
Best UTV Side x Side oil and drive-train fluids
This is why I like and trust Amsoil as my go-to fluids:
In today’s market, there are so many options on all your fluid needs for your Side x Side. Every one of them claiming to do and be the best on the market for your needs.
A lot of them are the major name brands, which have millions of dollars spent on advertising to get you to buy their product Then there are the brands which you have never heard of, also claiming to be the best.
I have been in the auto and side x side business all of my life, and have serviced 1,000s if not 100,000s of vehicles and UTVs with all of them needing drivetrain fluids.
In both the side x sides and the automobiles we drive on a daily basis, they are all mistreated and have been neglected on your servicing.
What works in the automobile field is not relevant in the side x side environment on your drivetrain fluids.
Here are some of the major differences – automobile vs. Side x Side:
Trucks & Cars
- Automobiles spend most of their working life on paved roads.
- Automobiles driving on paved roads do not have a major amount of dirt getting into the air filter, requiring maintenance on the air filter maybe once or twice a year.
- Automobiles usually do not drive through a couple of feet of water on a regular basis.
- Automobiles are subject to extreme heat with a larger amount of hours spent driving and towing heavy loads on long terrain, which, in turn, will cause oil breakdown.
Side X Sides
- Side x Sides drive most of their life on dirt and very dusty roads.
- Side x Sides air filters will get more dirt in them in one day than a car might get in one year.
- Side x Sides air filters need servicing after every trip, and if not, you will pay an expensive price in the near future, easily exceeding $2,000.00.
- Side x Sides drive through several feet of water on a regular basis, with the owner trying to find this condition to power through on purpose.
- Side x Sides engine oil is subject to extreme heat in large part due to very high RPMs.
Side x Sides climb very steep and long embankments, causing extreme heat build-up.

Amsoil designed fluid for the Side X Side UTV

UTV fluid from Amsoil
With this all said, you cannot even determine when your Side x Side will need its oil and filter changed. With your mindset with owning an automobile, it is not even apples to apples.
So, when should you service your Side x Side engine oil and filter? This depends on several conditions.
How often do you service your air filter? If you do not service your air filter on a per-ride basis or have a particle separator in place, you will be changing oil three times as much as the guy who services his air filter on a per-ride basis.
On Side X Sides the air filter is the biggest factor on how often your engine oil needs servicing. If your air filter is always full of dirt, I will guarantee dirt is getting past the filter and into the intake, and then into the engine and oil, causing wear and contamination in the oil.
So, if you do not service your air filter as often as the engine oil, you will need servicing possibly three times as much as someone running the particle separator.
The owner’s manual on all of your Side X Side UTVs has a section that talks about when to service your fluids. They have to put something there, so all they can do is add what they think would be satisfactory enough to get you through the end of any warranty period.
The conditions and maintenance schedule of everybody is completely different and this is what determines how often it should be serviced. Error on the side of changing too often, rather than not enough.
The reason I prefer Amsoil and is what is used at UTV Service:
- They have specific fluid for all your Side X Sides and they are easy to find on the website amsoil.com.
- They love the UTV and ATV market, and perform specific testing for our field, with test results and videos of what they do to the UTVs under extreme conditions.
- They have videos and tutorials on what Ethanol fuel does in regular fuel and why it is so hard on the UTV Side X Side.
- They have a magazine that comes out once a month with some specific articles about UTVs.
- They are always trying to make their products better and easier to get.
Any product that gets directly involved with the UTV field and helps us gain knowledge in specific areas of the UTV business, helps educate me and my customers to keep your expensive side x side running as long as possible before any major repair is needed. This is reasoning enough for me to promote and want their fluids in my personal UTV.
If you need your UTV Side X Side serviced, give us a call or email and let’s get it in, and know that it will have Amsoil fluids in all the drivetrain.
Till we ride again!

Owner of UTV Service specializing in shocks and suspension.
I have always loved making cars and now UTV’s run and handle there best. I do not believe in taking short cuts and when something comes along that does not fit my values I will not sell or back that product.
Business owner for over 35 years. 3-Time Nascar short track champion at our local race track Rocky Mountain Raceway in Salt Lake City, Utah
UTV’s owned
2017 Polaris XPT 2-Seat Turbo-Current
2015 Polaris XP1000 -Sold
2011 Polaris RZR 800- Sold