After ordering some EPI heavy duty ball joints I was cruising their website looking for some upgraded front bushings to go along with the new ball joints and thought i’d call EPI to find out what material the bushings were made of (I always like to know more than I really need to on things like this). A guy named Chad answered the phone and we discussed the bushings (made out of high strength delrin).
I asked about a clutch kit for my RZR as I remembered they do clutching back from my sledding days. He said no they only offer one for the non-EBS machines and being my RZR is a LE with EBS I was out of luck. He explained they have plans to offer one for EBS models possibly this summer, me wanting to know the reasoning I asked was it super compiled VS the standard machines or what was the deal? He basically said "we don’t have access to machine to test and create a kit, the EBS units are hard to find around here".
Well it just so happens i’m about 45 minutes away so the gears were going I asked "if you had a stock machine with EBS at your disposal could you make a clutch kit???". Well you guessed it Chad said yup if we had one here it would take a couple days of testing to get what we need to make the kit once we’re done you keep the kit free of charge. I’M IN!! So I offered my machine as the "test unit" and hauled it up to EPI. One thing he mentioned was that depending on the secondary I might lose the EBS feature and if it was a big deal. My response was "you can remove that!?" I hate the EBS unless you like sliding sideway down hills and all the other "features" EBS offers…
Dropped off the rig and said take all the time you need, drive it like it’s yours and call me when your done! Couple days later Chad called and said it’s ready come take it for a spin and see what you think. So went up to the shop to pick it up and had Chad give me the rundown on what they came up with.
I’m not a clutch expert (obviously) but what he explained is they upped the engagement rpm with a different primary spring, cut a new helix which I found out they have their own blank castings made and then machine custom properitary angles (very cool), different primary weights and also replaced the secondary spring. Basically replaced all the stock parts and removed the EBS from what I gathered… Also they were able to get some more rpms when they switched to their EPI severe duty belt which Chad explained the belts have different ribbing for flex and added cooling along with better compound for durability compared to stock belts.
What does all that mean? No idea! BUT I then took it out back for a spin (they have a test track behind the shop) and guess what, it’s was a night and day difference!!
First thing I noticed:
Smooth engagement from a stop no jerking or ratcheting
Second:
Pulls harder, smooth and fast
Third:
I can literally burn my rear tires on pavement from a stop if I feel the need (not that it’s a good idea but kinda fun)
Now my little 570 puts the power to the ground like I thought it could, the low end to midrange 0-30 acceleration is awesome. Great throttle response really fast back shifting with no more waiting for the clutch to catch up. No more EBS BS and now that it’s removed don’t miss it at all. Coming out of corners it pulls like a BOSS and climbing hills is way different as now i’m in the power band (not sure how to describe it but its better). I can’t say enough about this kit it’s awesome and really wakes up the 570!
For those of you that have a LE and want more out of your rig looking for experts in clutching call EPI, they are the professionals with the ability to custom tune a kit for your application.
EPI EPI Performance – ATV UTV Snowmobile Clutch Kits, Drive Belts, CV Joints & more
Hope this story/review helps!
So glad I called asking about bushings… :ride:
