mounting bolts for a bellypan protector

[YAMMY]

has anyone mounted a yamaha bellypan protector / i seem to not quite get how its done exactly. or maybe the hardware is wrong ..idk, i can surly figure somthing out but wanted to see exactly how its supposed to be done! its for my 05 vector

 

[maim]

same for a vector, venture, rage, rx1, and apex. what is the problem you are having?

 

[RobX-1]

Most skid plates I've installed came with rivet nuts like the ones below that you have to drill larger holes into the under carriage and then insert the rivet nuts into so that the skid plate/bellypan protector can be removed when changing oil and such. I have a tool now that can do different sizes to compress the rivet nut but some kits may include something just for the one size rivet nut that needs installed.

 

[YAMMY]

Ahh . so the rivet nut goes on the inside ?of the belly pan ?.hmmmm. so i would have to drill out the belly pan if my rivet nuts are larger than the original holes in the pan? funny That i have only 4 rivet nuts and have 6 holes in my skid plate. I haven't been able to get upnorth to check my sled out ,but do i need only 4 ? is there already two rivet nuts instaled on the sled?

 

[RobX-1]

If I'm not mistaken 2 of those 6 holes are for the top 2 screws that screw into the nose cone of the snowmobile; there are existing screws holding the nose cone but I believe the skid plate comes with longer screws to compensate for the skid plate. The other 4 holes at the bottom of the skid plate (the four that make up the square portion of the skid plate) use those rivet nuts where yes, you have to drill larger holes into the belly pan in order to insert the rivet nut and compress it. Then you can mount the skid plate. What I'm not sure in your particular application is if you have to enlarge the existing holes or if you have to drill new ones. At least with an OEM skid plate, Yamaha will not have you drill a hole right under a hose or something like that but one still needs to be careful to not insert the drill bit too far when drilling the belly pan holes.

 

[YAMMY]

ok , I got it ,thanks a ton!

 

[sfcjeff]

Most skid plates I've installed came with rivet nuts like the ones below that you have to drill larger holes into the under carriage and then insert the rivet nuts into so that the skid plate/bellypan protector can be removed when changing oil and such. I have a tool now that can do different sizes to compress the rivet nut but some kits may include something just for the one size rivet nut that needs installed.

View attachment 152404

thanks for the advice. I learned something new and real useful.

 

[CaptCaper]

You can make your own tool easy. Search Utube and the web there is a few videos on it. lot's of posts here if you search. McMasters has them cheap and in the size that works. Yamaha's was a bit to short and many had issues. But a engineer here found a size from McMasters that worked well. I used them on 3 different Yamaha Apex,Vectors.

here is the size from them. https://www.mcmaster.com/94020A387

 

[RobX-1]

Here's also a link to previous post concerning the McMasters rivet nuts and the part number I used to purchase mine.

https://ty4stroke.com/threads/installing-skid-plate.132399/

As for the tool, I have two of these and am fairly certain the OEM skid plate kit came with them.

 

[maim]

yes that is the tool that the oe kit came with. i bought the kit as i had too many pull outs using the factory installer but i do a lot of off trail riding and it ends up full of snow a lot.

 

[YAMMY]

well , here is the problem i have with the mounting nuts... there is noway i can put them in where yamaha says to put them . for one, where the holes are on the skid plate there is no room , the back holes would interfere with the heat exchanger inlets ,and the bottom front holes , well ,theres no way to put them in .,you simply cannot get to them from the inside , unless you take apart the whole sled , to me, you could only drill out and pop rivet the thing in , and i dont wanna do that.

 

[Elton Buss]

The rivnuts get installed on the outside. I take the two screws out of the nose come that match the protector. Install the longer screws in to fasten it temporarily. Then take a jack and jack the protector up against the belly of the sled. Line it up on the bottom to make sure it is square and
drill the four holes. Be careful not to drill to deep. Then remove the protector and install the rivnuts.

 

[Yogi_12]

think of a rivnut as a larger diameter rivet that a bolt threads into, There a special tools for installing them....similar to a rivet gun....but many people are using a bolt/nut tool. I installed mine like above post from Elton Buss...drilled 4 small pilot holes...used a small skinny screwdriver to poke inside hole and give me an idea of depth. As its aluminium fairly easy to drill you don't have to use much pressure.

When I did my first break in oil change at 800km I thought...one hidden rock or stump can ruin motor pretty quick....so I bought skid plate.

 

[YAMMY]