I stopped into the dealership this weekend to get the warranty transferred in my name and I was commenting on the rear angle drive noise. He actually said it was more important that the 500 mile break-in oil change which I just did last week on my recently purchased 2017 S. Yes, I actually bought a 2017 with only 300 miles on it.
Anyone else ever hear a dealer suggest this?
My first mod this weekend... painted the grill metallic silver. 
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While I agree with changing it early it is not included in the 500 mile service and Polaris does not recommend changing it until 50,000 miles. I suggest your dealer check his service manual (maintenance page interval below)
You are about to get a bunch of stories about the condition of their final drive oil but many confuse the heavy load of Moly in the factory fill (its dark, gritty, and smells like fish) with the final drive oil being bad or contaminated, it's not. The only real cure for an otherwise OK but noisy final drive is to drive it. Leaving the factory fill oil in while you break it in, run it hard, vary the loaded RPM, if it is noisy at a certain RPM/speed try to drive it in that range a lot, then IMO change it after a few thousand miles to get rid of the break in contamination (that mostly gets captured by the magnet on the drain plug) is a better way to go.
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What @Orangeman said!
Personally, I replaced my factory angle drive fluid with Redline Heavy Shockproof which seemed to at least partially quiet the noise. Others have used Royal Purple, Amsoil or whatever brand they prefer or just added a lot of their favorite lube additive with varying results. Try searching for angle drive noise to see what folks have done.
In some ways, I feel tires can make as much difference in the noise level as anything else.
Another fan of Redline Heavy Shockproof here. I've had the stock fluid in it from Polaris, Mobil 1, Royal Purple, and now the Redline. On a 90 degree day give or take, I start getting noise out of the angle drive. 80 or below it has calmed to less than half the noise, perhaps even a third. Also, running the belt a little looser than Polaris calls for helps quiet the drive, and seems to help with the bearing failure in the rear axle. I run mine closer to 3/4 deflection, but no more than 1" and I check it cold with the wheels on the ground and no one in it. Over 32000 on mine, no bearing failures, and no noisy belts like some have had. It has worked well for me.
Results may vary.... (disclaimer 
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I changed my fluid 3 times before reaching 5k, it wasn't until the 3rd change that I stopped getting excessive metal shavings on the magnet.
Personally I think it is cheap enough to change that fluid that there is no reason why shouldn't switch it early and monitor the metal shavings that you get and based on the amount decide when to switch it again.
Definitely don't wait 50k as recommended by Polaris.
A fluid change cost 15 if you do it yourself, so ask yourself if that is too much to have peace of mind?
We didn't change our angle drive fluid until around 10,000 miles and it proved to be a waste of time and money, (kind of like going through all the prep and annoyance of a colonoscopy and then being told nothing is wrong?)
Out of curiosity, how many here has actually realized an angle drive failure and what were the circumstances??
Bill
On my previous '16, I went thru several of the high dollar gear oils hoping they would significantly quieten the angle drive. I wanted to think they helped but not at all sure.
On my current '18, I lucked out and got a quiet one. Nevertheless, I believe in early changes and did it at about 2000 miles.
Rather than use the hi-$$ stuff, I put in Super Tech conventional (Walmart) which met the GL-5 rating that the synthetics do. I "think" it did quieten it a bit, but not sure. All I get is a "chittering" sound when you let off the gas, or coast. I don't use the radio so i hear all the sounds. Later on I'll change it again and probable use synthetic for longer term use.
BTW, there were no obvious metal shavings in the old oil, just a bit of black sludge on the drain bolt.
Like the way you think!!
My first mod this weekend... painted the grill metallic silver.
I just checked the 2018 owners manual and it says first change is at 500 mile. Did they change this for a reason. I did my 500 mile myself on my 2018 and thought it said 2500 miles. Can't remember where I saw that. I got 1200 miles on it so I guess I need to go ahead and change it. Already bought the Royal Purple. Just a side note, my 2018 has the zerk fitting on the U-joint. That tool came from Amazon today.
Mike
FTW TX
is there a write up or video on how to change it?
Search just doesn't give me much.
I just checked the 2018 owners manual and it says first change is at 500 mile. Did they change this for a reason. I did my 500 mile myself on my 2018 and thought it said 2500 miles. Can't remember where I saw that. I got 1200 miles on it so I guess I need to go ahead and change it. Already bought the Royal Purple.
Mike, the online version of the 2018 owners manual still says 50,000 miles. Where are you reading this? Picture?
I just checked the 2018 owners manual and it says first change is at 500 mile. Did they change this for a reason. I did my 500 mile myself on my 2018 and thought it said 2500 miles. Can't remember where I saw that. I got 1200 miles on it so I guess I need to go ahead and change it. Already bought the Royal Purple. Just a side note, my 2018 has the zerk fitting on the U-joint. That tool came from Amazon today.
Mike
FTW TX
The first oil change for the engine is at 500 miles, not the angle drive
The first oil change for the engine is at 500 miles, not the angle drive
I just downloaded manual for 2018 off Polaris site and it has a "R" in 500 mile box for the angle drive. That's what I was questioning. They must have added it to the newer manual.
I just downloaded manual for 2018 off Polaris site and it has a "R" in 500 mile box for the angle drive. That's what I was questioning. They must have added it to the newer manual.
Yep, I just checked. I was looking at a 2018 "r01" manual and the one posted on the Polaris site now is "r02". So they made a change. Interesting.
They also changed the oil weight from SAE 80W-90 in "r01" to Fully Synthetic 75W-140 in "r02".
Out of curiosity, how many here has actually realized an angle drive failure and what were the circumstances??
Bill, mine failed. I had changed the oil around 3000 or 5000 miles, don't remember, and it quieted a little, and then started getting louder. I kept on driving it, figured it just needed more break-in. After a few thousand more miles, the recall for the rear swing arm came in and I eventually took it to the dealer. When I commented to him on the noise, he checked it out, and then tore into the angle drive. Turns out one of the gears, that is supposed to be mounted on the race ring on the inside of the angle drive compartment, wasn't. It was half off the race ring and cocked at an angle, so the teeth were just eating each other. So... That got me a whole new angle drive, courtesy of the mothership. Not exactly the kind of failure we were talking about here, but you asked who had experience of failure of the angle drive, so...
Out of curiosity, how many here has actually realized an angle drive failure and what were the circumstances??
My 2016.5 failed around 20,000 miles. Pinion gear punched a hole right through the angle drive case. First sign of trouble was a bit of clunking sound when coasting in neutral but sounded fine otherwise. Tried to drive it to the dealer for them to listen to it but it failed hard after about 100 miles (when I was half way there). They had fixed an oil leak from my angle drive about 2000 miles before that, so it could be related. Replaced under warranty.
Dought mine has ever been changed by previous owner. It has 10k miles, what would you guys recommend on using in it.
