I checked mine and they are like the day I installed them. I assume it was due to my superior installation tactics. Over a thousand miles on them now...Don’t use super ATV arms? I don’t think anyone using factory arms is having this issue.
The factory arms have rubber bushings if I remember correctly. The SATV are hard and less able to absorb energy UHMW. @snuffnwhiskey fixed his earlier and since I noticed it, I think @Windrock1000 has fixed his and a couple other members are noticing the same noise and some movement in their front end.
I am going to weld up some new crossmembers and pull the existing ones away from the drivetrain while I’m working on this.
I checked mine and they are like the day I installed them. I assume it was due to my superior installation tactics. Over a thousand miles on them now...
Off.With the tires on or off? The weight of the tires made it difficult to shift them for me.
I had a few mins to kill before a meeting last week and was in my local multi-brand “stealership” and noticed the X3 XRS had slick retractable “harnesses” so I hopped in and tried them out, wow they were easier than a standard 4point. $240 each new from Amazon or dealer plus tax, $240 for a pair on eBay.
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I know they are a compromise against a true harness, but they are better than a seatbelt, also not a PITA to get in and out of when you always were your seatbelt when doing anything more than yard work. (Take my man card, don’t care, crap happens. I also have to set a good example for the offspring)
I noticed when i had my skids off my crossmember has apretty good arch in it as well. Guess i need to do this before long. That aluminium plate oughtta stiffen it up good.So I bent my cross members up pretty good. They were about an ⅛ from contacting the oil pan. I peeled them away and threw a chain over them to bent them back down.
It was all my $22 2500lb Tractor Supply winch could do on the top layer of wire rope. (I have that anchor through a floor brace)
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I “boxed” them by welding 3/16 x 3” angle to the bottom of the cross members. The cross members were so mangled I could twist and flex them by hand, after an hour or so of making for good fitment against the flatbar, I finally got them weld ready. (MUCH respect to you welders out there who weld upside down on a regular basis!)
After getting them welded up they didn’t so much as wiggle, so that gives me the warm and fuzzies. I painted them with a several coats of implement paint and let sit overnight.
(I forgot to take pictures ....oops)
I picked up a piece of scrap aluminum from @Cyberjunk and ROUGH cut it to match the holes of the UHMW with a plasma (it’s a skid plate I don’t care if it’s pretty)
Then screwed the UHMW to the aluminum, and took a cutoff wheel to the screws so they were flush with the aluminum. It’s probably 40lbs of plastic and aluminum for the main piece now.
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At this point me and my dad bod had tried to get the skid on while laying on my back under the machine and meant to take pictures of the crossmembers with the flatbar welded to the bottom but after about 10 or 12 ”GET IN THERE YOU HEAVY BASTARD!”s later, pictures were no longer on my mind.
The side wings give a LOT just pushing on them. The center doesn’t give at all when I beat on it with a hammer. May God have mercy on my kidneys.
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Doesn’t look bad considering the crossmembers were bent upward enough the center piece was able to pull ¾” away from each side piece.
I noticed when i had my skids off my crossmember has apretty good arch in it as well. Guess i need to do this before long. That aluminium plate oughtta stiffen it up good.
I like the aluminum skid addition. Did your uhmw skid come with a plate reinforcement? Mine came with a plate that goes behind the front seam in the middle.
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The one I made for my 700 had bracing behind each joint and some UHMW spacers at certain places on the topside.
@scott has the last one I made and I think it’s held up pretty well to him.
The one I bought was a cheap one instead of Trail Armor...it’s held up pretty well it has about 7-8 trips down WidowMaker and and one up it, along with 1100 miles of abuse on other rocky trails.
I wish I’d spent a little more on a ½” UHMW but this comes out to 9/16 so it’s SLIGHTLY thicker and a little more rigid. We will see soon if the aluminum can hold up to the abuse when it has a UHMW bumper.
How thick is your uhmw? Sounds like under 1/2?
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Is there a template? I think I may want to add this to keep heat off my intake if I snorkel out the back. Has anyone put heat wrap on the exhaust?Installed the @joeymt33 heat shield under the right rear floorboard. Floorboard was getting hot but mine wasn’t melting on the backside at all. Thanks again.
Took longer to get the plastic off than it did to bend it and get it into place.
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Is there a template? I think I may want to add this to keep heat off my intake if I snorkel out the back. Has anyone put heat wrap on the exhaust?
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Is there a template? I think I may want to add this to keep heat off my intake if I snorkel out the back. Has anyone put heat wrap on the exhaust?
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Ok thanks. Good to know.Tried wrapping the exhaust on my 700 didn’t make a bit of difference. Just wasted 2hrs and $70 on the “good stuff”.