms that prevent roost shot out by the front tires from hitting the rear brake pads, you’ll stop a lot of dirt and sand from getting in and destroying your pads.

Belt Break-in Period

If you want break-in advice, you should follow the instructions outlined in the owner’s manual. Typically, for the first little bit, you should take things relatively easy. A slow break in is best for the sheaves, as it keeps you from blistering the belt surface and allows the belt to slowly polish the surface for maximum grip on the sheaves. It’s also advised that you always drive around slowly to warm the belt up before hammering it. Further, you can also install a belt temp gauge to monitor the conditions in the belt housing – the ones by Razorback Offroad are great for this!

General Break-In Advise

If you’ve got a brand new machine, it’s advised that you baby it for the first five hours, and then don’t do anything crazy for the next 20 hours. Sure you can get on it a little, but never hold it at the same speed for too long during the break-in period. To be safe, though, you should follow the manual – it’s a small price to pay for the longevity of your machine. A lot of people will tell you that they gunned it from the get go and everything was fine. But you’ll find even more people complaining about their “junk machine” that broke down due to little more than carelessness and user error.