Can am Diff...what would you do?

R

Realbadlarry

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My off road buddy just destroyed his front diff 2017 can am. Would you upgrade to a full lock diff? get a used one? Try to rebuild his? also the shaft quit spinning when the driver side locked up, but turns again after we pulled the axle? Do you think the tranny is hurt too?
 
just replace the diff with another one from a 2017. Lots of people swap the 2017 visco diff with the newer version with locker.
 
The diffs before Smart Lock were know for having the ring gear bolts come loose and spit out the cases. It happened to my 2018 in the dunes. I just replaced mine with another visco lock front diff.

If you don't do a lot of technical trail riding no need for the smart lock or locking diff.
 
Unless you are doing technical or rock crawling I don't think you'd want the locking Diff. Honestly though I think I'd hit that guy up Grease Monkey was talking about.

RD
 
Put the factory smartlock in and don't look back. Greasmonkey found this cat that was sponsored and had a pile of legit OEM diffs and was letting them go at a smoking price. If he still has them, that's your best bet... even if you have to drive to get it.
 
If you go Smartlock you have to get the module and the switch to put it in the different modes.
 
To my knowledge, 2017 was the only year you can not get the Oem brp harness upgrade to add smart lock. Which also requires new front axles

Get the stock visco and bullet proof it with sandcraft parts you can add a halo locker if you feel the need
 
Since I've seen every version of these Can-Am Visco-Lok and Smart-Look diffs over the past 7 years, I guess I'm qualified to chime in.

The Visco-Lok diffs are pretty fragile. They only have 2-spider gears compared to the 4-spider gears in the Smart-Lok diffs. The R&P gears are virtually the same in both. They are both susceptible to the needle bearing/main case failures from the tugging and pulling on the center drive shaft.

The Smart-Lok diff is a direct bolt into the chassis, but will require new axles, which are larger, so that is a good benefit. You can leave the Smart-Lok diff disconnected and it will work just fine in most applications unless you are rock crawling with it and need the locker to help pull the front end over an obstacle.

The early Smart-Lok diffs (2018-2021) have smaller spider and side gears that are common to break. The 2022 and later diffs have larger spider and side gear teeth, these are far stronger. There is also a few versions of them that used a bronze bushing instead of a needle bearing in the case for the pinion support. Both versions are susceptible to this failing if you don't upgrade the pinion bearing (shameless plug: https://weddleindustries.com/product-news/can-am-pinion-bearing-nut-upgrade)

There are many people with these cars that never have any issues with the front diff. But there is a reason why I prep them and keep them on the shelf ready to ship with our upgrades.
 
Thank You Sean....I passed that along to him...he's reached out to the can am guy as well.
 
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