Well after meeting with Performance ATV a few times last week, I finally made some decisions and dropped off the Ranger to their shop yesterday. I won't give too much away yet, but it's going to look a lot different here in the next week or so.
I had my mind set on an 8" lift and 34" Outback Max tires, but after some extensive discussions I finally decided that I would be better off going with a smaller lift (made with much higher quality parts) and 31" Outback Max tires instead. I think this will lend itself to less trouble down the road as I am not yet ready to drop the coin on a reverse chain and gear reduction upgrade. It will be easier all the way around on my drivetrain, as well as being more trail friendly. They are currently pulling my upper rear A-arms for powdercoat with the rest of the kit, as well as pulling all of the plastics to be sent to the paint shop.
I pulled all of the decals off before a little ride Saturday, the did a quick wash Sunday evening so I could bring it in the next day. I love the SC1 by the way, I'm going to go ahead and get a case of that stuff coming my way. Makes the Ranger look great and makes cleaning up after a ride a lot easier. One can has lasted me about 3 cleanings. I'll post some updates as I get them.
So I stopped by Performance yesterday and they happened to have my Ranger inside doing a little work to it. It was almost the end of the day, but the rear A-arms were going to be finished by closing time. So today they should get the front knocked out and they had a guy fabbing up the snorkle kit. Tires were delayed a little bit due to the rims being back ordered, but should be in this Thursday. I received a call last Thursday saying that the wheels were back ordered and that I could choose a different wheel to get them in sooner, but it was hard enough making a choice the first time around I didn't want to change it after I had pulled the trigger. Plastics should be out of paint tomorrow if all goes well, so if I'm lucky it will all be put back together by the weekend (though that may be pushing it).
One last thing before I get to the pictures... I had decided somewhat last minute that I really wanted to go different on this build. I've never done a full custom build on anything before and wanted this to stand out. The original plan was to just keep the plastics red and get the lift done in red as well. Long story short, the fenders are getting painted a charcoal grey and I had the arms done in "Shocker Yellow" after seeing some done for a RZR 1000 lift at the Performance ATV shop. I was thinking it was going to turn out a little more yellow, like a highlighter or safety yellow, but it's looking a little lime green. The color has a lot of depth to it and I'm still happy with how it turned out. Looks green in some light, yellow in others.
I couldn't help but stopping by the shop again yesterday. They had finished the suspension, now I'm dying to get the wheels and tires in so really see how it's going to look. They're a little behind, so it'll probably be next week before they can complete the snorkels. But today they are going through the whole machine and putting dielectric grease to every electrical connection (which was a big part of why I wanted them to do the snorkels rather than do it myself). The color is definitely different when it is outside, I'm pleased with how it's coming together.
Well look what the big brown truck dropped off today!! Thanks Wild Boar ATV for the great service. After I decided to go with another wheel yesterday morning, they shipped out within the hour and here they are today. Quick delivery and great pricing. Looks like I've got a busy evening
Wheels and tires came in and I put them together last night. Tomorrow I go to pic up the plastics from paint and bring them to Performance ATV to put it back together. They are currently down a mechanic and I needed it for this weekend, so I am going to pick it up before the snorkels are done (I'm taking it to the beach, so no need for snorkels there). I'll drop it back off next week and get all of that taken care of. I'm also going to pull the beadlock rings off and have them powder coated to match the suspension, might try to do the stars on the center cap as well. It's going to be a busy day tomorrow, but hopefully I can pull it off and have it ready to head out to Crystal Beach tomorrow evening.
Dropped the tires and the plastics off at the shop a couple hours ago. It'll be ready here any time. The color turned out great, can't wait to get it all put together.
Looks nice. Those tire should get you where you need to go or back in the shop if things go bad. After reading a few posts about trans and reverse chains I am gun shy of larger tires. We all put too much money in these things to dump more in just to have alittle fun. Then again the song saids it all ALCOHOL :nevreness:
Rowdy, as far as the concern about the reverse chain, transmission, etc. I did a lot of research before hand and had some discussions with the people over at Performance about the overall set up and reliability. In fact, that is the reason it looks like it does instead of the 5" or 8" lift and 34" tires that I originally planned for. I think set up is going to suit me fine and overall be somewhat trouble free.
Rowe doo yeah it's really close, I actuall had to drive up closer to the house because when I went under it a little further out the middle of the cage rubbed. I'm hoping it will fit in the garage though.
Here are a few more pictures, I had some vinyls done up and I think it really finished yet look up pretty well. Hopefully I can get some better pics at the beach this weekend.
Thanks J Ipock, you've got a good looking bike. Changing all that red out would be a chore!
I picked the Ranger back up Friday after having the snorkels done. I need to get some more pictures from under the bed, the snorkel job looks really good and I love the flush fit that the bracket gives the bed cut-outs. They went ahead and replaced the air filter and belt since they were sealing all of that up. They pressure test the whole system after they do the install, so I'm confident that I can use it as a submarine now haha. I had em lower the shocks all the way back down to soften the ride back up, it was way too stiff. When I got it home I tinted the tail lights with a can of Nite Shades tint from the auto parts store. Then Saturday it was off to my grandma's pond to test em out...
About 30 seconds after that last pic was taken I was attempting to come out of the side of the pond and I guess I put it in a bind. I heard 3 small pops and broke an axle at the CV joint. I have that on video, just need to figure out the best way to upload it.
Now I'm doing some research on which axles to buy. I'm looking at some Rhinos and some Cobras, not sure what I'm going to do yet.
I ordered two front axels from Cobra this morning, I'm ready to get this thing back to the trails and see what it can do. I'll go ahead and order the rears in a couple weeks, hopefully the stock ones will hold up for a few rides. They don't seem to be in a bind and I tend to take it fairly easy on the go pedal.
Anybody have any experience with Cobras have an opinion on em?
Cobras are good. Your rear axles are weaker than the front on the 900, you will break them so may as well go on and get em coming. Your ride looks good but everyone where I live runs the snorkels much higher. I have had my complete dash and bed submerged many times.
Yeah I figured buying them two at a time would soften the blow a little, I'll get em coming soon. Performance gave me the option to run the snorkels as high as I wanted, I kept them low for when I get the rear view mirror I'll still be able to see and it looks good having them a little more sleek. I asked them not to glue the 90s onto the risers so I can extend them with a rubber coupling and another foot of pipe if I feel it's necessary. As they are they come up to my shoulders when I'm sitting in the seat and I would say that is deeper than I'll ever be comfortable with.
Nice looking ride Jarrod. Have to catch up with you and let's make a ride somewhere here in good Ole East Texas. You bring the snorkels, I'll bring the tunes
Thanks man, same goes to you. You just let me know when, I've been itching to get out to some of the parks. I plan on heading up to Sabine ATV Park in Burkeville here before long.
Nice looking ride Jarrod. Have to catch up with you and let's make a ride somewhere here in good Ole East Texas. You bring the snorkels, I'll bring the tunes
So Tropical Storm Bill caused enough panic that the facility that I'm working at decided on Monday to go ahead and cancel work on Tuesday (where I live all we got was a little rain, gotta love the media for making us think we would need to build an ark). So I took the opportunity to work on the Ranger and replace the front axles. I replaced the one broken one and went ahead and swapped the other one out, so now I'll have a spare.
Here's a comparison of the factory axle vs. the Cobra. Not much difference in diameter of the shaft, but the CV's look to be more stout.
And I got a few more pictures of the snorkel set up. It's a pretty clean install and I like that all of the vent lines have a solid tie in that includeds check valves for each section.
Finally got a little time to get the Ranger cleaned up
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
PRC Polaris Ranger Club
703.8K posts
49.4K members
Since 2007
PRCforum is the best Polaris forum community to discuss RZR 1000, Crew 900, PRC Ranger Club, XP 900, RZR XP 4 900, RZR 570, HD, 170, RZR-S, XP 900, RZR XP 4 900, ORV, side by side, SSW and off-road information.