can't climb anything newbie...

[flyingkev]

Hi..

Just bought my Max 4 a few days ago. (I drove 7 hours to get it, then 7 hours home!) I had to put a chain on the left side, lube the chains and sprockets and took it for it's 1st run. Some grinding noises, and I was unable to climb a very very small incline. my tires on the left side kept spinning, and dug a hole. I'm very, very new to this... backing up, does this thing only back up straight?? or can I turn while I'm backing up? cause I'm not able to turn and back up. So I had to push the machine out of the tire ruts to get it to go up. Is this normal? Also at faster speeds it seems to turn ok, but slow it does not want to turn. How can I check the transmission? or what are signs to look for if it's going bad, and does anyone know where I can get a operators and maintenance manual?

any help on this would be great!

Thanks,
Kevin

[Mike]

Welcome to the site. When you back up the steering is reverse of when you are going forward. Pull both sticks back to go backwards. Pull the left stick back / press the right stick forward and you will turn towards the "passenger" side and vice-versa.

When trying to turn at slow speeds make sure you have one stick pushed fully forward and the other pulled completely back. If you are moving and turning at all then there probably isn't a problem with your transmission.

The same applies for your small incline climb, make sure you are pushing forward on the sticks and not relying solely on the springs to hold the sticks forward.

[new2memax4]

Grinding noise? That is probably not good,but should be easy to find.These are pretty simple machines.Like Mike said make sure you fully push or pull the steering sticks ,if they are hitting the dash or the seat they need adjusted.I think maybe everything you ever wanted to know about these is posted somewhere on this site.The fact that you dug tire holes while turning and trying to climb says the trans is working,at least on that side.also means you had other side locked up and trying to drag it around completey unpowered.easy thing to drive once you learn how,took me a bit to learn how to drive my max 4 as well. Had it stuck twice first week i had it,have not needed the truck to unstick it since.I suggest you practice turning and keeping it straight before you do to much climbing ,won't take long.Caution do not try to shift forward to reverse on a hill cuz you will find neutral to be no fun at all and that foot brake is practically useless for stopping,at least mine is.I did not realize how different thes machines are to drive till recently teaching my 15 year old son to drive it,it's not hard just very different,I still find it to be a bit more limited in extreme uphill turns than it seems it shoul be.but I also am no expert driver .Don't worry you will figure it out.In a straight line with all6 turning it will climb just about anything if it gets a bite on the terrain.try not to get frustrated it is a great machine.just takes time to learn it like anything else,once you do, look out, thay are very impressive.Sorry so long winded,but i have been frustrated once or twice also,would hate to see someone give up on such a cool toy.On another note check your tire preasure if to hard preasure the tires do not work as well,to low and they pop off rims.Make them all the same preasure,around 3-psi would be a good start i think,depends on the tires and rims

[flyingkev]

trouble

ok,
it seems that one side works 20 percent of the time. any suggestions there?

[racerone3]

if one side isn't working sometimes i would look at your shifter to see if the linkage is bent. sounds like one side of the trany isn't getting all the way into gear. also try spraying some lube in where the shifters go into the trany.

[jbies]

Hi Keven and welcome...
I understand your frustration.....I am new too... ( 5 months)...
I had similar troubles with my 14 year old 14 hp Vanguard MAX II when I 1st bought it. When I bought my MAX II it had only been used very, very little with less than 90 hours on the hour meter. But like I said it was 14 years old.

First trip out, I could not get it to climb up the ramp into my pickup truck because it did not seem to have enough power to make it up the ramp. I tried multiple times to get it to climb the ramp without success...So I took a semi-fast run at it to get up the ramp. That worked, I made it up the ramp after a few tries, but... , but I broke out the back window of my new pick-up truck trying to get it stopped in time...$540.00 lesson I learned that day for sure... Solution: I got the window fixed, I bought a trailer, discovered that one cylinder was not firing at all due to a sticky valve.... the valve pusher rod was out of place from under the rocker arm.
(Many Many Thanks to the guys at the Parts Department of Recreatives Industries and some other good people for helping me diagnose the engine and carburetor problems I had. )

Note: A Vanguard V-Twin engine can run on either cylinder ( single ) but with reduced power. I suggest you pull the spark plug wire off of one cylinder and see if it will start ... then reverse the procedure to see if you have both cylinders firing for you.

The next day , As soon as I got the "not enough power problem fixed"... the 14 year old belt broke an hours walk up the mountain, away from any roads, way up on a mountain. Later the fuel hose just fell apart in my hand and sprayed gas everywhere all over me... "Gee, that was dangerous"

I have had a master link on a chain break, and now my machine will run fantastic for a couple of hours and then just randomly dies and will not restart for hours. Then it will start again and run great again with out any reasonable explanation. I replaced the fuel pump and that did not help so I replaced the carburetor and it seems to have helped (so far) but remember my machine has less than 120 hours on it now and I am riding one hour and then working on it to repair it for three hours then riding it for an hour then repairing it for three hours and so on... It is getting real old... real fast...
I suggest that you ask RI for a parts manual and an operators manual for your machine.

I love my MAX II when it is running as it should...

The Trouble is ... it breaks on every outing every day I go out with it... and I am not running it even nearly as hard as the guys in the U-tube films.... The other 30 guys in my hunting club seem to feel sorry for me... they see me broke down on every outing....

[flyingkev]

yes bent

link rod looks bent, I'll try to bend it straight, if not buy another one. I can't believe no one has an online parts, operators, or maintance manual...



Thanks for the help.

[Mike]

link rod looks bent, I'll try to bend it straight, if not buy another one. I can't believe no one has an online parts, operators, or maintance manual...



Thanks for the help.

Call the factory and they can set you up with whatever you need: Amphibious Six-Wheel Drive All-Terrain Vehicles: MaxATVs - Call 1-800-255-2511

Also if you need any parts post here in the wanted section and save some $$$ by purchasing from a fellow 6x6 lover.

[MarshallEpp]

i just e-mail re creative ind.and they sent me a pdf file with operators manual and some much needed info on my max II. Good luck with your machine.