Suspension wise, the DFR kit...
Suspension wise, the DFR kit works amazingly well everywhere from berms to whoops to landing off jumps.
Long travel was a must for this project, and all of our research pointed us toward Dragonfire Racing's (DFR) Black Magic +6" kit. The kit features lightweight, chromoly-plated, boxed A-arms; 300M axles; and Elka shocks with travel exceeding 13 inches. In order to run the +6" kit, DFR insisted we use their gusset kit which relocates the rear shock towers and gussets all of the suspension's pick-up points. The kit also ties the front and rear bulkhead together, stiffens the chassis and prevents both front bulkhead and rear shock tower failure. The fact that the DFR kit comes with Elka shocks was a huge bonus for us, since the last RZR we built uses the same shocks and we love them.
Traction
As I've preached in previous articles, no amount of motor can help a machine that won't hook up and produce traction. With that truth in mind, ITP's 25" Holeshot SxS became the obvious choice. Designed to be the ultimate short-course UTV racing tire, the beefy (yet lightweight) 6-ply bias construction of the Holeshots help the machine track straight under "short course-styled" heavy acceleration and braking. The siped (thinly cut) knobs provide more biting edges for great traction and balanced cornering, making them the perfect short course-style tires. We mounted the Holeshots on black ITP C-Series Type 7 beadlock wheels.
Ace mechanic Rick Sosebee...
Ace mechanic Rick Sosebee assembles the Holz Motor with Surgical Precision.
By now we all pretty much know that four- or five-point harnesses, beefed-up rollcages and bumpers are a must for any side-by-side, much less one that's being built for competition. We chose Dragonfire's four-point restraints simply to keep within the DFR theme, and they look and work great. They're available with or without the DFR logos, but we opted for the logos as they look a bit more trick.
The rollcage wasn't nearly as easy for us, as most cage manufacturers are on the West Coast, and shipping was going to run close to $500. Armed with a rudimentary sketch and a head full of ideas, we approached Flex Fab in Cumming, GA. The company's owner, Steve West, is an avid RZR enthusiast himself and was up for the challenge of fabricating a fully custom cage for the project. Bumper duties were split between Speed Industries (front) and DG Performance (rear), while full-body skidplates were supplied by Xtreme Dirt Toyz in Woodstock, GA.
The ITP Holeshots & C Series...
The ITP Holeshots & C Series beadlock wheels provided enough traction to fully appreciate the power of the motor package.
Visually, the RZR is in a class all its own, and the single most inquired about part on the machine is the body-it just turns heads and attracts attention. The FullBore Innovations body kit not only looks trick, it serves a purpose. For starters, it's 4" wider than stock, which helps keep the tires tucked in as opposed to slinging dirt all over the passengers. FullBore's plastic is also highly flexible, which comes in handy if you happen to roll the machine.
The Beard Super TZ seats are not only amazing looking, they're absolutely functional as well with intergraded 4-point harness slots, tons of adjustability, and the ability to set the seat position in the same manner as the OEM seats. The seats are designed solely and specifically for the RZR and are just way more comfortable and offer more containment than stock seats. The TZs are profiled to the RZR's cockpit and are a direct bolt-in. The seat depth makes for a secure feel, which the stock seats simply can't offer.
In the purely fashion department, it was a custom G4 Graphics kit that served as the icing on the cake. The G4 kits have become a staple of our builds solely based on their quality and customer service. Additional "bling" came in the way of custom (home-made) expanded-metal light covers front and rear, a vintage hot-rod shift knob, tons of wire loom, a 13" Grant FX3 steering wheel and a custom steering-wheel height adjuster made by Dave Porter of PRP.
RZRs are notorious for sucking...
RZRs are notorious for sucking dust up into the intake as it's located right in front of the rear tire, but Dragonfire's canister-style intake system remedies this issue with 80% increased airflow.
Hands down the biggest problem we encountered would be the "God Forsaken Axle/ CV Issue." The only one to blame here would be myself and whoever invented axles/CVs in the first place. The axles in this machine hated us from day one,and could easily be responsible for more headaches than anything we've ever encountered. Rather than relive every miserable detail, I'll just give you the solution. When installing a new kit such as ours, buy new CV kits. They're available from various sources (EPI, Polaris, Moose, etc.) and will save you a ton of time. The DFR axles just didn't seem to mate well with our existing used CVs (circlips to be exact), but after repeated attempts to make our old stuff work we threw in the towel, bought new stuff, and lo and behold everything fit perfectly. [Editor's note: Polaris doesn't offer a part number for the rear, drive-side circlips inside the CV joint, but we just found out that Gorilla Axle sells them.]
Another issue we fought was lack of instruction. The DFR gusset kit is in serious need of an "instructions makeover," which DFR says they're working on. The kit itself is shipped pre-assembled, but the second you start installing it and disassembling their pre-assembled parts, it becomes a nightmare. My suggestion would be to keep very close track of the stuff as you disassemble it. Had I realized that prior to starting, I would've saved tons of time and gray hair. Another gusset kit issue was discovered when trying to install our Muzzys exhaust. Some extensive modification was necessary in order to get the two parts to play nicely together.