Longer rear bumper mod

[Mtnviper]

One of the tricks that we use to do back in the day when we rode short tracks in the mountains, was build a longer rear bumper.
A longer bumper makes it easier to lift the back of a sled when shes stuck down in hole or trench!
On a Viper or XF7000 it also gives you more area to grab hold of the bumper also.
Below are some pics of a 162" Proclimb bumper on my 153" conversion. For the cross piece, I just cut a section out of my old 141" bumper and TIG welded in place to support the snow flap. Then add some Black paint for an OEM look!

Bill

 

[TJ-R]

Smart idea Bill, thanks for sharing.

 

[TestMaster]

Bill,

How many rivets? Stock bumper has about 40, this bumper is significantly longer so just wondering how many went into this configuration.

 

[Mtnviper]

Thanks TJ!

TestMaster.
For a 153" tunnel extension and 162" bumper I used,
34 3/16" x 3/16" grip Stainless steel pop rivets
8 Arctic Cat rivets part# 1623-241
2 1/4" large head rivets for the snow flap.I think the part # for these are 8061-706, (I had some 1/4" rivets laying around so I used them instead)
From about the half way point down the bumper and forward the holes lined up. Past the half way point and rearward I had to drill new holes in the bumper using the tunnel extension as a template.
Also its a good idea to have a couple of high quality 3/16" drill bits on hand, both for drilling out the old rivets and drilling in to the bumper. The bumper is aluminum, but is of fairly hard material.
There are 4 forward rivets on each side that extend through the drop brackets. These are a higher strength rivet and that is where the 8 Cat rivets are used. Because they are a stronger rivet, an air powered rivet gun comes in real handy as well!

Bill

 

[TestMaster]

Thanks TJ!

TestMaster.
For a 153" tunnel extension and 162" bumper I used,
34 3/16" x 3/16" grip Stainless steel pop rivets
8 Arctic Cat rivets part# 1623-241
2 1/4" large head rivets for the snow flap.I think the part # for these are 8061-706, (I had some 1/4" rivets laying around so I used them instead)
From about the half way point down the bumper and forward the holes lined up. Past the half way point and rearward I had to drill new holes in the bumper using the tunnel extension as a template.
Also its a good idea to have a couple of high quality 3/16" drill bits on hand, both for drilling out the old rivets and drilling in to the bumper. The bumper is aluminum, but is of fairly hard material.
There are 4 forward rivets on each side that extend through the drop brackets. These are a higher strength rivet and that is where the 8 Cat rivets are used. Because they are a stronger rivet, an air powered rivet gun comes in real handy as well!

Bill

Really a nice looking job. Looks every bit as nice as the factory would do maybe even better.

Looks like it will be strong as h€££!

John