Storage, Spares and Tool Kits That Belong on Every UTV

The upgrade that ends the most rides early is the one nobody buys: a way to carry the spares and tools that get a machine home. Side-by-sides have very little enclosed storage from the factory, and what there is fills with dust and water. Before the lift kit and the light bar, put together a kit that covers the failures the class actually has, mount it so it stays put, and check it on the same schedule as everything else.

Start with the drive belt, because it is a common trail-side failure on a CVT machine and the maintenance guidance for the class is explicit: carry a spare and the tools to fit it. The tools are the point. A belt is no use without the driver or socket for the clutch cover bolts, a clutch spreading tool for machines that need one, and something to clean the sheaves with. Keep the belt in its box or a bag, out of the sun.

A belt that has ridden loose in a cargo bin for a season is not the belt you want to fit in the dark. For the RZR-XP, RZR-PRO, X3 and KRX platforms the Gates G-Force RedLine is a listed option; on any machine, match the number on the belt that came out, and confirm the year range on the box against your model year before you rely on it, since a belt sold for a platform is not always right for every year of it.

A tire kit is second. A plug kit with a reamer, plugs and cement fixes the common puncture; a valve core tool and spare cores fix the slow leak that turns out to be a core; and a compressor or a CO2 inflator gets the tire back to the pressure in your manual afterward. A machine on beadlocks needs the ring wrench as well. Carry the wheel nut socket and a breaker bar or a long ratchet, because the factory tool kit, where there is one, is not up to a wheel nut that has been on since the dealer.

Then fluids and the small hardware. A liter of the engine oil the manual specifies, a bottle of the right coolant premix, and a can of a water-displacing spray cover most of what leaks or gets wet. Add a selection of the fasteners the machine uses most, particularly the ones that hold body panels, skid plates and the clutch cover, and a bag of zip ties in two sizes. The class schedule calls for re-torquing suspension and wheel fasteners about every 25 hours, and the ones that were loose at the last check are the ones to carry spares of.

Electrical spares are small and light and save whole days. Carry fuses in every rating the machine uses, a spare relay of the type used for accessories, a length of wire, a crimper with a few connectors, and electrical tape. Corroded connectors and grounds are a fault we track on several ATV and utility platforms, and a contact cleaner spray plus a small wire brush deals with most of them at the trailhead. A jump pack sized for the machine is worth its weight if the group is small.

Recovery belongs in the kit even on a machine with a winch. A soft shackle, a tree strap and a kinetic strap sized for a UTV cover the pulls a winch cannot make, and gloves for the person handling the line. The strap ratings and the winch line rating are numbers to read off the products themselves and match to your machine, not to take from a forum. If you run a winch, add a spare remote or a wired controller and the hook or shackle mount the line uses; the Factor 55 UltraHook UTV is listed for the RZR-XP, X3, KRX and PIONEER platforms.

Now where it all goes. The worst place is loose in the bed, where it rattles, gets wet and leaves the machine on the first steep climb. The best place is a hard case or a sealed bag bolted or strapped to a fixed point: the bed floor, a bed rack, a cargo box on the roof or the rear of the cage. Spread the weight low and central where you can; a heavy tool roll on the roof raises the center of gravity of a machine that does not need help tipping. Straps loosen with vibration, so bolt anything heavy.

Water is the enemy of the kit as much as of the machine. A cheap plastic box with a lid that clips is not sealed; after a season it will hold a puddle and a rusted tool set. Spend on a case with a gasket and a drain plug, or pack the tools in a roll inside a dry bag inside the case. Silica packets help. Take the kit out and open it after any wet ride, which is also the moment to notice what you used and did not replace.

Finally, the pre-ride check. The kit is a maintenance item like anything else: fuses get used, belts get fitted, the plug kit cement dries out. Go through it on the same interval you inspect the belt, about every 50 hours on the class schedule, and after every ride where something was used. A kit that was complete last spring is a hopeful guess by autumn. A ride that ends with a tow because the spare belt was in the garage is the most expensive upgrade of all.