Tech Tues | Top Five UTV Maintenance Tips

Remember the Zerks

Rocky Mountain ATV/MC compiled the top-five preventative-maintenance tips for keeping your machine running at its best.

These are the top-five categories to consider when you are doing the maintenance on your UTV. A 2014 Polaris RZR is used in the video, but these tips are general enough to apply to most UTVs. Here’s the video:

Top 5 UTV Maintenance Tips

#1 – Joints and Fittings

Zerk fittings, a.k. grease fittings, located at most of the pivot points require periodic lubrication. You’ll find them around the A-arms, the sway bars, and the driveline connections. Your service manual usually suggests the recommended type of grease. While you are greasing the zerks, give the high-wear items—like ball joints, bushings and bearings—a once over.

#2 – Air Filter

UTVs are exposed to more dust and dirt, so take a peek at the air filter more often. It’s how your machine breathes. Consider a pre-filter (pictured above), especially if you ride the dunes. A pre-filter goes around your existing air filter and offers an additional layer of protection against fine particles of dirt.

#3 – Engine Oil and Other Fluids

Changing the oil is a no-brainer. If you race or ride your machine hard, you may want to swap out or top-off the oil, coolant and other fluids more often.

#4 – Drive Belt

To extend the life of your belt, make sure anyone who’s behind the wheel knows how to propoerly operate the vehicle. Think about the fact that many of the pro racers put in a new belt before every race. While you are inspecting your belt, use some compressed air to clean off the dust in and around the area. You may as well make sure the clutch doesn’t have any obvious issues either.

#5 – Brakes

In addition to checking the brake pads, look for grooves on the rotors and follow along the routing of the brake lines to make sure they are still secured in and don’t have any holes. Get a visual look at the brake fluid. Service intervals for replacing the brake fluid is usually two years. Since brake fluid is hygroscopic, some will say that even an unopened container of brake fluid can go bad. Nevertheless, if you choose to hold onto a partial bottle, mark the date that you opened it with a Sharpie.