P1000 Bending UHMW

[ghost]

I have the Factory UTV skid plates and they extend into wheel well further than any OEM stuff.
So my 28" tires are rubbing.
I think I need to do a bit of cutting and bending.
Anyone have tips on how to bend this stuff? Will it hold it shape after bending or should I plan on fasteners?

 

[Admin]

 

[Nightcrawler]

I would just trim it with a jig saw. If you bend it, your just going to end up rubbing on it when you are turned, and the suspension is compressed.

 

[walexa07]

Subscribed. I have the 1/2" coming and want to know as well.

 

[Hondasxs]

I would trim it also.

 

[ghost]

Ok - thanks guys.
I thought I read on here where some guys were bending it - maybe it was just cutting.

I was going to finish with the same upward lip that it came with. There is room for an upward bend and fit under the plastic without reducing wheel clearance. I'll probably just cut it unless someone has a good bending idea.

This is how it looks now. Almost 2 inches too long at this spot. I think the stock tires would rub too.

 

[Hondasxs]

OK... You just wanting to bend it more. Heck. I'd try that and put a screw in it if you can.

Sent from my HTC6545LVW using Tapatalk

 

[ghost]

Subscribed. I have the 1/2" coming and want to know as well.

The L-bracket that came with had 2 holes in the wrong spot.
I added a 1/4 inch spacer where the L-bracket attaches to the frame to fix that.
Also I was missing the j-clip that one of bolts connects to, so I welded a nut onto the L-Bracket instead.

I'm a bit disappointed in a few of these details - for the amount of money I spent on a piece of plastic and a few bits of hardware, I expect everything to fit well. If the skid plate was 2 inches too short instead of too long then I'd be upset.

Was hoping for more protection for the CV joints too.
Overall happy I got some solid skids on but I have a few gripes.

 

[ghost]

I turned the wheels all the way to one side and that cv joint exposure comes down to almost nothing so not sure what they could do to improve that.

That just leaves the L-bracket misalignment and extra length at the front wheels to complain about - other than those 2 fixable problems I would have given these skids plates 5/5 stars.

 

[Kilo427]

Just thinking on UHMV what are its thermal properties. Not that adding a big fan and heat shield under the seat doesn't cure the hot seat issue but if you were to run a full window, would an aluminum skid plate not act as a giant heatsink and pull out more heat from under the seat vs the UHMV? I don't know Im just curious.

 

[joeymt33]

Ok - thanks guys.
I thought I read on here where some guys were bending it - maybe it was just cutting.

I was going to finish with the same upward lip that it came with. There is room for an upward bend and fit under the plastic without reducing wheel clearance. I'll probably just cut it unless someone has a good bending idea.

This is how it looks now. Almost 2 inches too long at this spot. I think the stock tires would rub too.
View attachment 16599 View attachment 16600

I'm a little late to this thread but I have bent UHMW using a router to thin it a little and then using a heat gun. Once it's bent into place, hold it there and quench it in cold water and it should stay.

I did a front bash plate. It does help that I screwed it down though.

I bought this from McMaster Carr and paid like $20


Here's is the same sheet after cutting groves, heating, bending, and quenching.





Sent from my iPad 7G

 

[joeymt33]

You could bend that skid but it would take more heat for a longer period of time. Maybe heat it for 10-15 minutes under a heat lamp and also use a heat gun. Then you would need a metal break or make your own break out of wood to hold bend it and hold it.

Here is my finished bash plate installed.



Sent from my iPad 7G

 

[JACKAL]

I would just trim it with a jig saw. If you bend it, your just going to end up rubbing on it when you are turned, and the suspension is compressed.

That's what I did with my 1/2" trail armor skids. I used a rotozip and trimmed them back 1.5" to where it was even with the wheel well then smoothed and radiused with a flat bastard file. Took less than 20 min total time, not including the 30 minutes I searched for the file in my back pocket. LOL

 

[JACKAL]

Ok - thanks guys.
I thought I read on here where some guys were bending it - maybe it was just cutting.

I was going to finish with the same upward lip that it came with. There is room for an upward bend and fit under the plastic without reducing wheel clearance. I'll probably just cut it unless someone has a good bending idea.

This is how it looks now. Almost 2 inches too long at this spot. I think the stock tires would rub too.
View attachment 16599 View attachment 16600

Remember even if you bend it should it ever catch while backing up it could rip the bolts out treaded into the frame, better safe and flush than sorry if it could catch on anything.

 

[cwalton]

Seen a you tube video about bending with it heated in your oven?? Your panel may be too big, but just a thought.

 

[Eltobgi]

Seen a you tube video about bending with it heated in your oven?? Your panel may be too big, but just a thought.

Or you just need a bigger oven...I'm just saying. lol

 

[ghost]

Thanks for the tips.
This is how it looks after a jigsaw and file. An oscillating multi-tool with plunge wood blade helps to clean up and rough spots before filing.

 

[ohanacreek]

Just saw this UHMW has certain thresholds you should not exceed when it comes to heat @250F is the big one, once it's been heated past this the engineered properties of the plastic breakdown and it becomes PERMANENTLY damaged. It's brittle and starts to crumble.

 

[lowrider]

Old thread...but...I have bent UHMW with a piece of 1" black pipe heated with propane torch and clamped down on the area I wanted to bend and just lift the side to be bent until it was at the angle I wanted and quench with cold water to set the plastic. No clue of the temp but it was probably just short of melting but at a point where it was soft.

I got just a little spring back but not much when I unclamped it. I was using 1/4" to face airplane skis. It held up very well on soft snow, crusted snow and frozen lakes with 4K pound airplanes hitting the ice at 55-60 MPH. I don't know of any that broke but then it had lots of bolts and rivets in them.

Should work fine for a SXS.