New to the XPEDITION and have three (so far) questions

[Papa Hoc]

Thanks to all in advance. I have ditched my 2025 Ranger 1500 after only a couple of months. The clunking from the drivetrain has just drove me nuts. Water leaks into the cabin, a substandard AC and some other things including very uncomfortable seats drove me and my wife from it. We fell in love with the expedition. We went with the one that doesn’t have the bed. I’m sorry I’m so new,I don’t even know the designation or letter for it but we have dogs we bring along with some grandkids and that’s an absolutely perfect set up for us. Everything the Ranger wasn’t. Seating is much more like an automotive environment, and I like the center console and its shifter that goes the right direction. Then there’s doors that operate the right way and don’t have protrusions from the bottom that you whack your shin on it every time you try to let someone in! There are obviously features in the Polaris that I did like in the ranger like the navigation, the connectivity to my phone and other features. Our biggest mistake with the Ranger is we should’ve got a four-door and they’re just overpriced for how they drive and I know now know that even though they have a steel drive transmission, which should be more reliable, they also have a very annoying hesitation that makes them hard to rock crawl in!

One thing the Ranger was right up until 40 miles an hour unless you really had a steep incline was quiet. That transmission has a comfort mode that actually alters the RPM range that the vehicle operates in and you can bring it down to a lower gearing to keep the noise down. Going into this I know this is only a two cylinder that revs to 8500 RPM and needs 8000 RPM to hit max torque and has to keep RPMs up to produce any power and is loud. Going into it I was gonna live with it, but make it better if I could. My questions are the following. I’ll try to break them up to make them make sense.
1. What is the best headset intercom system for at least a front passenger and driver? I don’t mind wires and headsets will probably be best for us as we mostly put around in our 55+ neighborhood and don’t wear helmets honestly. That said, I guess a system that would work either way would be good for me and may eventually want headsets for the back too, but my thoughts there would be your muffling the noise of the vehicle obviously and making it much easier to communicate. I’ve seen several. I just don’t know which ones were the best and I’m trusting you guys do!
2. I used aftermarket assassins for the tune and the muffler on the Ranger, which I was very pleased with. He offers a clutch kit for the Xpedition that essentially brings the RPM lower in relation to the road speed and is supposed to make a significant difference in the internal cabin noise much like the comfort mode in the steel drive transmission does in the Ranger. I’m sure some of you have used different brands of what is probably essentially the same thing but one may be better than the other or work better than the other so I’m not hooked on his unless his is the best. I’d love to hear multiple views on different clutch brands how they perform and how they affect vehicle performance.
3. Who really has the quietest muffler system for this vehicle? Does it really make a difference?
4. I have used Dynamat and similar products in the past and I saw a kit on Amazon where everything is pre-cut – it fits into the headliner and doors and along different places in the body. Some of it appears to be some kind of a fiber foam other is the Dynamat material. It’s like 500 bucks. Has anyone used that or a similar kit and is it worth it or are you better off just buying your Dynamat and getting nutty?
5. I wouldn’t say I’m an abusive driver in how I use my vehicles, but I don’t mind sticking my foot in it good and long when opportunities present themselves. I have never had a CVT transmission with the rubber belt drive and would like to know a couple things there – do they have a kind of predictable lifespan where you can proactively replace them at a given mileage or age and avoid breakdowns? Is there a better brand or aftermarket belt that is substantially better than the factory ones? Is putting a temperature sensor into the belt drive area a good spending of the money or wasted? And why?
6. What other common issues may I encounter that I have yet to think of?
Any words of wisdom here I will completely absorb into what’s left of my little brain. Thank you all.

 

[JTBarlow]

Howdy and welcome!

On the headsets, it depends a little. I have Rugged Radios intercom in my machine because the majority of people I ride with also have Rugged. If you’re only in in-car coms, Cardo is a really great option. Being wireless, one person can get out and still communicate on the coms. Can’t do that with wired coms.

When it comes to ECU tunes, there’s only a minimal difference between the different companies. Evo is a little conservative on their tunes for the Xpedition, and I can’t really feel any difference between Gilomen and AA. The main difference is in the clutch kits. If you’re going for the cruiser kit, it won’t much matter which one. But if you’re tuning for performance, my preference is AA. I like their shift profiles better and they offer more items for the clutch kit than the others. (eg. Buttershift washers, billet primary cover plate, etc.)

The noise levels have never bothered me, and the muffler I put on mine is the RPM muffler, which is slightly louder than OEM. But from what I’ve heard, HMF has the quietest muffler for the Xpedition. That said, quieting the exhaust will only help minimally. But it’s one of those things where every little bit helps.
If you’re going to do sound dampening, the rule is, the cheaper and easier the kit, the less effective it’ll be. I’ve done more than 20 Xpeditions with full sound dampening and insulation, and the process I do takes 25-30 hours. But we get around a 9db reduction of noise while tuning and clutching for higher rpm and performance. (I’ve made a post or 3 on here. Just search Sound dampening and insulation)

For CVT belts, my preference is the GBoost RS series. OEM belts have a tacky compound that will give jerky starts after a little use. I’ve had better life and performance with the GBoost belts. There’s several things to improve belt life, and just as important, clutch life. Removing the clutch cover and blowing the dust out every couple hundred miles helps keep things moving freely in the clutches. Avoiding constant rpms as much as possible will reduce grooving in the clutch sheaves and weights. When starting out, get into it. You don’t need to jam the throttle, but easing into it can slip and burn the belt. Also, low range on long hills and technical areas. Running high range on steep hills and other higher torque terrain puts a lot of heat into the belt. While it may not slip or actually burn the belt, the more the heat the faster the belt degrades. I installed a belt temp gauge on my Xpedition so I could see what belt temps were doing. Riding in the sand dunes was definitely the worst, with belt temps reaching 260°. Even pulling our camp trailers it’s never been that high. So terrain makes a huge difference.

 

[Papa Hoc]

Howdy and welcome!

On the headsets, it depends a little. I have Rugged Radios intercom in my machine because the majority of people I ride with also have Rugged. If you’re only in in-car coms, Cardo is a really great option. Being wireless, one person can get out and still communicate on the coms. Can’t do that with wired coms.

When it comes to ECU tunes, there’s only a minimal difference between the different companies. Evo is a little conservative on their tunes for the Xpedition, and I can’t really feel any difference between Gilomen and AA. The main difference is in the clutch kits. If you’re going for the cruiser kit, it won’t much matter which one. But if you’re tuning for performance, my preference is AA. I like their shift profiles better and they offer more items for the clutch kit than the others. (eg. Buttershift washers, billet primary cover plate, etc.)

The noise levels have never bothered me, and the muffler I put on mine is the RPM muffler, which is slightly louder than OEM. But from what I’ve heard, HMF has the quietest muffler for the Xpedition. That said, quieting the exhaust will only help minimally. But it’s one of those things where every little bit helps.
If you’re going to do sound dampening, the rule is, the cheaper and easier the kit, the less effective it’ll be. I’ve done more than 20 Xpeditions with full sound dampening and insulation, and the process I do takes 25-30 hours. But we get around a 9db reduction of noise while tuning and clutching for higher rpm and performance. (I’ve made a post or 3 on here. Just search Sound dampening and insulation)

For CVT belts, my preference is the GBoost RS series. OEM belts have a tacky compound that will give jerky starts after a little use. I’ve had better life and performance with the GBoost belts. There’s several things to improve belt life, and just as important, clutch life. Removing the clutch cover and blowing the dust out every couple hundred miles helps keep things moving freely in the clutches. Avoiding constant rpms as much as possible will reduce grooving in the clutch sheaves and weights. When starting out, get into it. You don’t need to jam the throttle, but easing into it can slip and burn the belt. Also, low range on long hills and technical areas. Running high range on steep hills and other higher torque terrain puts a lot of heat into the belt. While it may not slip or actually burn the belt, the more the heat the faster the belt degrades. I installed a belt temp gauge on my Xpedition so I could see what belt temps were doing. Riding in the sand dunes was definitely the worst, with belt temps reaching 260°. Even pulling our camp trailers it’s never been that high. So terrain makes a huge difference.

So appreciate your time thank you. Should be picking it up in the next day or two. I’ll let you know on my first impressions.

 

[johndeerefarmer]

I have the Aftermarket Cruiser clutch kit on mine. Lowers the rpm around 500 rpm. By having slugs and magnets you can tweak the clutch to your liking. For instance if you add larger tires you can add some power back by using smaller magnets. As far as quieting goes this clutch is your best bang for the buck. I insulated the back of the firewall with Reflectix and inside with a foam liner. Also insulated the center console and put a vinyl boot from Amazon around the shifter. None of this did much for the noise but it helped with the heat. Before if a person sit in the back seat they would burn their back from the heat of the engine warming up the firewall.
There are multiple mufflers out there but none are quieter than stock. They might change the tone to a more pleasing tone to the ear but not worth it to me