We’re bringing something to the UTV industry that’s never been done before. I’m talking about this:
Those tracks both belong to the same Ranger XP 1000—the left track was made using SuperATV’s RIDE System Rear Steering Kit, the right track was made using only stock steering. If that’s not a game changer for the Ranger, or any other UTV for that matter, then you need to have your eyes checked.
SuperATV’s hydraulically powered Rear Independent Driving Experience, or RIDE, System is a first for the UTV industry. Previously reserved for specialist vehicles and sports cars, we’ve brought it to an industry that we think can make better use of it. With a hydraulic steering cylinder in place of a traditional rack, a wired remote to control it, and a patent pending design, the RIDE System lets you control your vehicle from the rear. This dramatically reduces your turning radius, increases stability, and opens up a whole new world of maneuverability.
It’s even more of a game changer if you’re running a big lift kit and portals that make your turning radius bigger. In fact, we were specifically thinking of portals when we designed it. It’s a match made in heaven—like chocolate and peanut butter or Super and ATV. Big lift, big tires, big torque, and tight turning that’s as good or better than stock? No, it’s not too good to be true—it’s the RIDE System Rear Steering Kit.
So you’ve got a better turning radius. Does that really make that much of a difference? Yes! Because the RIDE System’s independent rear steering gives you precise control where you need it. Picture yourself making a tight left turn between two trees. Take it too tight and your rear tires will hit the tree. Take it too wide and your front-end will hit another tree a few feet away on your right. With the RIDE System, you can turn the wheel left so your front end fits between them and push the thumbstick on the remote right to swing your rear end around, then straighten out and cruise right between the trees.
It’s more than a tighter turning radius, it’s tighter control and more fun than you ever thought your Ranger was capable of.
I bet you’re a mud person. If you’re not, you can just skim right past this section. If you are, you might be thinking that tight control isn’t a big deal when you’re just trying to dig deep for some traction. After all, your blood’s pulsing hardest when you’re going in a straight line.
But think about it: the good mud holes float your front end. Your traction’s in the rear which means you can control your machine if you have the RIDE System. Not to mention crab-walking out of ruts under the mud is the best way to find the traction you need.
The RIDE System doesn’t just help in the mud. Ride parks get packed when mud’s on the menu. Sometimes you spend more time navigating around other riders on the way to your destination than you do in the mud.
If somebody breaks down in front of you, you’re stuck.
If people park in front of a mud pit and you just want to get past, you’re stuck.
Instead of making a 10-point turn every quarter mile, the RIDE System lets you roll diagonally so you can fit through smaller gaps easily. Getting to the mud hole fast means getting through the trails fast, and better maneuverability with the RIDE System gets you there.
It’s easy to see how better technical maneuvering can be an advantage in rock crawling where your success is determined by your ability to maneuver properly. Having control of your rear end’s exact location independent of what your front-end is doing lets you pick the best line. If your rear tires are getting pulled somewhere where they won’t grip, adjust their position to keep from rolling or getting high-centered, and keep moving forward. In fact, you can take brand new lines that others can’t. Imagine moving diagonally with front and rear wheels pointed in the same direction when there’s not enough room to get your front end past a boulder.
That maneuverability carries over to hill climbing too, and it has the added bonus of extreme stability. When you can control your rear end, you can move diagonally around trees and rocks so you don’t have to get off-camber. Side-hilling is something we would never dream of doing in a Ranger, but now we can do it without actually getting sideways. Keeping your rear wheels behind you means you’ll keep going up instead of rolling down.
Of course, it works great when you want to fly through tight trails, too. Perfect, precise control keeps your wheels on track, and sharp turns become trivial. All it takes is a stiff grip on the wheel and your thumb on the remote and you’ll be throwing up rooster trails and flying around hairpins easier than you ever could before. Just imagine flying around turns in your Ranger… like it’s a RZR.
The RIDE System uses an optional autocentering kit to keep your rear wheels straight. It returns the rear wheels to center with the push of a button so you can drive straight. That’s not all the autocentering kit does—there are a few other features and functions built into it.
First, it calibrates automatically. When you tell it to calibrate, it turns the wheels all the way left and right to figure out where the exact center is. It takes seconds.
Once that’s done, the LED display that comes with the Autocentering Kit shows you the angle at which your rear wheels are turned. And you can toggle between manual and automatic centering. What’s the difference? Manual centering requires you to press a button on the remote to return the wheels to that center line. With it switched to automatic, the rear wheels return to center every time you let off the remote. Your preference depends on how much thought you want to put into your turns. We prefer manual most of the time with a dash of automatic when we’re just cruising.
It also returns to center once you hit 30 MPH. Trust us, using the RIDE System over 30 MPH can get pretty sketchy. That’s why it’s important to program your tire size. It’s easy, it only takes a minute, and it makes sure your RIDE System knows your true speed with any tire size even if your speedometer doesn’t.
Let’s talk about the remote for a minute. It’s your direct line to the RIDE System. It’s wired and magnetic so you can stick it to your cage or stick it to the dash-mounted bracket that comes with the kit. Wherever you put it, we designed it to be easy to reach.
The remote itself uses a thumbstick to turn left and right. Below that is the autocenter button—the button that brings your rear wheels back to center. It’s that simple. The ease of reaching the autocenter button is why we tend to keep our RIDE System set to manual. Any time we want to straighten out, we just hit that button.
What about if the remote gets wet? It’s no problem because this thing is totally waterproof. The aluminum housing is packed with epoxy so that nothing is exposed to the elements anywhere, ever.
One of the most important parts of building a rear steering kit is making sure it’s strong—the rear end of your machine wasn’t built to handle the torque of turning wheels after all. On our Ranger 1000 kit, we added tie rods, changed out the A-arms, and replaced your hub. But we didn’t slap any old parts on there and call it good. We made them top-of-the-line.
The rear tie rods are a big deal on a kit designed to add steering to the rear. That’s why we went full premium with them. They’re made from billet aluminum that is much stronger than casting and, thanks to the boxed design and natural billet finish, look awesome. The heavy-duty heim joints and ball-and-socket joints have strength to match—they’re made from chromoly steel.
The A-arms are built with the same strength-centric design as the rest of our A-arms. They have thick 1.25” tubing and use chromoly adjustable pivot blocks and ball joint housings. The ball joints in the arms are also made of chromoly steel. In case you didn’t know, chromoly is one of the strongest steel alloys you can get.
Our hub plates are made with a specialized steel alloy that is very strong. This steel is the bee’s knees when it comes to maximizing strength without adding tons of bulky material. That’s why we used it on the hub plates—that’s where all the separate suspension components come together. The tie rods, A-arms, and hubs all meet here. So we made it as strong as possible with 8mm of steel.
The hub plates are the last part of this suspension puzzle—all of which are designed so that it never needs replaced.
As different people at SuperATV get their hands on the RIDE System Kit for testing and recreational riding, there’s one thing we keep hearing: “This is going to convince me to buy a 4-seater Ranger.”
That’s coming from people that have access to all the best high performance UTV’s on the market from X3 MAXes to 4-seater Turbo S’s all outfitted with the best SuperATV parts.
SuperATV’s RIDE System Rear Steering Kit has the ability to change the identity of the vehicles it’s installed on. It might just change the way you think of yours.
