As I view some of these topics, I see how people make homemade fixes on their machines. Some of them are pretty strange and akward. I was wondering what kind of homemade fixes, attachments and so on, that you guys have made for your wheeler that are out of the ordinary. I have a buddy that will never buy anything for his quad, just makes it himself. What about you guys.

 

I usually try to make my own stuff because I can usually build something a little bit better/stronger than the manufactures. I do not race my wheeler, I just like to ride it like I do. I found that their are a lot of little things on my 96 Express that needed to be beefed up to handle the kind of riding I do. If I find something that wears out and I can MODIFY it to make it better, than I will do just that. I don't just "jimmyrig" something just to make it work, I modify something to make it better.

Here is my list of things I replaced:
* Tapered bearings in the front wheels (not roller bearings)
* Refilled struts (they were shoot,this is a temporary fix but adjustable)
* Outer tie rods replaced by car tie rod ends ( I should patend this)
* Starter solenoid from a Ford truck
* Over sized sealed battery

Their is alot of things I did to the existing parts to make them better. To many things to list. Through all of this though I must say that my Polaris is getting to be more and more the wheeler that I want it to be.

 

I have added a toolbox and made some gas can holders on my rear rack. It really doesn't look cheesy, and is very functional. When I am in the dunes, the rack comes off.

Rainman

 

We've made effective use of zipties on our Explorer 400. We have zipties holding the license plate on in the back, and also holding the rear brake cable (the plastic brackets that are supposed to hold it broke, so we just ziptied it to the frame).
Our homemade tree-killer is actually a homemade canoe rack. Its a section of square iron tubing bolted to the front racks (so they stick out in front... they're attached directly to the frame) and the same in the rear, with pieces of untextured rebar welded to them as upright posts that the rest of the canoe rack slides over. The previous owner was a fisherman, and it was his handiwork, but we just use them to knock trees down. Works quite well.

 

i have taken the heavy steel brake and chain guards off mine and made some out of alum.
also i made a front bumber out of alum. that looks just like the factory one
the crank case vent and over flow i removed and replaced with a piece of clear hose for the vent.
i removed the floor boards and replaced with nerf bars from a banshee

 

i am in hte process of doing the aluminum thing on the chain guard and front bumber too. Its fun to tinker like that. What thickness did you use?

 

I used a bud light bottlecap and jb weld to seal a whole in the top of my crankcase. The piston skirt came off and shot a hole through the top. It kept me riding the rest of the weekend and got me where i needed to go.

 

I used the square end of a used speedo cable to make a new drive pin for the speedo where it connects to the tranny. Did the same on my buddies machine. Also made a new speedo housing using a tin can & clear plastic as I smashed mine on my second rollover. My buddy kept blowing hubs so he cut keyways slots into the axle & hub & hasn't had a problem yet.

 

txtrailboss i used 3/16th on the chain and brake guards they have held up nicely too although i dont ride in alot of real rough stuff mainly just trails and i jump banks alot. also i removed the plastic chain guard on the swing arm not much weight loss there but every lil bit adds up [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] as soon as my kit gets here im removing the oil injection too i just dont trust the cable seen too many of them break

 

I replaced the stock swingarm skid plate with a round steel plate bolted up to the sprocket (like on late 90's explorers) It works good and gave me much more ground clearance.