What's new

Can Am Defender HD10 Max XT build- All you seasoned SxS people, what do I need? Trails/ hunting/ plowing

VG SERE

Yellow Skull
Joined
May 28, 2020
Member Number
1621
Messages
204
2021 Can Am Defender Max XT

I've been looking at SxS for a while. Something I can take the fam up the mountain to pick huckleberries, hunt, plow and hopefully be able to finally pawn off hauling our garbage cans a mile down the roan on to the kids finally. Can drive on the street in ID, so I needed a bit of go, but I'm a pretty tame enjoy the scenery kind of guy so I don't need 20" of suspension travel either. Defender seemed like the best compromise between fun and utility.

I've got a couple hundred miles on it so far, logging roads, atv trails, dirt/gravel, town, and even some highway, lol. This thing has plenty of go. Other than the tire noise 60mph on the pavement is no sweat(will get to it's claimed 65mph max even with passengers quickly). It does drink the gas at that speed.

The good:
Seats 6
Plenty of go
Plenty of room in the dump bed for real chores
Front/ Rear selectable locker, several other brands i looked at had full time or friction lockers in the rear.
Quiet- easily have conversations at cruising speeds.
Bed removes easily giving great access to engine, rear suspension, etc.
Seems to be well thought out as far as access. Whole thing comes apart.
great range at reasonable speeds.

Things I already am changing/ want to change.

No tunes = lame. This is going on the ceiling behind the front seats. Has built in dome lights as well. Was around $540 retail. A bargain compared to the all in one roof audio systems. If you need attention, or love tinnitus there are some wild options out there.

Mirrors! Driving in town was annoying with no mirrors or signals. These are great. I still need a rearview mirror. Debating going with a back up camera version.

Signals/ Horn. I haven't even checked ID SxS laws to see if i need them. Don't care, I want turn signals, even if the ID folks don't know what they mean. :lmao:
This kit has nothing but stellar reviews. Went all in with options and a horn. Spendy, but great execution and plug and play.

Lights! So here I could use some help. Converting the factory hi/lo H11's to LED. I don't need any light bars... Except plow is going to block the headlights and I want a rear work light/ backup light. I would LOVE to do quality RED LEDs spot/flood combos. Want to be able to cruise to a stand in the dark and get my shit together without a headlamp, blinding myself, or alerting the whole valley. I found a bunch of red/white options, but they all use a little fob and do a bunch of unnecessary crap. I'd prefer a 3 position switch red/off/white. That's not a thing. Just want a 10" up front over the plow and a 6-7" over the bed for a backup/ work light. Red and white. May just say screw it and get the combo versions. Open to ideas.

Windshield.- came with a poly. It works, but I want a windshield wiper for plowing, and that means glass. Picked up the factory tilt glass with wiper kit.

Suspension- is way too soft for my liking. It dives and pushes in corners. Consensus are these springs are the ticket. Gonna try them.

Heater- ugh. Want one, don't want to spend the two days tearing the machine apart for the install. Lazy or frostbite - who will win?

Half doors - ok this shit is already spendy, but are you kidding me... :eek: Still on the fence. Would add a ton of wind protection especially for the rear seats. Would probably cut down on road noise as well.

Brakes squeal- don't have a answer yet but it seems to be a common complaint.

Plow- I could use some advice here. My driveway is basically a bowl. House on one side and retaining walls on two others. Snow all has to go out one way. Thinking V plow, but torn. Can I get out and position the blades a 100 times to save $2500? Western and Boss seem to be the main options, but I found 2 other options. I'm spacing the names right now.

Seat covers- Can-Am Defender Seat Covers | Custom Seat Covers for a Can-Am Defender

That's plenty to start. Other than that I filled the handy little under seat storage bin with the usual trail stuff. TP, med kit, recovery stuff, gloves, jacket, tools, etc.

I know I need some decent dust masks or something if I'm going to be riding with friends. Dust wasn't bad at all Sat and we still ended up looking like extras from the Grapes of Wrath.

Phone mount and GPS app, lots of trails I want to explore. Need to play with Gaia some more. Use it for hunting, 99% for property lines. Need to see what it offers for trail riding.

Possibly some more trail/ road oriented tires. Not a priority, toy fund is already draining quickly.

What other gear/mods have really made your sxs trips enjoyable?
 
I have a RZR so I wont be able to help with the workhorse side of things but I run Ram mounts for my tablet and phone. they are rock solid. My tablet is a Samsung Tab A 10.1" so not small by any stretch and it stays put. I have it mounted on the tube above the windshield tucked up under the roof pointed down towards me. It keeps it out of the rain/spray if I hit a puddle too fast and pointing down the sun isn't glaring off the screen.

The navigation apps I use are Lifetime Trailmaps, Avenza and some Maprika. it just depends on the area I am in. With Avenza you can get free maps on the NF site if you are riding in a National Forest.

For light bars I run the cheap Amazon stuff. no it's not Rigid bright but it's pretty damn bright and it's $25 for a set of pod lights or <$100 for a light bar. If I roll my RZR I am not going to be too pissed off that the lightbar didn't survive. I smash an $800 Rigid I am gonna be pissed.

For tires on mine I run sticky Rokzillas for hard trails and I have a second set of wheels that I run the BFG KM3 UTV version on. Mine have a touch of shimmy in the steering at 55+ but I mounted them on beadlocks and they aren't balanced. BFG KM3 about 250miles in SD Black HIlls last month plus another 60-80 around home running around on the blacktop and gravel backroads. They aren't showing much wear at all.

If you ride with anyone else in a group i suggest getting a FRS radio. My group runs this setup and have had really good luck with them. 2 way radio
i suggest getting an external speaker or if you are hard of hearing like me I run a Audio Interrupter that ties into your stereo speakers. It cuts teh stereo when someone talks and plays the 2way over your stereo. audio interrupter
 
Another thing I carry in my recovery gear is a couple winch line extensions.winch line extension

And soft shackles for attaching to tree straps or to another rig. shackle

I keep them in a cheapo HF plastic ammo can with tree strap and tow strap in my RZR. I would keep whatever recovery gear you get easily accessible. When I need to winch it's always when I am way off camber and standing on the brakes while a buddy digs my tree strap and soft shackle out of the ammo can to hook me up.
 
Another thing I carry in my recovery gear is a couple winch line extensions.winch line extension

And soft shackles for attaching to tree straps or to another rig. shackle

I keep them in a cheapo HF plastic ammo can with tree strap and tow strap in my RZR. I would keep whatever recovery gear you get easily accessible. When I need to winch it's always when I am way off camber and standing on the brakes while a buddy digs my tree strap and soft shackle out of the ammo can to hook me up.
Adding the radio. Don't know if the interrupter is an option. Not tearing into the all in one audio bar.

I dig the winch line extension, already have a couple soft shackles in the kit. A snatch block, a tree strap, and gloves will probably be the whole kit. Maybe a shovel if i can find a place out of the way.

The defender has a nifty plastic ammo can/ storage bucket under the passenger seat. Size of a small cooler that just lifts right out. Same for the "glove box", it's smaller, but it lifts right out as well. Nice, I can reach right in and grab med/emergency/ recovery gear quickly and easily. Might do some organizing and rearranging, so I don't have dump contents and dig. Will probably put med/ emergency stuff in the "glove box" as it's right on top and visible. I'll figure out some high speed cool guy way to mark it. :cool2::laughing:
 
yea with your plan to use a sound bar I wouldn't deal with the interrupter either.

with your Can Am being quieter you might very well get away with the external speaker that website carries. I have one but at road speed or hard on the throttle I couldn't hear it over the engine even with it blasting right at my face.. i am kinda deef though :laughing:
 
Where in north ID are you?

Heater is nice, go bigger than what they recommend. Inferno makes really nice stuff, but I felt like it wasn't quite enough. To be fair the kit was for a Honda talon, and I put it in a very early 4 seat. It probably would have done well in a 2 seat cab. It also could have been all the fucking holes Honda put in that thing, it was a constant battle trying to keep wind out. With as big as your cab is, make sure you get a big one. Also, if you're not taking the fam in the snow, think about adding a partition behind the front seats.

The other bummer is, for whatever reason, SxS don't blow very hot at an idle. Not like a regular vehicle.

I'm also curious about plows. I'd like to retrofit one from a defender or ranger to my samurai.
 
Where in north ID are you?

Heater is nice, go bigger than what they recommend. Inferno makes really nice stuff, but I felt like it wasn't quite enough.
Panhandle, live in Spokane. Have a place on the St Joe.

Inferno is on my top 3 list for heaters. Not expecting miracles but if it can keep the windshield clear and take the bite out of a evening ride I'll be happy. Will be tough with no doors, but $1500 for some damn half doors...:eek:
 
Panhandle, live in Spokane. Have a place on the St Joe.

Inferno is on my top 3 list for heaters. Not expecting miracles but if it can keep the windshield clear and take the bite out of a evening ride I'll be happy. Will be tough with no doors, but $1500 for some damn half doors...:eek:

Well if you're ever up in Bonners let me know :flipoff2:

Ya, not going to do shit with no doors. Maybe warm you feet a bit, and ya defrost.
 
Pro tip, you can order the plastic flip up brackets from passenger seat and bolt them to the drivers seat base to make it flip up as well, and store another waterproof passenger seat bin under drivers seat.

You covered the rest of the important stuff. S3 springs are nice for sure. Beamtech led bulbs from amazon have been money. I use the seizmik overhead gun rack for hunting, love it. And a drivers seat belt override deal, nice if you want to cruise unbuckled. And a soft rear window, since i didnt know how often id be pulling the front. It helps with the dust a bit. Lastly a rearview mirror, because sideview mirrors wouldnt last long in our tight woods.







20210607_170040.jpg
 
Pro tip, you can order the plastic flip up brackets from passenger seat and bolt them to the drivers seat base to make it flip up as well, and store another waterproof passenger seat bin under drivers seat.

You covered the rest of the important stuff. S3 springs are nice for sure. Beamtech led bulbs from amazon have been money. I use the seizmik overhead gun rack for hunting, love it. And a drivers seat belt override deal, nice if you want to cruise unbuckled. And a soft rear window, since i didnt know how often id be pulling the front. It helps with the dust a bit. Lastly a rearview mirror, because sideview mirrors wouldnt last long in our tight woods.







20210607_170040.jpg
Sweet ride.

What tire/ wheel combo?

If I can do the seat pivot trick on a 21 Max i'll owe you a beer. That is awesome. Shit will those little buckets fit under every seat? gonna go try, lol.

Someone needs to make a rotomolded cooler for that spot. Enough to keep a six pack + lunch cool for a day would be money.
 
30x10-14 Maxxis carnivores on method 409's 14x7 (5+2 offset).

The bucket with lid wont fit in the middle, but they do have an open top bucket that fits there. A lil cooler would be badass!
 
My dad just got an HD10 XMR. You got a good list there and I wouldn’t add much else.

It’s a great machine for what you’ve listed.
Only down side I’ve seen is the bed attachment points are pretty weak, so be careful with the bed.
 

Attachments

  • B81DE4A4-B389-4380-B7F1-4793CC3A5B15.jpeg
    B81DE4A4-B389-4380-B7F1-4793CC3A5B15.jpeg
    3 MB · Views: 57
My dad just got an HD10 XMR. You got a good list there and I wouldn’t add much else.

It’s a great machine for what you’ve listed.
Only down side I’ve seen is the bed attachment points are pretty weak, so be careful with the bed.
:eek:

talk about adding insult to injury... get stuck then pull the bed off trying to pull you out..
 
:eek:

talk about adding insult to injury... get stuck then pull the bed off trying to pull you out..
there is a REALLY long story on this one, but a "buddy" got stuck, and somehow ripped the bed off while trying to get unstuck.

we got him out, but the unit got stuck because the inexperienced rider did not know what a "locking differential" was.
 
there is a REALLY long story on this one, but a "buddy" got stuck, and somehow ripped the bed off while trying to get unstuck.

we got him out, but the unit got stuck because the inexperienced rider did not know what a "locking differential" was.
that's a high price to pay for not knowing your equipment.. hopefully they learned something
 
We had a defender max xt HD8 for 3 years. Great machines.

You have most things covered.
The brake noise is pretty much impossible to get rid of and is annoying until you learn to just ignore it.
We tried a few different bluetooth speakers and ended up putting in a headliner radio kit with two speakers up front.
I put the 2" lift brackets on and adjusted the shocks. That was just enough to give decent clearance on timber trail rides.
We kicked around adding the half doors but never did. I couldn't justify the cost.
 
well, our HD10 lost a tie rod this weekend. again, this is my dad's machine, so i dont get much explanation, but he said he was clearing some underbrush and had some "trouble steering".
 

Attachments

  • 17E6A0C4-890C-45D2-8512-173DBBC6CCB4.jpeg
    17E6A0C4-890C-45D2-8512-173DBBC6CCB4.jpeg
    1.6 MB · Views: 119
well, our HD10 lost a tie rod this weekend. again, this is my dad's machine, so i dont get much explanation, but he said he was clearing some underbrush and had some "trouble steering".
Looks there are a couple beefier aftermarket options if he's interested. Mandatory for the guys running big tires, portals and apparently your dad. :laughing:

I'd remind him to clear that brush from behind the bumper before that thing overheats.
 
That sucks about the tierod. We took the defender to the nationals race in davis this weekend. rode 3 wide all day thursday cruising the trails and never missed a beat. Even got a little crawling in.
 
Looks there are a couple beefier aftermarket options if he's interested. Mandatory for the guys running big tires, portals and apparently your dad. :laughing:

I'd remind him to clear that brush from behind the bumper before that thing overheats.
yeah, i got the S3 billet pieces in the mail.

im steady upgrading whatever he breaks.
 
Top Back Refresh