Although it is obviously not a firearm, a side-by-side utility or sport vehicle has a very close relationship to shooting sports, as it provides easy access to the fields and spaces so many hunters and outdoorsmen frequent when they adventure. From getting to the field to retrieving a harvest, or transporting your long range rifle gear and going back and forth from the shooting position to the target stand, a utility vehicle makes many challenging tasks much, much easier. David recently purchased a 2023 Can Am Defender, and after owning many machines from almost every major manufacturer, he’s deeply impressed.
The six-seat 2023 Defender Limited Cab from Can Am features a welcome new door design, allowing the windows to roll down all the way into the doors. The cabin also features significantly more glass, providing greater visibility as well as a more open feel inside. However, as is often the case with a first-year model, there have been some growing pains, and some owners of the new Defender Cabs have found that one or more of their windows do not roll down all the way. Here’s the easy fix walkthrough, from your friendly neighborhood Gunsmith at AO Sword Firearms (naturally?).
This brand-new 2023 Defender Max Limited Cab right rear window won’t roll down more than about 2/5 of the way – it is blocked by something solid. All the rest of the windows have no issues rolling up and down through the full range of travel. It was received this way from the dealer, and upon calling the dealer to ask for assistance, they had never heard of the issue before and didn’t have any suggested remedy.
These two photos show the three star-drive bolts that secure the body-colored outer trim panels to the door. The first one is a long bolt in the leading edge of the door. The other two are at the rear of the door. On our machine, these bolts were color-coded black, differentiating them from the zinc-colored screws that secure the door interior panel assembly, window track, and other hardware. I strongly recommend against touching these screws, as they are secured on the other side with lock nuts that are captured by the plastic in the door. If you accidentally spin these too far, you’ll strip out the door itself.
Once the three bolts are removed, carefully pull the top of the trim panel directly away from the door with gentle, continual pressure. There are three locking tabs that mount directly into the door – pull directly outward, without any upward or sideways movement to avoid breaking the tabs. You should hear them pop out without too much force. The panel will be free, but bound up by the door handle. Pull the panel out and back, allowing the door handle to move around in its slot to make room for the panel to slide out.
The above photograph is staged to show the cause of the Defender Max Limited Cab’s window being blocked from rolling down all the way. With the new door design comes a learning curve on the factory assembly line, and some units are slipping out with an assembly error. The second mounting tab under the door trim panel was not properly fed into the slot on the lower door. This resulted in the lower door being pushed inward, under the window itself.
With the door trim panel off, the issue is obvious. The lower door panel has been warped into this concave shape from the inward pressure of the misplaced door panel. I began wondering if I was going to need to use my heat gun to help the plastic get back to its original shape, but this proved unnecessary. Properly aligning the tabs into the slots gives the door enough mechanical correction that everything functions as it should.
In order to get the tabs in proper alignment, you must first thread the door handle back into the upper trim panel. Once the handle is through the slot, manipulate the panel from above and below until all three tabs shown are in alignment with the slots. Drop them down, make one final check as above, and then go ahead and press the upper retention clips back into the door frame. Replace the three inner bolts to secure the outer trim panel, and you’re done!
This is the only issue we’ve had so far with the 2023 Defender, and it is a simple assembly error, easily fixed by the end-user. The overall build quality, comfort, and most importantly, versatility and off-road capability of this machine is excellent. It evokes the Cadillac-like ride quality of our Can Am Maverick over rocks, ruts, and uneven terrain. With its fully enclosed cabin and effective air conditioning, we will enjoy year-round use of every corner of our ranch, in comfort.