Welcome aboard Mike, its good to have you here.  I like the chair on the command bridge of that Mule.  So how does that Mule work anyway?  Looks pretty good.

3TV

The manual says to adjust them at the initial 20 hour service, and then again at 150 hours, and every 150 hours after that.  The intake valves on the five valve 660 heads tend to get too tight, so it is important that you adjust them.  We left for vacation when our Rhino had 17 hours on it, and did more riding on vacation than I thought we would, so we didn't get back home until it had 32 hours on it.  I have to remove my roll cage and my bed to get to my exhaust valves, because of the design of the aftermarket cage and rear bumper I am using.  It is much more difficult for me to get to the valves than it is to adjust them.  On a stock Rhino it would be the easiest thing in the world to adjust the valves.

When I did mine the intakes had tightened up to the point that the smallest feeler gauge I had would not go in (.002), so they were way too tight.  The specs for the 660 are .005 on the intake and .007 on the exhaust.  My exhaust valves were still in spec.  The Rhino definitely runs better after a valve adjustment.  It is noticeably more free reving, and doesn't vibrate as bad.  I was surprised that I noticed a difference, but I did.  It is definitely worth doing.

Scenery in Arch Canyon surpasses Moab in my opinion.  The tall ponderosa pines combined with red rock are beautiful.  There are also three Anasazi indian ruins in the canyon, similar in construction to the indian ruins in my "Hotel Rock" post.  Enjoy the photos; this is a great trail ride.  3TV

Here is a great place to take your side x side UTVs.  It is Arch Canyon, and is in southeast UT.  The trailhead is 20 miles west of Blanding, and is on the west side of Comb Ridge, which is a massive geological ridge that runs north-south for as far as you can see.  The paved road has been cut through this large heaved up rock ridge.  The road to Arch Canyon starts in Comb Wash, which is just west of Comb ridge.  You can't miss it, because it is the only road that goes north from the highway in Comb Wash.  It is well marked with BLM signs.  Here are a few pictures.


June may not be the best time of year to do this trail.  Scenery is superb, but daytime temps averaged 104 to 106 while we were there.

I've been looking at long travel suspension for a while now, and its good to see the variety that is becoming available. 

There are numerous stock a-arm replacement shocks; right now I'm running King shocks, and they are fantastic compared to stock.  They are super plush and do not kick back in the whoops, but are limited in the rough stuff due to the stock 7" of suspension travel, and due to only having preload adjustability.  They are a super good quality shock though, and easily built on a stronger scale than the Elka preload only adustable stock replacement shocks.

There are at least two companies building suspensions with +3 a-arms and 10" of suspension travel.  Numerous shocks are available here, because they use stock length shocks that are sprung and valved correctly for the longer a-arms.

Fireball Racing builds a suspension with +4 a-arms.

Arizona Sport Center builds a suspension with +5 a-arms.

Numerous companies build suspensions with +6 a-arms with 12" to 14" of suspension travel.  And there are several different brands of shocks to choose from.

At least one company builds a suspension with +6.5 a-arms, and 15" of suspension travel.

And one company builds a suspension with +7 a-arms, and 16" of suspension travel.

You can buy suspension with tubular a-arms, steel plated a-arms, and even billet aluminum a-arms.  And you can buy suspension with preload only adjustable shocks, all the way up to shocks that adjust for preload, ride height, low speed compression damping, high speed compression damping, and rebound damping -- all on-the-fly from reservoirs mounted in the cab if you want.

Prices vary widely. 

Shipping cost are unbelievable right now as well.  If for example you purchase what I did, you will have to add at least another $1000 to the cost of your products just to cover shipping.  At least that is what it cost me to have a front and rear bumper, two seat cage, and a +6.5 LT suspension shipped one state away from where they were built.  If I would have known shipping was that much I could have driven there in my one ton dually, paid for the fuel, all my meals, and for a nice motel, and still saved a lot of money over what shipping cost.

Can someone tell me how many dB the Woods pipe makes?  It needs to be less than, or equal to, a maximum of 99 dB in order for me to race the WORCS races.  It does not need a spark arrestor for WORCS, but will need one for USRA races. Thanks.

3TV

We had a great time, and did about a thirty mile ride all together.  It was one of the more fun days I've had in a long long time.  No pictures, sorry.  My youngest son surprised me though; he rides a KTM 65 SX, and he was going so fast on the rocky two track roads that we could not keep up with him in the Rhino  :shock: .   My Rhino tops out at 49 mph, and I did not know a 65cc dirt bike would go that fast.   I knew we wouldn't be able to keep up with my older son and his KTM 300 XC, but he doesn't need watched over as close as the youngster does.  I was definitely worried when the youngster left us behind, but all turned out ok, and now he knows better.

The only sour note of the day was when an Arizona BLM officer stopped to tell us the entire area we had ventured into was closed to off road vehicles.  The roads are open, but cross country travel is not permitted, and we were parked on the road when he pulled up to us, so I question why he stopped to tell us that. Warner Valley, where we started, is open to travel anywhere, but we were on a road 15 miles south of there when he stopped and checked our registrations.  He was decent about it, but it still leaves a sour taste in your mouth when they take your license and check you out on their radio.  It makes you feel like a criminal even if you haven't done anything wrong.