I catch a wild hair every now and then and make my way back over here. Those tires show no mercy on you whether your following and getting chunks of gravel thrown on you or just riding in the mud. They can help you out with a real nice William Wallace impersonation.

 

So what did they do with my post on the clickable link??? Maybe throw it out because it wasn't an atv topic? Anyway, Irichard, I can't remember exactly right now. I printed out what Boner had said to do, which worked the first time I tried it. I'm in Pullman right now, but will be back in the Tri-Cities tonight, so I'll check it then and let you know. From what I remember, it's something like putting a [url/your address for the pictures page]Irichards Photos[url/]. That might not be exactly right, but I think it's somewhat close. Anyway, if you don't hear the right way in the next few hours, I'll let you know as soon as I get back home.

BigBadCat:
Hey, good one, might be our ticket to FFRREEEEEDDOOOOMMMMMMMMM! Haven't seen that one in a while, might have to do that in the next few days.


Andy:
Hey, when you installed your rear Kimpex, did you have any trouble breaking the bolts loose that hold on the rear rack? Man, I just put mine on yesterday, and had a bear of a time getting those things off! When I finally did, I thought I broke the head clean off the threads, but luckily it was still attached. Man, pain in the butt to get them loose, but that bumper is surprisingly stout, I'd say.

Anyway, I must be having some bad luck with photos here lately. Only a handful of my roll turned out. I did get about 11 or so of the snow pics from up at our property, but none of my bed turned out. Those were what I was really hoping to get some input on. So, guess I'll finish my next project -a log framed coffee table with elk scene etching on glass top. Then, have my sister take some pics of it with her digital, as well as my bed, then hopefully get some feedback from you guys.

Take care,

Mike

 

Hey Andy nice pics. do you have any probs. with the tires rubbing the fenders when you are doing big rocks,ditches,etc....? any rubbing when the fronts are turned to the max. creeping over large objects?
Thanks,
Jeff

 

I jumped it a week ago and it sounded like something hit, but thats it. In any normal riding (excludes jumping over 1 ft.), I've never even come close to rubbing fenders. The clearance is outstanding for a stock machine, and I would say the best you can find among stock quads. Also, the fact that the wheels and tires are the same diameter front to back doesn't hurt either.

 

I didn't have much trouble at all getting them off. I have had trouble with other bolts though. I think they use loc-tite or something similar. I was using a ratchet. When they do finally break over, it does seem as if something just broke. Wait, come to think of it, maybe one of them was a little harder. I think probably because I had already taken the other off in the past, because thats where I grounded my back up light.

WORD OF WARNING. The little black caps that are in there will come out and you will lose them. Especially the one by the muffler. The heat from the exhaust expands the tube, and makes the plastic cap easy to fall out. I drilled a few holes in mine and loaded it up with JB Weld. Then I put it back in. Not going anywhere now. The reason I drilled holes in the cap was because it still came out the first time I used the JB weld. There wasn't anything to bond to, so the holes gave it a few catch points. It WON'T come out again. I hope you read this before you go riding. It will save you a hard time finding the replacement caps. I got lucky and thought of it the first day for some reason.

Cowboy: Good pics. Looks some kind of mean in the snow. I think those lights you have are the same kind that I got. Its kind of muddy, but if you look up in that rear picture I have on the right rear side, you will see the little backup light mounted to the frame right near that bolt that you had so much trouble with. I got them at Wal-Mart for like $40 and thats about all the use I got out of them. BigBadCat has the other one mounted in the same place on his 454. The one I gave him burned out when I filled them up with mud, back when I had them mounted up front. I replaced the 35watt bulb with a 55watt from Wal-Mart, and now his is twice as bright as mine is. It sure gets hot quick though.

Tell me, do those tires not just kick ***? They do look good, and its cool to see them on another Cat. Its funny to look at though, because I'm so used to the kimpex and the extention on my own 500. I'm guessing that they do good in snow. You certainly would be the one to know. We only got like 2 inches of snow, and a buttload of ice down here. Maybe it will snow later on. It was cool riding in it last year, and that was with the crappy Titan 495's. Not the best snow tire. Too damn wide. They just push and steering was a bitch.

By the way, I got the 10-22. Stainless with a composite stock. Accurate as can be from what little shooting I've got to do. I have a Simmons ProHunter 4-12 40mm with an adjustable objective coming in the next few days. Ordered it from Bass Pro Shops while they had the $15 discount for orders over $100. That should make it a lot more accurate. Also, I picked up a Beretta 92FS 9mm this past Saturday. Got lucky and found a brand new one with both a 10round and a 15 round magazine for less than $500. Pretty sweet gun. Best thing is, nowdays, 9mm isn't too popular with the ban on high capacity magazines. Most you can normally get is 10 rounds so most folks are into .40 caliber and 45 auto for the added thump. That makes 9mm ammo only $6.50 a box at Wal-Mart. I remember when the cheapest you could get was $15. I have no need for a bigger caliber for what shooting I will do with it, so the lower price ammo is a major plus.

This post is too long already. I'll think of some more BS later.

 

Thanks for the tip. I didn't catch it till it was too late though. I promised my buddy I'd take him out riding earlier this morning, as he switched to graveyard, and his wife doesn't know that yet. Oops! Anyway, we loaded up and went out for a while, but found they cut most of the place I used to ride around here local by nearly 75%. Guess they had too many young kids partying and tearing the place up, so now it's all locked up, punishable by arrest.

Anyway, I checked back there a few times, as my lights aren't completely hooked up yet, so I didn't want to loose them. Luckily, the caps are still there though, so that is good, didn't loose anything. How tough were yours to get in? I had to beat mine in with a hammer, and one of them, I had to heat with a propane torch to the point it was somewhat pliable, and would actually fit in the hole. Once they cooled, they're solid now, but boy, what a pain getting them in there.

Yeah, doesn't the 'Cat look mean in that deep snow! Thought that looked pretty cool myself. In all honesty, my Dad's stock 'Cat would not have made it. It was just too deep, and the stock 489's just don't have the traction required. Those 'Claws really tear it up in the snow like that, I was truelly impressed. We probably really had no business even being there-without a snowmobile anyway, but hey, make due with what ya got, right? Besides, I needed more logs for my beds, tables and such. Wouldn't have made it without the 'Claws.

Man, sounds like you got a couple new toys there. Did you get black, or grey synthetic? Either way, they both look cool. I bet that thing will be hella accurate with the scope on there, should be lots of fun. I know what you mean about the 15 round mags. Hard to find anymore up here too since they banned them. Really sucks though that we're restricted to the 10 round limit. Kind of a dumb rule if you ask me. 9mm stuff up here is pretty cheap too. You could probably shoot quite a bit of that stuff without going broke. Man I tell you though, my Smith 686 .357 Mag, now that stuff is expensive! I'm going to have to learn to reload here shortly if it keeps up like this. Paid something like $25 for the last box of 50, that's outrageous!

Well, better go unload the 'Cats, put them back to bed-for now.

Mike

 

I've got a 4" Smith 686 and the cheapest .357 ammo I can find is Remmington UMC at wal-mart for about $15.99 a box. .38 special is around $10.99 for the same grade stuff. Both jacketed soft point. The cheap 9mm is just full metal jacket ball type, but it does the trick for what I'm doing. I grabbed up 3 boxes of winchester 9mm today. Tomorrow should be fun.

 

Sounds like we've got the same one-Smith 686 Stainless, full underlug, hogue rubber grip .357 mag. I love it, handles nice and packs a decent punch as well. We do have some really cheap .38 special rounds up here-police special I think they call it-reloaded stuff in an orange box (forget who makes it) for like $5.99 a box of 50. Thing is, I don't like shooting cheap stuff that much. I love my gun, but hate to have to clean it every damn time I shoot, ya know. That cheap ammo seems to have a lot of carbon in it or something, and leaves a hell of a residue around the cylinder, not to mention the muzzle. Guess I'm kind of funny that way, I'd much rather spend more money getting good ammo, than buying cheap stuff and having to clean a lot more. And, even the .38 mag. loads don't seem to have the punch I like to feel, when pulling the trigger. Maybe it's just me, but when it says .357 Mag, you KNOW when it goes off, not like a little bb gun or something.

Speaking of which, I bought a pair of Walther PPK/S .32's for my buddy and I last summer. He's also got a Ruger KP944 (?) .40 cal, and our little .32's kick a lot harder than his .40, even though it's mostly plastic. Don't quite get that one. I don't care for his .40 that much though, the grip is too large, just doesn't feel right in my hand. I love the grip on my 686 though, fits like a glove.

Damnit, now you've got me thinking again about that Rem. VSSF .22-250! Supposed to go shoot some coyotes monday with my .220, so hopefully I'll forget about the new rifle-can't quite afford it just yet.

Mike

 

Andy,

Your skid plate is nice, but I have a few questions.

Did you weld those braces to the factory tow hitch OR are they bolted on?

Do you find that the skid plate makes you hang up more when in reverse?

I also have a question about your rear bumper.

When looking from above, about how close is inside of the bumper to the tip of the muffler? Do you think I would have enough room to mount a 2" exhast snorkel between the rear rack and bumper?

 

Boner:
Hey, sorry to intrude on this one, I just finished wiring the lights and checking all the bolts on my rear bumper-same as Andy's. So, I took a few measurements for you while I was there.

OK, there is exactly 2" between the outer edge of the rear rack, and the inner edge of the bumber, so if a 2" exhaust snorkel would fit, it would be very close. Now, the outermost flat surface of the muffler (not the exhaust spout, just the end of the muffler itself) is 5 3/4" from the outside edge of the bumper. The exhaust outlet on my 'Cat is the one that turns downward, and it sticks out 2 3/4" from the end of the muffler itself, leaving 3" from tip of downspout, to rear edge of bumper.

The thing is, the downspout on my 'Cat, where it comes out of the muffler, is not that far from the edge of the rear rack. There's actually about 1 1/2"-1 3/4" there. I don't think that is enough room to get a full 90degree bend in the 2" pipe, before trying to squeeze it between the bumper and the rear rack.

You would definately have to remove the exhaust spout from the muffler, though by installing a snorkel, I'm sure you planned on that anyway. Here's a thought though-have you tried that trick of removing the last 3" of the muffler itself??? I believe it was BigBadCat who recommended this. I guess by removing the last few inches of the muffler (just cutting it off entirely) then welding the back plate back on, and installing a 1 1/4" exhaust spout, he gained quite a bit in the low and mid range, and also I believe 3-4 mph top speed. Did NiteOwl also do this trick as well??? I can't remember for sure, but it seems like there were about 3 guys who've done it, and are very pleased-I'm sorry I can't remember exactly who it was.

Anyway, if you tried this, you'd definately have enough room for the bend in the larger snorkel pipe, but you may have to either sand down the outside of the 2" pipe, the outer edges of the bumper/rear rack, or just go with a 1 3/4" pipe instead altogether.

Well, hope those measurements are of at least some help. Best of luck in the project, and please, let us know how it turns out, I'm definately interested to hear the outcome.

Mike