Has anyone made reinforcement for the footwell area of a Suzuki Vinson? I'm looking to put some support under the plastic footwell for added protection and to strenghten the area so I'm not popping as many connectors. If there are aftermarket parts available, please share that as well. Otherwise, give me a good idea of how you may have approached the problem.

 

I was looking at drilling holes in the floorboards and strapping them to the perimeter frame that the boards ride on (all this was an attempt to mount a machete holder). Then it kind of dawned on me that Suzuki probably designed them that way to flex w/ the bike, I'm just curious if making those floorboards real rigid is going to cause excess strain on the other plastics that the floorboards are mounted too. What if instead of popping clips your tearing the mounting holes out of the plastic? I think I'll leave mine stock for a while and maybe replace the whole floorboard w/ a homemade metal jobber.

 

I jerryrigged a solution. Hopefully it will work well. I bought 4-inch wide galvanized steel deck straping. I cut it to fit across the footwells and to connect at the bolt holes. It hangs over a bit for extra support. The floorboards have plastic reinforcements that hang down on the bottom of the footwells. Because the steel went directly under the floorboards, I had to cut a pathway in the underside of floorboards to ensure it fits properly. This took a little bit of time to cut just the right amount. Also, when putting the floorboard screws back on, I used washers to give more surface area to hold the plastic. I had previously had one bolt hole rip out during a ride. The washer fixes that problem.

I looked at several different materials to use as support. Untreated steel would rust over time. Alumunium just felt too flexible and I could not find think enough pieces in the width that I wanted (with the right thickness aluminum should work). In the end, I decided on the galvanized steel deck strapping. It won't rust and is plenty strong. Time will tell if it works.

As for the connectors, I've replaced the plastic connectors with rubber well-plugs (like are used to connect the outside holes of the footwells). The should hold the system better than the plastic plugs and will still pop out under extreme stress, rather than tearing the plastic like a bolt and nut might. Suzuki wanted about $6 for the well-plug, screw and washer that it uses. I went to a local hardware store and bought the same type system for $0.80 for the plug, $0.30 for the screw and $0.15 for the washer. A much better value. You can also get well-plugs from automotive service centers. My local automotive stores did not have them in stock but could have ordered them.

One problem I ran into was the plastic connector holes are smaller than the well-plug holes. I matched my new well-plugs to the size of the standard Suzuki ones. Obviously they were a touch big to fit in the other holes when I got back and tried to put them in. This problem was easilly fixed by drilling out the hole to fit. The other benefit is that with all of the holes the same size, I only need to buy one size well plug to keep extras around. You should also be aware that one needs to be careful in putting them on the first time. You must have the plastic pieces held close together or the plug bunches up in between the pieces instead of behind the second piece of plastic (the fender). I found that the best way was to start it with an electric screwdriver or drill to get it to bunch up more quickly. Finish the tightening by hand to ensure you do not overtighten the screw.

When I get a chance, I'll take a picture and post it on my page for you to look at. It was a pretty inexpensive and simple solution. Ideally, one would want Suzuki to provide an aftermarket solution. It is a bit concerning that there is no protection to prevent branches or other things from breaking through the floorboards. Artic Cat has great floorboard protection on their utility quads. Of course, the Suzuki's are also lighter and less money per CC than AC or most other brands. Tradeoffs!