ATV brakes

[Stormwalker]

I have a 92 Polaris 350L that doesn't stop as well as it should. When the brake lever is pulled, there seems to be plenty of pressure there, and I've checked and there are no apparent leaks, so I think I can rule that sort of thing out. However, even when pulling pretty darn hard on the lever, it kind of just slows to a stop. I replaced the front brake pads, but braking power remained largely unchanged.

What would my next steps be to fix something like this? Maybe the brake fluid is too old? Master cylinder? Calipers? Thanks for any input.

[95.0mark]

Caliper adjustment id guess

[lark-o]

I have a 92 Polaris 350L that doesn't stop as well as it should. When the brake lever is pulled, there seems to be plenty of pressure there, and I've checked and there are no apparent leaks, so I think I can rule that sort of thing out. However, even when pulling pretty darn hard on the lever, it kind of just slows to a stop. I replaced the front brake pads, but braking power remained largely unchanged.

What would my next steps be to fix something like this? Maybe the brake fluid is too old? Master cylinder? Calipers? Thanks for any input.

If I remember right the brakes were never the greatest on those but they should stop better then what you are describing. How well does the foot brake work? The foot brake is only the rear brake. Thatll help you diagnos if its the front or back not going its job. The hand brake is both front and rear combined. The clutches could possibly be staying engaged and fighting the brakes. How high do you have the idle set?

[Stormwalker]

When I replaced the front brake pads, I tightened the caliper set screws until the pad started rubbing the disk pretty bad, then I backed off slightly (read about this procedure somewhere on the internets). So I THINK I have that adjusted correctly. Perhaps I'll double check it.

The idle is set pretty low (but still idles), the clutches not disengaging is an interesting idea. When shifting between neutral, drive, and reverse, I have to hold the foot brake or it will grind the gears. When in drive, it almost wants to go, even at idle.

I can experiment a bit with the foot brake and see how that's working, and report back.

[lark-o]

when it idles you should here it start to what they call 4 stroke. itll miss a power stroke every so often, thats how i always use to set the idle on the old 2 stroke singles. Is the rear brake on the axle or is it in board on a jack shaft?

[1moretoy]

when it idles you should here it start to what they call 4 stroke. itll miss a power stroke every so often, thats how i always use to set the idle on the old 2 stroke singles. Is the rear brake on the axle or is it in board on a jack shaft?

Yep, It should idle like the OLD john deere farm tractors

[Stormwalker]

when it idles you should here it start to what they call 4 stroke. itll miss a power stroke every so often, thats how i always use to set the idle on the old 2 stroke singles. Is the rear brake on the axle or is it in board on a jack shaft?

The rear brake is in board. There's a big knob adjustment thing for it too, I haven't tried playing with that.

I'm pretty sure the idle is okay. I had dirtbikes and a quadracer when I was younger, so I remember what those two strokes are supposed to idle like.

[Gear Slammer]

I did a fair amount of mudding with mine....after grinding through that my brakes were never great again.....I put on new pads, but I believe its a rotor issue. My rotors are all glazed/grooved, ect. What shape are your rotors in? just a thought.

[Stormwalker]

There's actually two different kinds of rotors on mine. One side is slotted, the other side is a solid rotor. Yeah, my four wheeler is a real gem.

I actually did some further research and learned that the master cylinder on the early polaris four wheelers were junk (the ones with the long red brake lever). They didn't provide enough line pressure, so the brakes just sucked. So, I sourced a master cylinder off of a newer polaris sportsman, which should just bolt up, and will reputably greatly improve braking power. Also, I discovered the bleeder valves on both calipers are sheared off. This thing is a barrel of fun.

If the master cyl doesn't address the issue, I'll look into seeing if the rotors are the issue.