You may have seen in another thread that I'm planning to use my ATV in challenging terrain.
The picture is halfway up looking down at the mild part of the hill. It has similar topography & trees on top but it gets steep in between.
So I bought a crush protection device, a QuadGuard from New Zealand. There were shipping issues but I eventually got it with no extra charges.
It attaches to the rear rack and as a strength check I grabbed that rack the way people pick up fallen cruiser bikes, hands behind my back and lifting with my legs. My doc said I can't lift heavy things any more so that's pushing the limit but it saved me a lot of time figuring out another way to test the rack. I managed to lift both rear wheels off the ground without any change to the rack at all.
The rack is attached to the frame in 4 places and once to each rear fender. It's not massive but like I said, nothing changed lifting the ATV by the outsides of the rack. The QuadGuard retaining bars fit well in places that are "indeterminate" as far as force distribution goes but again, it passed the lifting test.
I did a few things to my brand-new QuadGuard that may have voided the warranty but I thought necessary for mosquito control and to avoid stinging insect occupation in advance. I drilled 1/8" weep holes in the 4 bottom corners to let water out. They are #1 and #2 in the picture. The 2 big holes would let most water out but some could stay if the ATV were on an incline. Mosquitoes only need a little water to breed. At #3 and #4 I covered the holes and top opening with some plastic bug screen held by all-purpose pvc/abs adhesive. I haven't tested how strong the bond is but it feels good. I've tried taping the screen to things but it is made of plastic that just doesn't stick to tape.
The QuadQuard attaches with 2 bars, 4 bolts, and hook-shaped clamps that fit over the CForce 400's rack bars. The square bars are almost the same dimension across corners as the round bars are in diameter. The torgue specified is 7 Nt-M or 62 Inch-pounds, about 5 foot-pounds. It is not a lot of torque but it squishes the bottom of the QuadQuard until the bolts reach the bars, then it reaches full torque quickly.
The ATV looks good front & rear. My way getting on & off is unaffected.
The picture is halfway up looking down at the mild part of the hill. It has similar topography & trees on top but it gets steep in between.
So I bought a crush protection device, a QuadGuard from New Zealand. There were shipping issues but I eventually got it with no extra charges.
It attaches to the rear rack and as a strength check I grabbed that rack the way people pick up fallen cruiser bikes, hands behind my back and lifting with my legs. My doc said I can't lift heavy things any more so that's pushing the limit but it saved me a lot of time figuring out another way to test the rack. I managed to lift both rear wheels off the ground without any change to the rack at all.
The rack is attached to the frame in 4 places and once to each rear fender. It's not massive but like I said, nothing changed lifting the ATV by the outsides of the rack. The QuadGuard retaining bars fit well in places that are "indeterminate" as far as force distribution goes but again, it passed the lifting test.
I did a few things to my brand-new QuadGuard that may have voided the warranty but I thought necessary for mosquito control and to avoid stinging insect occupation in advance. I drilled 1/8" weep holes in the 4 bottom corners to let water out. They are #1 and #2 in the picture. The 2 big holes would let most water out but some could stay if the ATV were on an incline. Mosquitoes only need a little water to breed. At #3 and #4 I covered the holes and top opening with some plastic bug screen held by all-purpose pvc/abs adhesive. I haven't tested how strong the bond is but it feels good. I've tried taping the screen to things but it is made of plastic that just doesn't stick to tape.
The QuadQuard attaches with 2 bars, 4 bolts, and hook-shaped clamps that fit over the CForce 400's rack bars. The square bars are almost the same dimension across corners as the round bars are in diameter. The torgue specified is 7 Nt-M or 62 Inch-pounds, about 5 foot-pounds. It is not a lot of torque but it squishes the bottom of the QuadQuard until the bolts reach the bars, then it reaches full torque quickly.
The ATV looks good front & rear. My way getting on & off is unaffected.