Pat Mcardle: Hey, Pat McArdle back for another episode of Shop Talk where today we're diving into the new generation of Big Boss ATV. And I'll tell you what, these things have been around for about 25 years now and this is by far the best one ever. No more are the crazy number of chains for driving this thing, shaft drive front to rear. And overall, there's been some big upgrades that make this really nice for those of you who like getting, you know, back in the bush or further off in the trails in the Northwoods.
So first thing, obviously, we've got to talk about is the six-wheel capabilities. So we've got three different sets of axles that are independent front, middle, and rear on this version. Obviously, you get a ton of traction, a ton of great flotation, really good for getting out into those hard-to-reach places where you need the narrow 48-inch stance of an ATV but you still want a lot of work carrying capability that you get out of this big cargo box in the back. As we look, we've actually got sealed suspension bushings all the way around. You might be able to come in and be able to see these right in here. So you'll notice we don't have grease zerks, you know, top or bottom. We've got independent suspension, so dual A-arms across the axles here, so it makes for a really nice ride and handling vehicle. The chassis has actually gotten stiffer on this one. It's about two and a half times stiffer, so that really lets that suspension do its work. The service intervals have been extended out so they're about twice as long as the previous generation model, and even the ground clearance is growing. So we've got 11 and a half inches on this new Big Boss.
You know, coolest thing ever on this, obviously, we've got the gas strut for holding it up, got some nice handles right here in the front. So when you've got this sucker loaded down and you want to be able to lift it, you've got somewhere you can help assist that up. But this box is rated for 800 lb. So you can fit an enormous amount of weight in the back of this thing, be able to carry it around and take it where you need to go. The other nice thing, if you look across the floor, there's spots everywhere for these D-rings to be able to hold your load down, so you can really get and hook up many different places. You've also got rings here on the side, so if you look, you've got pulse pockets that you can drop your one-bys in, so you can put some box rails on. You've got lock and ride holes all the way up, so a super versatile box on the back of this Big Boss that makes it really easy. And you've got a single-handed tailgate to be able to, you know, have a nice flat floor. So if you want to swipe this thing out or wash it out, you can do that without a problem.
As we look at the back of this rig, the other thing that's awesome, we've got a 2-inch receiver on here, so if you've got one in your truck, you know, your tow vehicle, you can easily drop that on here, get your ball set up, and this thing is rated to tow three-quarters of a ton or 1500 lb. So not only do you have that huge 800 lb box capacity, but you also have a massive 1500 lb towing capacity on this rig.
All right, so one of the nice things about the Big Boss here is that you actually do have the ability to carry a passenger, and you can see I'm a full-size guy, right? You've got nice handholds here in the back, a few different spots that you can grab onto this so you don't get tired of where your arms all day. And when you think about the passenger or the driver ergonomics, you still have plenty of room even when you're not all the way back into that seat. You know, I can scoot forward, I can be back, I've got a lot of room to move around in the, in the, you know, in this front end of this thing.
One of the other cool features that comes from the factory on the Big Boss is actually the winch. So you can see there's a switch mounted here right on the left side handlebars, so you actually got in and out, and this one's got an auto stop fairlead on it, so you don't have to worry about sucking that winch too far in. We've also got the work, standard, and performance button on here, so if you're, you know, cruising around, you can flip that thing down to work, makes the throttle a little bit easier to modulate at slow speed. Standard is kind of your normal trail riding, and then when you hit performance, it's going to be a little more aggressive for you. Obviously, standard controls here to be able to engage all six wheels when you flip that button, so you get the ability to go to all-wheel drive, as well as ADC.
You know, on the front end here, we also have a standard 12-volt outlet and we've got a battery charge port. So if you're not using this thing year round, you can plug a trickle charger in right here. We get questioned on what that is sometimes. All right, so one other cool feature is how do you actually set up a geofence? So I've got my phone out, I've got it connected with Bluetooth to my gauge on my ATV here, and if you cycle around, you'll be able to kind of come see that I'm in the garage. I selected the machine that I'm connected to, and I'm going to go to vehicle settings on this one. That's going to take me in. You know, hopefully, say connected to phone here pretty quick, and you can kind of see what I've got. So right now, I don't have a max speed set. I've got an area around Birchwood that's 30 mph inside and 10 mph outside. But let's just say I want to redraw that map so you kind of get an idea. So I'm going to clear that off and I want to be able to ride kind of, you know, in this zone in the map, but not outside of it. So I'm just going to kind of draw, you know, an arbitrary border to show you guys what that looks like. I'm going to save that. Right now my inside speed is set to 30, my outside speed is set to 10. You know, I've got it named. I'm going to actually go back one screen and then I'm going to hit this push button, and that's actually, once I type in my simple passcode here, that's actually going to override settings and push that into my vehicle. And you'll see this will spin for a minute, and as it syncs up and gets that data sent over to the rig, generally it'll actually scroll a message right here on the line where the odometer is. So you can see I'm outside the geofence because I'm a couple hundred miles away. So right now I'd be limited to 10 mph where I'm currently at.
Next thing we want to show you here too is the fact that storage is really good on this thing. So when you look at these rear racks, we've actually got a couple spots that you can actually strap a 5-gallon pail on either side so you can extend the amount you can haul there, especially if you're by yourself and you don't need somebody grabbing on these handles. And Caleb, if I can get you to jump in here, we've also got an accessory rack that we want to show you guys. It's the Yukon accessory rack on these that's super simple to install, kind of drops in on the box. You flip your lock and ride anchors down, and you actually extend the sides and the front of this box. So if you've got to carry things that are a little bit taller, you know, you've got a new rail height now that's about twice as tall. This one's got some nice Seizmik Rhino grips on it, so you get some versatility out of it that way too. But it really makes for an awesome accessory solution and ability to store and use this thing for work.
All right, so jumping up to the front, we also got to talk about the all new styling on the front end of this rig. So the Big Boss now gets the same front fascia treatment that we have on all the rest of the Sportsman lineup in this configuration. So you've got new front fascias, new grills, new bumper, obviously all steel bumper coming across the top. We've got a new sealed storage bin up front. We've got this rack extender up here, and we've actually improved the sealing. So we've got things like this easy pocket for getting at the radiator cap that you can see has got some rubber on here to be able to seal around that area. You can see there's a bulb seal that kind of goes all the way around, so if you throw your gloves or spares in here, you don't have to worry about that. Obviously, we've got some new headlights on this rig as well. So we've got a nice new upper pod light, as well as LEDs on the bumper. So I'm going to flip these up to low and high and you guys can actually see how well everything lights up when you get those lights really kicking. So, you know, you've got the accent light position, the low and the high, which makes for some phenomenal lighting behavior.
Overall, when you think about the Big Boss capabilities, you've got huge storage capabilities, you've got awesome traction, great flotation, you know, this thing is an absolute monster when you get off into the back country in the bush. So phenomenal ATV for those guys that need it. And I think that's about it for this episode of Shop Talk. Make sure you like, comment, subscribe, let us know what you want to see next time.
