C
is that with the stock plate removed?
broke the piece where my steering post bolts to the top of tunnel 2010 m8
- Thread starter clarkwinsor
- Start date
oh man, that sucks! Sorry to hear that.
No, he just welded it to the angle, then riveted the broken tunnel to the bottom of the plate.
Keep an eye on those welds, putting that much heat into the aluminum doesn't do any favors to the temper if it had any, and welding dirty aluminum isn't the greatest either. (you can't clean the back side) You could have a failure develope in the HAZ, and the cross section of the weld, if its a full pen weld, is likely far greater than the parent metal so you have created a stress riser.
Anyone that rides hard, or is big, or does alot of whooped out trails, or jumps alot, should be looking at this area of their sled after every ride. I don't jump at all (anymore), but I do pound alot of nasty trails to get into the mountains, and I'm somewhat large. Mine cracked out at about 1500 miles. While your in there looking around, take a look at your spark plug wires if you have an M1000, the vibration can cause accelerated chafing. At $170 each, it pays to keep an eye on them.
A
Mine is a completely new fabricated plate, not a new plate tacked onto the stock piece. I removed the stock metal brace. The rear of the tunnel is a different aluminum than the bulkhead and front cooler, hence the rivets on one side for added reinforcement. Should be much stronger than stock.
S
excuse me what costs 170 surely not 4 plug wires
Your right, 4 wires does not cost $170. ONE wire costs $170.
You can do much better by shopping around, but thats the dealer MSRP for one spark plug wire assembly. They wont sell you just the wire and boot, you gotta get the coil too. I ordered a complete set of coils, wires, etc, from RV-Sports for $200.
J
Same thing here: if you eat the bars hard, you will probably have a crack. Crack turns into broken piece. I wrecked mine this year and 2 more 08 m's in my group of 5 cats have this same problem developing. This is a situation where having insurance and knowing how to properly use it is a big plus.
Had a certified welder TIG weld mine and it cost me a day of rental and two solid nights of fab/wrenching in wyoming, it probably won't hold up unless it is plated. It wasnt his fault, I talked him out of plating it to get it back into service faster and it cost me.
I took the tank off and track down and made a plate to replace the broken piece that goes wider than the original, then I made a brace to connect that over the front edge to connect it more securely to the heat exchanger. I will post some photos, this should fix it permanently. The heads didnt need to be removed.
Had a certified welder TIG weld mine and it cost me a day of rental and two solid nights of fab/wrenching in wyoming, it probably won't hold up unless it is plated. It wasnt his fault, I talked him out of plating it to get it back into service faster and it cost me.
I took the tank off and track down and made a plate to replace the broken piece that goes wider than the original, then I made a brace to connect that over the front edge to connect it more securely to the heat exchanger. I will post some photos, this should fix it permanently. The heads didnt need to be removed.
I too noticed before I was to go riding last that mine had cracked and split.Because of having a cooler there I did not even think about welding a plate on there.I went and bought a new to me bulkhead with a 174" Fabcraft tunnel.
So now it looks like I may have two sleds next season,I am going to get that welded and start looking for another motor for it.
So now it looks like I may have two sleds next season,I am going to get that welded and start looking for another motor for it.
C
the first fix i had failed....then i brought it to a buddies old man. made a plate that came all the way back to the tank and bolted the coils through it. then welded it back on to the cooler....seems to be holding up very well. got two VERY hard rides on it so far....by hard i mean both me and the cat cart wheeling side by side down the hill!!!!
T
What type of aluminum sheet is best for the fix?
IMO 6061-T6. There may be better choices, but this is available, weldable, and damn strong.
T
Thanks!
A
Forgot to update, but since last ride of the season a bit ago, the weld I had on my plate cracked all the way through in a perfect horizontal line, right through the center of the weld itself. All I have holding it now is the rivets in back. Im not sure whether to have it rewelded or come up with another solution. Anyone else had to repair thiers twice?
It doesn't matter if you use sheet or plate. I used angle for mine so I could weld on the front of the heat exchanger rather than on the top, but you could use the same idea with a piece of plate broken to match the angle of the bulkhead. (Moving the HAZ away from the high stress area at the top of the exchanger)
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If people aren't doing anything to increase the strength above and beyond the OEM design, its just a matter of time until their repairs fail. Welding the crack up is not a good repair; when you weld aluminum it almost always looses strength. To answer your question, yes, I had a customer bring me his sled because his first repair failed.
I may have a bulkhead with the broken steering post mount broken.As I strip my sled I will check to make sure all is straight before selling.Last year I had too ride out without a arms on on side and have scraped the bulkhead around tube where a sway bar would hook up,it kind of got ground down from riding over rocks at the top of a wind blown continental divide.I will let you know soon.
Dave
C
ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahha....first one casted 500$ second fix costed 24 budweiser.....the second fix as seen far worse then the first and she is still holding well.......brought the plante all the way back to the gas tank...put the coil bolts through it, bolted the bottome bracket for the post back on instead of using cheap rivets.....and popped a couple of extra rivets in just to be sure.....like i said in a previous post....me and the sled CARTWHEELING down the hill and she held up fine.....lots of hard hits to the bars on they way down.....wish my post would have held up like my fix did
J
Finally took the pics today. This was all made out of 1/8" aluminum plate. The base plate was made to take the place of the broken piece of the heat exchanger only it was larger and reached out back to the coils and was wider than the broken piece. I removed the broken piece and ground the broken area of the exchanger. My buddy butt welded the first piece on and lap welded it to the tunnel. Then we ground down the lap weld area flush. Then the top piece covered the base piece. I left about 3/16 or 1/4" perimeter inside the whole bottom piece to lap weld to it. He welded the top piece to the front edge of the heat exchanger and then to the bottom piece. Notice the top piece is cut out for the post mount bracket. This allows the correct steering bushing height and thickness for bolting and riveting the bracket through the tunnel while still adding support around the entire area. My last repair failed, I will bet money that this one doesn't.
I will surely be doing the same thing to my M once it cracks, but not before I collect the insurance on it
I will surely be doing the same thing to my M once it cracks, but not before I collect the insurance on it
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