Size, power and age

[toonces]

Educating myself getting ready to buy my first 4x4 and have some questions.

1 - Engine size. One of my wants is to be able to pull a trailer up a trail with a decent amount of camping gear piled in, so I've been told to either look for a good size motor or one with hi-lo gears. From what I've learned so far it seems that something like a Sportsman 500 HO or 550 Griz would do that job fairly well. But for the sake of opening up my options could I possibly look into a smaller engine than these if it had hi-lo? Put another way...what's the smallest engine size I should be looking for on a machine that has hi-lo considering my pulling needs?

2 - Can add power steering? Is it possible to add power steering to a model that didn't come with it, but other versions of that same year's model did? For example some of the 2008 Griz 550s came with PS and some didn't. If I found one that didn't have it could I reasonably assume I could add it later considering the frame and equipment has probably already been designed to work with it?

3- Mileage and age. Most of the machines I'm seeing have between 500-1200 or so miles and I'm wondering how many is too many? Seen some with 2-3000+ and I'm most def staying away from those. But whats the mileage limit where you can expect major things (read expensive) to start going wrong with the machine? I've heard someone generally speaking say they would rather take a 2006 with 1000 miles on it vs a 2012 with 2000. Would most people agree?

[fastredrider44]

You say trailer with camping gear... Camping gear is typically light, so the better question, is what kind of trailer are we talking about? A lot of the CVT style transmissions do have hi-lo gears. A fourwheeler like a Honda Foreman has 5 gears, and in the right gear will pull whatever you put behind it (within reason) with ease. If you're going to be hooked to a trailer a lot, I would look for a fourwheeler with a solid rear axle. They don't typically ride as good, but support weight and hold up under abuse better in my opinion.

Adding power steering... Probably unlikely due to cost. If you think power steering is a must, you probably should find a quad with it rather than plan to buy new or even hunt a used unit and swap it over. I don't see the PS models reselling for much more than the traditional fourwheelers. I do not have PS on my fourwheeler, and view it as one less thing to give trouble. They are nice though, I just don't feel like they're needed. That being said, if you carry a lot of weight on the front rack, run big wheels and tires and have a snow plow and a winch, I can see where a PS model would be very nice, but if you have that much weight up front, you may be straining it and short living it anyway. I do not have any personal experience with PS models and how they hold up, so I'm merely just offering my thoughts there.

Mileage and age... Its all relative. I've seen fourwheelers run 10,000 miles with no major overhauls. I have also put top ends in fourwheelers with 300 miles. Check for smoke, and steer clear of any creek fourwheelers if you're looking to buy a used unit that you don't have to work on all the time. Maintenance and how they are treated are the life of utilities. Actually, that's the life of any machine, just more evident in utility quads. As far as the 2006 with 1000 miles vs 2012 with 2000 miles goes, it depends on how hard those miles were, and which model you're looking at. On some models, a 2006 is still a nice machine, but on other models, the 2012 is going to be a better machine with suspension, motor and electrical updates. If you have friends that ride, swing a leg over their machines and get a feel for what you like and what you don't like.