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I have an 01 trx500 Foreman/Rubicon. Full time 4X4 sucks! Has anyone tried/done a front diff swap with an 05 or on  front diff ?? Can it be done or is it a PITA. I'd love to add power steering but from what I can see that's not going to happen. so this might be the next best thing.

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Gator , above is a link to a 424 for your model on e-bay , as far as installing it , it isn't hard , you loosen the front diff , move it forward enough to get the OEM drive shaft out and slide the 424 in  , button it back up , install the control lever and anti-rotation strap and your set 

 

 

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@jeepwm69can tell ya exactly which 2x4 parts will interchange from newer year models if ya intend to keep your conversion OEM Honda.

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Thanks Fishfiles, I have seen those but I've never heard comments on how bullet proof they are. I'm more interested to hear if it possible to switch out the front diff for a newer year to get the 2 wheel option. While my quad is not in mint condition I do like to keep it looking original. Having said that if it'd not possible I will be going this route

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Gator , my 2002 450 had an electric shift front diff in it , I swopped it to a full time front diff with a 424 kick out , there are a lot of expensive electrical parts and wire  involved with the electric engage front diff  and things to go bad and the default mode of 4wd electric shift is 2wd , so when it doesn't function properly all you got is 2wd , if it defaulted to 4wd , I could have maybe lived with it  ---- have read where you can make that electric shift front diff engage with out all the OEM wiring and electrical parts , but I have never done that  --- to do it right you would likely need a parts bike , as there would be so many parts you would need , including a wiring harness change out , that it would unfeasible to buy all the stuff -----   to give you just a little info on the electric engage set-up , there are two speed sensors at the front diff to protect it from being engage while moving to fast and causing damage , one of those sensors on the front diff of an electric engage front diff works the speedometer , on your atv the speedometer pickup is in the rear engine case , people have by-passed all that and just install a switch to send power to the actuator , but you are not protected no more from engaging while moving too fast , a long as you slow to a crawl of stop before shifting it you would be ok 

 

I " LOVE " the 424 kickout , I have 5 atvs with  424s in them , 3 -300s and 2 -450s , lots of hours in extreme conditions ------- the cable getting stiff after time when shifting in and out of 4wd  is something that can be avoided by keeping it lubed  or staying out the water in my case 

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I'm with fish on the 424, i run one on one my 300's makes all the defrence in the world on steering, less drivetrain wind up, when i used to have to drive on pavement to some areas close to my home, i think you'll be very pleased with a 424 unit swop. 

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5 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

Gator , my 2002 450 had an electric shift front diff in it , I swopped it to a full time front diff with a 424 kick out , there are a lot of expensive electrical parts and wire  involved with the electric engage front diff  and things to go bad and the default mode of 4wd electric shift is 2wd , so when it doesn't function properly all you got is 2wd , if it defaulted to 4wd , I could have maybe lived with it  ---- have read where you can make that electric shift front diff engage with out all the OEM wiring and electrical parts , but I have never done that  --- to do it right you would likely need a parts bike , as there would be so many parts you would need , including a wiring harness change out , that it would unfeasible to buy all the stuff -----   to give you just a little info on the electric engage set-up , there are two speed sensors at the front diff to protect it from being engage while moving to fast and causing damage , one of those sensors on the front diff of an electric engage front diff works the speedometer , on your atv the speedometer pickup is in the rear engine case , people have by-passed all that and just install a switch to send power to the actuator , but you are not protected no more from engaging while moving too fast , a long as you slow to a crawl of stop before shifting it you would be ok 

 

I " LOVE " the 424 kickout , I have 5 atvs with  424s in them , 3 -300s and 2 -450s , lots of hours in extreme conditions ------- the cable getting stiff after time when shifting in and out of 4wd  is something that can be avoided by keeping it lubed  or staying out the water in my case 

 

I'd take this guys recommendations. He has taught his ATVs to swim and dodge big(really big) snakes. If the 424 spends its life underwater and still works...then its passed the grueling test in my book.

 

 

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Thank you for the replies. I will start to look for one up here in the land of overpriced!!

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52 minutes ago, Gator1957 said:

Thank you for the replies. I will start to look for one up here in the land of overpriced!!

So where is the Land of Overpriced ?  Canada ?  ---- that link I posted above ships to Canada 

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Might be cheaper for him with the exchange and duty at the border to source it here, unless he knows a broker to help with the border duty.......

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The problem living in Canada and buying anything from the USA the shipping usually doubles the price and then you have to pay the duty on it. It looks like the best price I can find from " Canada" is around $500 or more

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52 minutes ago, Gator1957 said:

The problem living in Canada and buying anything from the USA the shipping usually doubles the price and then you have to pay the duty on it. It looks like the best price I can find from " Canada" is around $500 or more

 

That does suck. Do you have local places like rockymountainatv in Canada that would sell you OEM parts cheaper to convert to 2WD?

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even if you could, they don't carry the 424, as there not in production any longer, your best bet is crags list ebay, or happen up a used one, like jeep did...... and the link fish posted ships to Canada .. i would try that 1st 

Edited by _Wilson_™

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1 hour ago, _Wilson_™ said:

even if you could, they don't carry the 424, as there not in production any longer, your best bet is crags list ebay, or happen up a used one, like jeep did...... and the link fish posted ships to Canada .. i would try that 1st 

 

I thought someone bought the rights and is still producing?

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I just checked out E-Bay USA and Canada. Same distributor but Canada is in Can$. Going to cost me over $550 Can plus any duties. Any one with a good used one??

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Down here they're bringing $350-400 for used ones, $600-700 for new, and that's US $'s.

 

Wide Open told me they weren't "discontinued", they just said they were holding off on another order due to the chy-na trade war.  Apparently their cost was going to be higher, and they were unsure if they would still have demand if they raised the retail price.

 

My guess is people are wearing them out wanting them now, so they'll cave and bring in another shipment of them in the not-too distant future.  Might be a bit more expensive than they've been in the past, but with demand being what it is, they'll order more.

 

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thanks jeep, i wasn't exactly sure on that, had read they were discontinued, and then again they weren't. 

 

i might know where ones coming soon ?? although it might be a while.... 

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They still have the TRX500 424 available on e-bay for $369 and $52 shipping here in the USA , so that is $421 delivered ,so $500 Canadian doesn't really sound that bad if you want one in Canada ----- 

 

I was lucky my first 424  about 11years ago used was $50 and then $100 for a kit to rebuild it as the cable was bad  , got one for $100 used , bought a couple for $299 , they were at $369 fora long time ----

 

I have seen them for a 300  recently going used for $500 and $600 and one guy was asking $900 for a new one ----- I have two brand new in the box rebuild kits , fits any model 424 ,when they  were drying up I stocked up on the last two I could find at the time , have seen a few kits pop up in recent times 

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20 hours ago, 87Iroc said:

 

That does suck. Do you have local places like rockymountainatv in Canada that would sell you OEM parts cheaper to convert to 2WD?

We don't have access to cheaper parts here! Unless you can find an atv recycler!

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9 minutes ago, Gator1957 said:

We don't have access to cheaper parts here! Unless you can find an atv recycler!

I kind of  take it that 87' thinks you are trying to convert your full time 4wd to a full time 2wd , not shooting to be able to shift back and forth from 4wd to 2wd but :

IMG_2683.JPG

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15 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

I kind of  take it that 87' thinks you are trying to convert your full time 4wd to a full time 2wd , not shooting to be able to shift back and forth from 4wd to 2wd but :

IMG_2683.JPG

 

No, in original post he wanted to know what parts from later models he could swap across to make it part time 4WD. Those are the parts I was mentioning. I probably just worded my post wrong.

 

Full time 2WD would be easy I'd think. Destroy a couple of half shafts to get the hub portion and send it.

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I'm definitely not looking to go full time 2 wheel drive.  I was hoping that a simple diff change and a switch and some wiring would give me "factory" 2/4 wheel drive .But I suppose if it was going to be that easy, it would also be a piece of cake and a shot of scotch and you could switch it to IRS as well!!

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I bet the 05-11 Foreman front diff would swap in, similar to what I did swapping the 400AT front diff into a 350 Rancher.

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