I saw those fender protectors for the 2005-06 Sportsmans. Does anyone have a set? If so, are they strong, How strong? Thanks.

 

I have the Bodyguard kit for 05-06 SP. Side tubes will protect your fenders better than any other accessory.
Unfortunately, quite expensive.

RIDE HARD!

 

I have the side Body Guards on my ’05 700 but not the rest of the “kit” since I already have the black wrinkle-finish brush guard, rear bumper and rear rack extender. I’m impressed with the side guards, they seem strong enough that you could use them to help lift the machine out of a mud hole if you got into a little trouble (I’m talking about one rider helping another with a little manual labor). I wouldn’t use one as a winching point though. They do what they’re supposed to do, protect the fenders and offer real good protection for the foot boards. I was going to make some nerf bars to protect my floor boards but now I don’t have to. As a bonus they also offer the rider some added mud protection because they have the effect of making the fenders a little wider.

Unfortunately they only come in metal-flake silver. That wasn’t going to work on my camo machine so I scuffed up the paint and coated mine with black truck bed liner. Now they’re a perfect match to my bumper/brush guard. And yeah, they’re pricey.

 

Thanks for the input. My real concern are the floor boards. On my 2004.5 500HO, the first time I hit a rock, I chipped a floor board. I don't have a welder so I need something bolt on. Those fender protectors seem to add some protection to the floor boards. I too have the Mossy Oak, so I would have to get the spray-on bed liner or powder coat them. So as far as floor board protection, do they seem strong enough? Thanks again...

 

Yeah, foot board protection is where they are the strongest and help the most because that’s their main mounting point. There’s a 3/16” steel plate that mounts to the frame under the foot boards and reaches out past them to hold the front and rear fender protector tubes where they come together. It’s real solid and offers great protection.

There are a lot of aerosol truck bed liner sprays on the market but I’ve had the best luck with Dupli-Color by far. Some of them don’t dry hard and others scratch off easily. My Body Guards have seen about 400 miles now and the coating has proven very durable, no touch-ups at all. Just be sure you’re in a dry 75 degree environment when you spray them and use 2-3 thin coats. Mine took two cans of spray.

I’m thinking of adding some rubber type material to fill the gap between the fenders and the tubes just for a little better mud deflection. So far all I’ve come up with is garage door bottom weather strip in three different profiles, none of which is ideal. Mud deflection won’t be an issue here in WI for several months now that we’re riding snow. I’ll probably wait till spring to mess with it.