Dual Rate Spring Comparison for 2017 Polaris RZR Turbos

I have done some research on dual-rate spring comparisons with my own 2017 Polaris XTP 2-Seat and my friends Pat Cayton on his 2017 Polaris XPT 2-Seat.

All you have to do is read the magazine articles and many advertising pages to know there is a lot of spring and shock upgrades that can be done to make your UTV ride smoother and have a better experience designed with your particular ride in mind.

Pat and I purchased our Polaris Turbo’s the same time first part of 2017, and this was going to be a game-changer for both of us. We both enjoy the sand dune riding and wanted to have more power while playing on the big sand bowls at the dunes. We both made the dual-rate spring upgrades for our Fox edition turbos. Pat purchased his mid- part of 2017, and I finally purchased my upgrade Christmas of 2017 – my present to myself!

When Pat gets ready to purchase, he extensively researches and watches plenty of videos, and also reads what people have been saying about the products that he is interested in.

Pat decided to go with RT Pro dual-rate spring kit and collars. This kit came with all 8 springs and collars, along with the instructions for installation. He was excited to have these installed and get riding. As soon as they came in, we installed the spring kit according to all the instructions. It looked good, and he was ready to test them out.

I had to wait until I had some extra cash coming in to get my dual-rate spring upgrade package. Finally, I got my dual-rate spring kit. It had been a full year of riding on the stock Fox set up, and I was truly excited to make this upgrade for a better feel on my Polaris. I decided to purchase locally and opt with ZBROS upper spring replacement kit with collars. I had talked with them on the phone and asked why they only recommended the top dual-rate spring for my Polaris Fox edition turbo. They told me that with their testing, they had not noticed any significant improvement changing out the lower springs, so they would save the customers some money in the process – sounded good to me.

Fast forward a season of riding for myself, and Pat had a season and a half on his shock package.

Pat had always told me that he loved the way his suspension handled and felt from day one after the install of the RT Pro suspension package.

I myself could not say the same. There were many rides that were rougher than I had liked, and riding behind other UTV’s, my wife and I could tell ours was not as smooth as theirs.

I only have compression adjustments with the Fox shocks on my ride. I’ve always been comfortable to use the adjustments to improve for the riding conditions we are doing that day. But nothing seemed to help the ride on my Polaris.

I have been purchasing equipment for my UTV shock service business this last 6 months for the purpose of spring and shock servicing and adjusting. For more on the equipment purchased, check out this blog post.

I talk about one of the last fall trips to our local sand dunes in another blog post. This was the day my friend got his back seriously hurt while riding in my Polaris XPT. At this time, I knew something was not right with my suspension, and this would be the drive behind the research.

Our UTV’s have always been checked over and adjusted to height specifications from Polaris. This has always been important to me as a company. You can look at my procedure on this page.

January 2019 we start the research and comparison of both UTV’s dual-rate spring packages and the difference between the two.

Below are the testing and research between the two.

Pat’s Polaris Turbo is named “Black Widow”.
Black Widow – 2017 Polaris XPT 2-Seat Turbo RZR w/RT Pro dual-rate spring kit upper and lower springs

VS.

My Polaris Turbo is named “The Flash”.
The Flash– 2017 Polaris XPT 2-Seat Turbo RZR w/ZBROS dual-rate spring kit upper springs and collars

Black Widow	Location	Left Spring Rate	Right Spring Rate
Front Springs	Upper Spring RT	900 lbs	900 lbs
Front Springs	Lower Spring RT	335 lbs	325 lbs
Rear Springs	Upper Spring RT	260 lbs	260 lbs
Rear Springs	Lower Spring RT	300 lbs	290 lbs

The Flash	Location	Right Spring Rate	Left Spring Rate
Front Spring	Upper Spring ZBROS	1500 lbs	1500 lbs
Front Spring	Lower Spring Fox	250 lbs	250 lbs
Rear Spring	Upper Spring ZBROS	267 lbs	264 lbs
Rear Spring	Lower Spring FOx	228 lbs	230 lbs

If you look closely at the chart above, it is amazing to me how different these two spring companies are and the differences between the two.

Keep in mind these are two identical 2017 Polaris XPT Turbo 2-Seat versions. Black widow is happy with his riding results and has never complained about a bad ride. The Flash has complained almost from the day this set up was installed on my vehicle. I have been learning the off-road spring and shock set up for only 5 years now, but my 30 + years in the oval track racing with shock and spring experience has taught me a lot in what to look for in the testing.

Back in the early 2000s was when my friend, Dan, & I started performing our own testing on springs and shocks for oval track racing. With the particular testing, we were doing was when we found out that springs and shocks were not equal.

What I will take away from the comparison of these rates are:

• I am not happy with my current set up.
• Black widow is very satisfied with his ride.
• It will make me think more about what a dual-rate system should look like on paper.
• It will give me a good starting point as to which direction I will be heading for my ride improvement.
• Why is there such a difference in the two company’s decision and testing?

Black Widow	Total Weight with Driver: 2,188 lbs
	Front Weight: 992 lbs
LF weight: 501 lbs		RT weight: 491 lbs
LR weight: 621 lbs		RT weight: 575 lbs
	Rear Weight: 1196 lbs

The Flash	Total Weight with Driver: 2,177 lbs
	Front Weight: 998 lbs
LF weight: 511 lbs		RT weight: 486 lbs
LR weight: 597 lbs		RT weight: 583 lbs
	Rear Weight: 1181 lbs

We will be updating and keeping you all posted

Please give me a call or email to get your spring and shock set up for your particular riding style.

Thank you again for reading & until we ride again