Hey all, I had been toying with the idea that a bed extender from the Polaris ATP should fit on a Sportsman X2. I recently got one cheap on eBay and decided to give it a look. It would fit perfectly with just a bolt change on each side on the ATP, but I realized it would be a little more work on the X2. I first figured out that a hole on the underside of the bed is in the right spot for the brackets. It is seen in the photo where there is a bright brass colored nylock nut. I used a 5/16 bit for this. Holding the bracket in place I marked where the plastic in the bed needs to be trimmed. There is a raised rib of plastic in the bed of the X2 on each side that I took down after marking it with the bed extender brackets. Once I got it down to a place where it was level with the bottom of the bed the brackets fit perfectly. I then caulked it with black silicone to cover any blems I made. I posted some pics on my page if you want to take a look at it. The cage part can be taken off the brackets in less than 5 minutes if I want to use the whole bed of the X2. With the rear passenger seat up and the bed extender opened (tailgate down) I can fit a box 12" wide x 25 3/4" long x 8 1/2 high. The X2 without the extender, passenger seat up, and tailgate closed was 6" wide x 27 1/4" long x 8 1/2" high. It looks like it would fit a medium sized cooler now.

 

looks nice.. like one of the ford explorer sporttrack or the nissan with those extenders that come over the tailgate... cool cool cool

 

I would probably get one if I had a real shorty bed like the 5 foot beds Nissan, Ford, Chevy/GMC have for the 1/2 ton Crew Cabs. I'm still waiting for the Japanese makers to make a 3/4 ton Crew Cab with at least a 6.5' bed. Nissan is close with their Titan Pro4X. It's got a 7' bed but is still a 1/2 ton. On the quad front I'd like to see the 6x6 with two IRS axles in the rear with a foldable seat like the X2.

 

Howdy MooseHenden....I think you were on an earlier thread about the X2 bed extender.....Looks like you've got it licked.....good job. I have the same bed extender and I can't make the cut on the bed just yet. Gathering from the photos....it looks like the cuts on the bed were minimal. Thanx for the pointers.

 

The cuts on the bed were about the size of a nickel looking straight down. The idea is to get the bottom of the bracket flat with the bed. It ends up you see a little daylight when you cut away the parts sticking up. Once you put the bracket in all you need is a little caulking. I used a rotary tool with a metal shaping head on it to remove the plastic. Could probably use a rotary tool with a cutting disc on the end too. I just didn't have one available when I decided to do it. I assembled the extender before trying to lay out the cuts.

 

moosehenden
We dont need japs to build a HD pickup in US. Im sure Chevy, Dodge, or Ford Hd trucks are as capable and reliable as anything you could dream of from japs. Be American buy American.

 

Looks good MH, nice innovations! Hope it comes in handy with all your hauling!

R'

 

CSCotter, unfortunately that has not been my experience with American pickups. I bought my dream truck back in around 2000. It was a loaded Ford F350 Crew Cab with the Powerstroke 7.3 diesel. I got it used with about 47,000 miles on it. It had every available option on it except shift on the fly hubs. (I had to get out to lock them up) It could pull a full load of firewood in the bed and in a trailer on the hills of Route 89 in VT and NH without a problem. Winter came and it puked a heater core. Got it fixed and a month later another heater core went. Fixed that one and had a warm spring. Next winter 3 heater cores went. They fixed those too. Finally the engine oil cooler puked all the antifreeze out at my church parking lot. It took them a week to fix it. They could not explain why all this was happening over and over. While I was there picking up the truck (it was the dealership I bought it from) I asked what kind of deal they would give me on an F350 with the 5.8 gas engine. I figured I would have to spend about $8000 to do it. They were more like $15,000 apart. I thought that Ford would stand behind its products but they didn't. I drove the truck and seemed okay for about 10 months. I felt I could trade it in with a good conscience at this point. I got a brand new 2002 GMC Sierra 2500HD 4x4 SLE. Very nice and a good deal. I've had a ton of minor issues like having to replace the tailgate cables, mechanisms, and more to keep the tail gate close. In fact, I lost 2 nice helmets when the tailgate failed me going 50 on a nice road. Also, replaced both emergency brake cables and a lot of other minor irritations. I could live with those. My transmission on my "professional grade" pickup went at about 80,000 miles. Cost me $3200 to get a new one because the two mechanics I had look at it said it couldn't be rebuilt at the point it was at. I'm not brand loyal unless brands are good and don't cost me extra money. I've had 6 Japanese vehicles over the years that have all gone 100,000 miles plus without a major problem and half of them never had minor problems. The funny thing about it is that my Ford and GMC were both built in Canada. The Nissan Titan and the Toyota Tundra are both built in the US by US workers. The Honda Accord I drive to save gas money is still being built in Ohio. The 1985 Nissan 4x4 was built in Tennessee at the time. My wifes's 2007 Jeep Wrangler has been to the dealer for 4 or 5 recalls already. I hope everyone else has had great American vehicles. They haven't been good to me. I'm not the kind of dawg that keeps going back to be beaten by heartless master. Thanks but not thanks.

 

PS I was born American and even have American Indian blood in my veins. Do you? Don't equate buying American with being American. It's ridiculous. I remember the quality of the original American economy cars. Ford Pinto, Chevy Vega, etc. Enough said. The US manufacturers are having to build better quality because of competition, just like the ATV makers. I love my Polaris ATVs but it doesn't mean that I would stay with them if they weren't reliable and if my dealership didn't treat me halfway decent. It's idiotic to buy something that is poorly made. I wouldn't touch a present day Chinese quad with a ten foot pole. But, what's to say they won't make them better in the future. If you haven't figured it out yet, I really don't like to be called unAmerican because I buy something foreign made (or more accurately, made in the US by a foreign car company). Freedom to choose what is the best for our particular needs is more American than buying a so-called American products.

 

Ditto Moose. The auto industry is not failing because American's are less American. It is failing because of horrible management. Foreign automakers have huge investments in the US economy and support it through millions of jobs in assembly plants all over the US. There are pleanty of US companies that are not willing to invest in the US and import literally everything they sell but are HQ'd in the US. Good Luck with your quest to be an "American".