Veteran off-road aftermarket company dives into UTV markets with Can-Am X3 Rear Drive Assembly
UTV World Championship officials have announced that Fortin Racing has joined the family of supporting sponsors for this year’s UTV World Championship, returning to Laughlin, Nevada on April 4-7. Fortin Racing’s new UTV products will be on display at April 5’s UTV Festival, held in the parking lot of the Riverside Resort Hotel & Casino.
“We’re excited to welcome Fortin Racing not only to the world of UTVs, but also to this year’s UTV World Championship as a supporting sponsor,” said UTV World Championship CEO Matt Martelli. “Their decades of expertise in off-road racing make them an immediate force in the UTV aftermarket industry, and we’re excited to see what they bring to the table as part of this year’s UTV Festival.”
Fortin Racing, Inc. has applied over 40 years of off-road racing drive train experience to the Can-Am X3 rear drive line. The mission was to improve the strength and reliability of the rear hub, upright, bearings, CV’s, axles and brakes. With the increased loads from larger diameter tires and wheels, heavier vehicle weights, and the demands of endurance off road racing, a complete redesign was required. Starting with the upright or bearing carrier, the stock cast aluminum part was redesigned utilizing aerospace quality 7075 billet aluminum. Keeping all the stock link and trailing arm pivots in place, the stock bushings have been replaced with precision spherical ball bearings. The rear wheel bearings have been replaced with large 4.3” taper roller bearings. The rear hub hat has been made with light 6061-T6 billet aluminum to keep rotating weight to a minimum while keeping the stock 12mm 4 bolt wheel stud pattern. For improved braking power, larger 11” diameter rotors and exclusive Fortin 4 piston radial mount race calipers by StopTech have been incorporated. Piston bore diameters have been designed to be used with the stock master cylinder. The stock metric brake line banjo fitting bolts directly on the caliper.
Applying years of CV joint manufacturing experience, 300m and aerospace alloys have been used in an all-new non-plunging high angle CV joint. The CV’s are bolted to the inner and outer stub axle flanges eliminating the use of wire spring clips and making the assembly more serviceable. The high angle CV boots are fixed to removable flanges as well. The 300m axle shafts are custom made to the required length for the specific width of the car. The kit comes complete with inner stub axles that are through bolted into the rear differential.
Located in San Diego, California, Fortin Racing, Inc. is the industry leading gearbox manufacturer for off-road race and recreational vehicles. Fortin began building transaxles for off-road race cars in the early 1970s. Like all of their products the transaxle was designed and developed to meet the demand of racers, to win races and championships. Over the past 40 years, Fortin gearboxes, suspension, steering and drive train technologies have allowed off-road race cars to increase their speeds over the roughest terrain mother nature has to offer. Fortin Racing also offers a complete product line of drivetrain and steering components designed, engineered and CNC machined in a new 10,000 square foot facility in El Cajon. Visit www.fortinracing.com for more information.
