The Ultimate Can-Am Maverick X3 Range Extender!
Range anxiety sucks. I’m not talking about EV range anxiety, I’m talking about good ol’ hydrocarbon-fueled internal combustion range anxiety. When I was a young kid riding the desert all around Lake Havasu City, pulling the gas cap on my 2003 Yamaha Blaster to observe a nearly bone-dry tank was always a fear-inducing sight. Sure, I could switch the petcock to Reserve and hope it would get me home, but just hoping it was enough wasn’t always enough. Riding alone was rare in those days, so at least I only had to suffer embarrassment and roost of the friend who towed me home.
Now with the introduction of UTVs, I ride by myself quite often, maybe taking a friend in the passenger seat, but with no other vehicles along for support. My girlfriend and I love to explore the desert sitting side-by-side in these machines, running through the desert following our whims, jumping on and off new trails that we’ve never seen before. As the fun takes over and we lose track of mileage and time, that blinking fuel gauge comes faster than you think. While it was scary to wonder if I’d make it home when I was riding quads with a group of friends, it’s downright terrifying to think about stranding myself and my girlfriend out in the desert many miles from home. The wrath of an angry girlfriend is no joke!
Enter the AGM Products EXR Fuel Tank. This permanently-installed 8+ gallon fuel tank nearly doubles the mileage between fill-ups, and greatly reduces the terrible range anxiety caused by a fuel warning light.
The system that we got our hands on is specifically built for our two seat CanAm X3 AGM Products, however, does make a similar setup for the four-seat X3 and the four-seat Polaris RZR XP Turbo and Turbo S platforms. Installation in our two-seat X3 was relatively straightforward. We were lucky enough to use a two-post lift and a well-equipped Boxo Tools shop, which certainly made it easier, but you could also do the job with a set of jack stands in the home garage and some basic tools. Get a friend to help, if you can; installation only took a few hours with the occasional help of a second human.
The worst part of this install is removing the factory Can-Am X3 skid plate. That’s no fault of AGM, as Can-Am thought it would be a brilliant idea to rivet on the skids from the factory, but it’s a pain in the butt nonetheless. If you’re in the garage at home, that means putting the car on jack stands while you drill out the rivets, and then removing it from the jack stands to drop the plate and pull it from under the car. If you’re going to go through all this trouble, I’d highly recommend upgrading your skid plate while you’re at it. Get something more durable and protective, such as an aftermarket skid plate system. It offers more protection for this fancy new fuel tank, as well as the chassis tubes and engine/transmission in the rear. That’s exactly what we did with this X3, and the new skid plate re-installs with a set of self-tapping hardware. If stock is your style, then AGM does offer a replacement skid hardware pack to make your life easier as well.
Now back to the tank install—once the skid plate and seats are removed from the car, just follow along with the well-written instructions and everything should go smoothly. A second set of hands comes in useful once you have the tank brackets hanging from the chassis tubes. While one human lifts the tank into place from below the car, the other can secure the first two brackets to hold the tank in place. From there, one set of hands should be able to finish the task easily.
Disassembling the Can-Am X3’s dash is the next most difficult part of the task, but it isn’t too difficult if you proceed with patience. This task is necessary to install the new rubber filler neck coupler that contains AGM’s sweet little billet jet, which injects the fuel into the stock fuel tank. The included fuel pump bolts up easily; it’s wired to a switch that can be mounted in one of the many available spots in the dash or center console, and once it’s plumbed to the filler neck with the included fuel line, everything is ready to be reassembled.
With the install complete, we filled up the EXR Tank with some fresh 91-octane, and we were ready to hit the trails. A flip of the dash-mounted switch immediately activates the pump and you can even watch the liquid flow effortlessly into the X3’s native tank with the fuel fill cap removed. I’d recommend pulling off the trail to watch and make sure you don’t overfill the stock tank, but since the AGM EXR tank capacity is slightly less than stock, you can refuel while moving with little worry, if the fuel gauge is flashing empty. Or, you can just be mindful to pump up a little bit at a time.
The EXR tank is home-grown and hand-built in the USA, in AGM’s facility down in Southern California. It’s constructed from aluminum and TIG-welded to perfection, and pressure-tested to ensure there are no dangerous leaks. There are other fuel storage solutions on the market, but this is one of the safest, most durable options we’ve seen, and it keeps the fuel conveniently out-of-the-way. With more than 8 gallons of fuel stored beneath the seats, the X3 keeps its low center of gravity, and the tank shouldn’t explode like some plastic fuel containers do when left in the hot sun, as we’ve experienced in the past.
Out of all the expensive customization and personalization UTV mods on the market, this is hands-down the most bang-for-buck mod for me (except for proper shock tuning, maybe), since I love going on long rides and getting as far from home as possible. The security of having that much fuel on board is priceless, and the tank is handy for more than just extending our range on this X3. The EXR Fuel Tank also includes a “Buddy Hose” that threads onto a port down by the easily accessible fuel pump; with the turn of a ball valve and a flip of the same switch, fuel can be pumped into your stranded buddy’s vehicle. You can be the hero and save your group, even better yet protect your taste buds from having to suck on a hose to siphon fuel tank-to-tank. Reason enough to order one now!
The AGM EXR Fuel tank comes in at $1,197 MSRP; that’s not cheap, but nothing built this well is. It’s a small price to pay for safe fuel storage that nearly doubles your range between fuel stops.
Words: Brandon Bunch
Photos: Brandon Bunch & Logan Gallagher
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