After a few thousand miles of testing, our 2024 Can-Am Maverick R X RS has delivered on most fronts which made it easy for Upgrading Our Maverick R. Its smooth power delivery and 7-speed Dual Clutch Transmission makes it one of favorite High Performance Sport UTVs to date. There’s no stress of belt wear, it rides and handles significantly better than the Maverick X3 and the strength and durability of the suspension components make it a reliable vehicle for long rides and adventures. Our vehicle, which will spend most of its life pre-running the Baja Peninsula, really only needed a few aftermarket accessories. We’re not quite finished tinkering, but here are the products we’ve relied on for Upgrading Our Maverick R.
Upgrading Our Maverick R
Alsup Racing Development (ARD) offers a full lineup of Can-Am Maverick R upgrades from Control Arm and Trailing Arm replacements and tie rods and radius rod upgrades to full turn-key pre-runners and race cars. They’re one of the best in the business when it comes upgrading Can-Am High Performance UTVs and they helped with Upgrading Our Maverick R.
While eventually we’ll replace our maverick R’s control arms and trailing arms, it didn’t rank high on our list. The OEM components are strong and use good quality 14mm bolts and barring any heavy footed driver errors, we’re comfortable holding off for now. We did, however, install ARD’s Radius Rod Nut Plate Kit ($199.99) and Sport Pull Plate ($179.99)
This ARD setup replaces the thin OEM pull plate and riveted on nut plates with chromoly. The ARD Nut Plate Kit is bolted into the frame and uses new nylock nuts. Side note, If you’ve spent much time working on a Maverick R, you’ll notice the heavy amount of yellow thread locker from the factory, especially on the rear radius rod nuts. You’ll want to use a torch and heat up the nuts during disassembly on any of the Maverick R pivot points. You’ll also want to reassemble with a dab of red Loc-Tite or similar thread locker.
A roll-cage was next on our list for Upgrading Our Maverick R. Even though Can-Am goes through rigorous testing on their stock cages, we feel a 100mph off-road vehicle needs to have a much sturdier cage. Alsup Racing Development’s Maverick R Sport Cage ($3599.99) has many options to choose from a-pillar supports to window nets and intrusion bars. It is a direct bolt-on application with integrated rear shock supports and is constructed of 1.75โ and 1.50โ 4130 Chromoly. The plated b-pillar assembly with the signature ARD logo adds both style and strength to the cage assembly.
Upgrading Our Maverick R
We have been using DRT Motorsports products for a few years now and we love their ideas, designs and overall quality from this California based company. While they have a whole collection of Maverick R accessories, our next goal on this build was to improve our storage. The stock Maverick R has very limited storage space, including an embarrassingly small glovebox and a bed that barely fits our new 35-inch Yokohama Tires.
Upgrading Our Maverick R included improving our storage by using DRT’s Maverick R Aluminum Trunk Enclosure ($985) and Tire Carrier / Adventure Rack. The Trunk Enclosure maximizes the use of the limited trunk area and adds lockability to protect those essential items from theft. It is laser cut, welded and formed of aerospace grade aluminum to provide a rigid base and features mesh inserts on the side panels for breathability and the gas struts keep the trunk door open while in use. Install was a challenge since it comes with a large bag of bolts and requires you to open and close the lid a handful of times for alignment, but once lined up and tightened we were happy with the fit and finish.
The compartment is much larger than it looks. It allowed us to fit a handful of spare Maverick R parts, an AGM Electric Jack, a large tool tool and another Rigg Gear bag filled with tire repair and other miscellaneous “uh oh” accessories and tools.
The DRT Tire Carrier / Adventure Rack ($785) features a boxed design with tons of tie-down point options, heavy-duty latches, and lift assist shocks. When used as a tire carrier, the rack will hold up to a 35″ tire securely and comes powder coated in DRT’s signature sand black finish with high-grade black oxide-coated hardware. This setup comes with mounting brackets that attach to the stock upper shock tower bolt mounts. While this setup will work on most aftermarket cages, our ARD cage comes with shock tower braces that did not work with these brackets. We need to cut the brackets and weld them to the shock towers to make them work. Don’t judge our work too hard, but we made it work. We’re incredibly happy with the DRT trunk and tire carrier combination. It’s functional and looks great.
Massive power and spray from the front tires along with limited space between our 15-inch wheels and the brake calipers makes rock guards almost a requirement on the Can-Am Maverick R. DRT makes a simple, easy-to-mount, Billet Rear Aluminum Mud/Rock Guard Kit ($235) that has held up great for over 1000 miles. Having experience with rock guards, it’s only a matter of time before one or both get ripped off, but they’re an affordable investment for defending your wheels, calipers and other rear suspension components.
Upgrading Our Maverick R
Our biggest concern with the Maverick R for pre-running long rides was with fuel mileage. It comes with a 15-gallon fuel tank, but when you’re ripping around at 75-80mph the fuel tends to burn at a quicker rate. To fix this concern, we reached out to RPM Powersports for their Can-Am Maverick R 9 Gallon Auxiliary Fuel Tank Kit.
At the push of a switch you can refill the factory tank at 1.3+GPM. The RPM Auxiliary Tank is a none invasive installation which means NO chassis modifications, NO crazy bracketry, & NO cutting or welding. It took us two hours to install at a leisurely pace. It’s mounted low in the chassis under the factory seats and at the lowest points possible allows for a well balanced car.
Included with every tank is a plug and play wiring harness complete with a momentary switch. This switch allows you to be worry free of accidentally turning on, or leaving your pumps activated and running. One switch controls multiple tanks alleviating any unneeded wiring. RPM Auxiliary fuel tanks are purchased as two separate tanks that are “per side” allowingย you to run just 1 ($649.95) or both tanks ($1194.95). This also allows for the tanks AND fuel lines to be clear from being near, above, or bellow any of the rotating drivetrain. The construction of these tanks is 6mm thick RotoMolded seamless plastic, this is about 3x thicker than a factory fuel tank. ย Stainless fittings are also standard with all of RPM’s RotoMolded tanks.
Upgrading Our Maverick R
It’s nearly impossible to pre-run Baja and take proper race notes between driver and navigator without having a reliable intercom system. It’s also difficult to communicate with your chase truck or even other vehicles in your riding group without a solid radio. We’ve been using Rugged Radio products for many years and each year the quality gets better and better. We installed Rugged Radios Can-Am Maverick R Complete Communication Kit with Rocker Switch Bluetooth Intercom and M1 2-Way Radio ($1,678) along with their MAC Air 2-Person Helmet Air Pumper ($225) in our Maverick R Pre-Runner Build.
The Rugged M1 Radio for the Maverick R mounts to the lower left of the steering wheel just in front of the driver’s left knee. The most difficult part of mounting is removing the stock dash plastic to install the supplied bracket and cutting a small amount of plastic off the lower dash to flush mount the head. Once the plastic is removed, you’ll spend a couple hours running and zip tying the plug and play wiring cleaning along the chassis.
The Rugged 696PLUS intercom features a remote head and bracket, which we mounted in the small pocket in the lower center of the dash. The Can-Am engineers didn’t leave too much space in the cockpit, but Rugged found a clean out of the way location for mounting. The complete Can-Am Maverick R communication kit does it all! It’s to install, easy to use, and comes with everything you need for installation. Both the radio and intercom are on separate switches and both driver and passenger have push-to-talk buttons to control the radio. Communication is clear between driver and passenger, you can listen to music, and stay in touch with the other cars in your group.
Upgrading Our Maverick R
Upgrading Our Maverick R included improvements in the lighting department. Once again, this is a 100mph off-road vehicle, and we needed lighting that would light on the trail in front of us. We tabbed up some custom mounts on our ARD Sport Cage and installed a massive 50-inch light bar from All Terrain Concepts ($835) and Can-Am Maverick R Shock Package ($325).
ATC Light Bars are specifically designed for high speed applications and long distance visibility. Whether or not you compete in off-road competition, this light bar will be a perfect addition to your off-road vehicle. They feature High-quality CREE LEDS, Military-style breather design, Shatterproof lenses, Spot Flood Combo, Yellow lenses for fine-tuning, Deep dish optics, IP68 Dust and Waterproof and are available in 33, 38, 43, and 50 -inch size. High quality harnesses are also included.
The ATC Shock Package includes the Maverick R Race Shock bracket made in house for precision fitment and ease of installation and includes a newly redesigned 12 inch ATC RACE Light Bar and plug and play single harness. All ATC lights are backed with the Industries first true lifetime guarantee.
Stay tuned for more upgrades to our Can-Am Maverick R. We’ll be running this vehicle to pre-run 2025 King of the Hammers event as well as all four of the 2025 Score-International UTV Racing Events; including the Baja 500 and Baja 1000.