Ok, so I've got the tube bumper and there are 4 holes. These are just holes though with no threading.. I have an 08 sportsman..do I just use my ratchet and torque em in? or is my sportsman different than older years? It says the guard works on 08 so I assume I just torque the bolts in even tho there is no depth to the holeS?

 

yes - they are slef tapping screws

 

My 800 has nuts welded on the inside, you can't see them but you can feel them if you poke your finger in there from the backside.

Wonder if your 500 is the same.

 

I had trouble with mine too. They are supposed to be self tapping but I had no luck getting them to start tried and tried. Just get a 5/16" tap and tap em that's what I did works great. I also put loktite on mine just to be safe cause the metals not all that thick it only has like 2 threads. I also don't have any welded nuts on the back of the bar either. Hope this helps.

 

The bolts that hold the front box on are self-tapping as well, and only have a little bit of metal to bite into. Definitely don't want to crank down too hard on them as this design is easy to strip.

 

This brings up a very good point. These bumpers are probably not attached as strongly as they COULD be. I think I will check mine out tomorrow when I get home from work. I'm almost positive my 08 800EFI has the self-tapping bolts, and if so, I think I'm going to pull them out, drill the holes a tad larger, then reinstall the bumper with grade-8 hardware so I know my bumper is a strong attachement point that will not rip off if (used as an anchor point) at a most inopportune time! These ATVs are not light, two threads per screw is not going to hold much longitudinal force...

Tom
Bryson City, NC

 

you will want to do the same with your winch then because its mounted with the same type screws

anyone have their winch get ripped out becuase the screws didnt hold?!?!?!?!?!

I have been pulled out by my bumpers (that doesnt sound right lol ) and have not had an issue with the bolts coming out or with the winch

 

The rear bumper on mine is indeed self-tapping screws. I used grade-8 bolts/washers/nuts to replace the top two mounting bolts and didn't have to drill out at all, the thread size and pitch were a perfect match. There isn't much room behind the two bottom screws, so I'll leave those in place.

Will take a look at the front when I get home tonight. Even if nobody has had their screws pull out, I do NOT have insurance on my Polaris, so replacing the hardware will keep me from becoming the first one to report pulled out screws and an ATV that bounced end-over-end several times down a mountain, turning it from an awesome monster machine into an expensive boat anchor.

Tom
Bryson City, NC

 

It's a horrible design. Kinda reminds me of my 6 yr old's chinese atv. I bought the same tube bumper and love it. It took me forever to get the bolts started, but finally got it installed. The problem that I had was when we went to Stone Mountain, we trailered 4 bikes on the trailer and I had to take my rear bumper off in order to fit on the trailer. Well if you take the bolts out, the threaded inserts on your bike are cooked. I attempted to reinstall the bumper and the bolts would not tighten, they just spun. So my advise is when you install your bumper, lock tite the crap out of the bolts and never attempt to remove it.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: DONECRASHED

It's a horrible design. Kinda reminds me of my 6 yr old's chinese atv. I bought the same tube bumper and love it. It took me forever to get the bolts started, but finally got it installed. The problem that I had was when we went to Stone Mountain, we trailered 4 bikes on the trailer and I had to take my rear bumper off in order to fit on the trailer. Well if you take the bolts out, the threaded inserts on your bike are cooked. I attempted to reinstall the bumper and the bolts would not tighten, they just spun. So my advise is when you install your bumper, lock tite the crap out of the bolts and never attempt to remove it.</end quote></div>

OR replace the screw with grade-8 bolts. It was easy to thread new bolts into the existing threads for the screws, then slap a washer/lockwasher, and nut on the back. I put some torque on one of the screw before I replaced it. Let me tell you guys, it doesn't take much torque to spin these screws! At least I know my rear bumper will never come off no matter what stress I put on it now.

By the way, WHERE at Stone Mountain, GA can you go wheeling?!?! Is it legal??

Tom
Bryson City, NC