Took 5 years but I finally got one...

[Obsessed]

Since 2006 I've had several Max2's but have always kinda wanted a Max4. This weekend I finally got one. Cant wait to get it home and start to play with it. Got all kinds of ideas for it and I am really looking forward to some more new projects :-)

Tim

[Mike]

That's great. What year is the Max IV and what tires / motor does it have?

[Obsessed]

Owner wasnt sure what year it was so I need to contact RI next week and research...it has the 26" tires and 18hp briggs motor. supposed to be in pretty good shape and low hours. I havent gotten to see it yet because my parents went and picked it up for me today.

[Noel Woods]

Good deal, now you can compare the competition. But seriously, slap some of your tracks on it and shoot some footage. It would be one of if not the first Adair tracked Max4 machines.

[MAX IV Mark]

I was thinking the same thing. I keep looking at adairargosales.com waiting for there to be a price for a set of adair tracks for my Max IV. I would love to see that combination.
MAX IV Mark

[Obsessed]

got to spend a little time with it this afternoon....it had a broken shift rod and the front seat was busted off so i fixed that (pretty simple)...the throttle cable has been replaced with copper fuel line and some handy man creation...gonna replace all that this week if i have time...choke cable isnt working, need to replace that also...and transmission seems to not work on the right side, so probably need to have Brandon from Maxim Off Road look at that and see if it is a simple fix....other than that it is in excellent shape...super happy with it!

I also have to take my hat off to RI...they really made a nice clean and simple machine. It is so minimal that it looks really light weight and i can see why they swim and mud so well. Over all they look to be very easy to service and i like the way the chain tensioners are rigid mounted and adjustable. It looks to me to be a little easier to service than my Max2's with the exception of the trans...looks like the whole motor and motor mount just needs to come out to get to it.

The serial number is in the 14 thousands so im guessing it may not be quite as old as i first thought...looking forward to solving that mystery...again, the overall conditions of the undercarrage is really, really good and the tires look like new so i cant think it has seen a lot of use.

as far as tracks...i want to first play with it with the 26" for a while and try to find some open water to see for myself how they get around...i do have some tracks for it and it will be the third Max4 to get adair tracks...it should be a great machine to have around and test out some of our newer ideas on

tim

[thebuggyman1]

Can't wait to see pictures Tim

[Mike]

It's funny you mention how simple it looks. I've been working on my Avenger a few hours here and there over the past couple of months and today I did a little work to my Max IV and couldn't get over how bare it looked after working in the Argo for so long. There is so much more room (mine just has a single seat) and the chain looks tiny now compared to the #60 and double 50.

With a serial number in the 14000's that is probably a 1995-1997 model and it should have the larger outer bearings.

[msafi65]

If serial # is above 14407 it will have spline axles and the 72mm bearings. have fun with that one

[Obsessed]

finally got time to replace the throttle cable and choke cable....ran quite a bit better now that you could give it some gas....then i filled the fuel tank with fresh gas and it started leaking all over so i pulled the fuel line out of the body and noticed it had two big scrapes in it so i replaced that 9 ft section and now it runs great...didnt realize it was starving for fuel as it was sucking air...now i just need to get this t-20 figured out and we can start having some fun...

one question though...it has a really new NAPA battery, but seems to be a little week (havent pulled it out yet to have it checked but it is only about 6 months old)...only about 230 CCA...is there a really good battery for these that will fit in the small factory tray without any modification???

tim

[hydromike]

I also have to take my hat off to RI...they really made a nice clean and simple machine. It is so minimal that it looks really light weight and i can see why they swim and mud so well. Over all they look to be very easy to service and i like the way the chain tensioners are rigid mounted and adjustable.tim

Hey Tim,

It's neat to hear a seemingly dyed-in-the-red Argo fella have a growing affection for the Max IV. You may already know the majority of this, but the bulk of the Max IV design is over 30 years old. This is really a case of "if it isn't broke, don't fix it", but there have been few drastic modifications done to the original RIM design from 1974/1975 (not sure on the year....) Splined axles/ o-ring chains/ few body mods, and a few other issues have been upgraded over the years, but it's really still the basic design that Howard Gerber came up with in his garage many, many years ago. My RIM is really a quite capable machine, even with the original, somewhat tired Chaparral 484.

Let's get some pictures of your machine up!

[msafi65]

I buy the Briggs and Stratton sealed 300 amp batteries at Lowes. Its the best available here. Check the ground strap bolts at the bottom of the battery box area. a bad ground makes the starter wierd and can cause overcharge that can take out headlights.

[Obsessed]

Hey hydromike...i gotta admit...i luv all of these types of machines and everything thats unique enough to cross over into their market. and you know what they say "there's a butt for every seat" lol....as ive mentioned before, its a little brown, worn out max2 that first got me into the sport back in 2006...at the time I didnt even know what an argo was...after the max2 quickly took most of the fun out of all of my other toys I started to wonder why everyone didnt have one?...so I started to look into selling them and as I looked into being a dealer, i saw on the website that there were two dealers listed within 30 miles of me...so I called both of them and one was only 9 miles from me... neither had ever sold a new machine and it didnt seem like either of them were really interested in helping others get into the sport, they just bought one at a discount and ended up being listed as a dealer...so while looking around on the internet, i ran accross the argo product and there were a couple of dealers listed in iowa and the second one I went to visit was Gene at Gene's Argo Sales in eastern iowa...i can assure you "he is the real deal"....he had more than a dozen machined and over 30 years worth of passion for the product which covered multipule brands...as i looked around his shop, his walls are plastered with decades of pictures and trophies from hunting and fishing trips using the product that he sold...as i looked at all of the the new argos and compaired them to my 10 year old Max2 i was obviously pretty impressed :-) Genes enthusiasm, and the argo regional distributor model that was there to help support its small local dealers convinced me to go down that path........i gotta say though i really do love the feeling of going solo in a compact little Max2 and nothing really compairs to it...i also like the feeling of both the max and the mudd-ox where you sit out front...its a thrill and a view you dont get on other machines...on the flip side, in my opinion, nobody builds a machine that compairs in terms of comfort, quality, years of research and development, customer support, and sheer performance as odg does with their top of the line 8x8's...but then again if that was the only machine out there none of us would have ever have gotten into the sport...i bought my first max2 for $1,700 and it would have been a really long time before that $1,700 would have gotten me in the drivers seat on an argo.

as luck would have it...i somehow ended up also getting a new 2011 Max4 last week and it will be here monday, so im super excited to see the differances between the years...

sounds like Brandon from Maxum Off Road in MO is coming up wednesday night and he is going to help me with the older max4 and make sure the T-20 is in good shape before it gets a workout...lol im excited to learn a little more from a guy that really knows these machines!

ill try and get some pictures of my Max posted here in a little bit

tim

[Obsessed]

I buy the Briggs and Stratton sealed 300 amp batteries at Lowes. Its the best available here. Check the ground strap bolts at the bottom of the battery box area. a bad ground makes the starter wierd and can cause overcharge that can take out headlights.

thanks msafi65...im definitely going to check that ground cable and ill probably also pull that battery when we check the T-20 over and take it in to have it checked for a defect :-)

tim

[Obsessed]

here are a few pictures of my new toy :-)
Tim