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It Fits!

MrFish

Charter Member
Full Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2002
Messages
390
Location
Redmond, WA
So, I picked up my new Honda Rincon ATV last weekend. ?The beast is 46.1" wide, the bed of the Av is ... less than that at it's narrowest point. ?What to do?

Last night I removed the gutters and mounts for the hard covers. ?ATV fits like a glove. ?Problem is, I like having my hard covers on. ?While I could probably leave the mounts in place and mush the ATV tires past them, this is not a good long-term solution. ?I'd like to figure out a way to avoid removing/installting all 16 bolts every time I load or unload my ATV. ?That, or do away with the mounts completely and devise another way to mount the hard covers.

Basically, I'd like to pull off the covers, stash them in the garage, load up the ATV, and go riding. ?Upon return, unload the ATV and plop the hard covers back on. ?This 16-bolt fiasco got old after the first round.

Any input?
 
Could the ATV be modified (ie. reweld the rim hubs) so that it wasn't so wide? ???
I thought the AV was supposed to be 48" wide. :( I am planning on devising a way to fit 2 Polaris ATV's with support from the hitch for a bed extension. :0:
 
Get a small trailer for the ATV
Ok, duh. ;) I'm looking into that option, but I'd like to keep the $1000 in my pocket.

Um, smaller tires for the ATV?
The fenders on the quad are just as wide as the tires.

Could the ATV be modified (ie. reweld the rim hubs) so that it wasn't so wide?
There will be no welding going on here. At least not on my new ATV. heh heh

I thought the AV was supposed to be 48" wide
It is, at the bottom of the bed. You have to take into account the side rails that the covers sit on, the mounts for the covers, and finally the plastic guttters. The final bed width is about 42".

I wonder if I could mount a few angle brackets above the side rails. The front cover would slide forward under these brackets, which would sandwich the cover edge between it and the rail. Cover 2 would slide under its brackets, butting up against the first. The last cover would slide into place, and be held there by the tailgate. Sure, there's not really any downward pressure pressing them down against the side rails, so there'd be leakage issues. Combine that with the loss of the gutters, and I wouldn't leave anything back there. Could work though.
 
Could you somehow mount the side rails and mouts to a hinge. That way it could flip up when the ATV is needed, and flip back down ito place when you want to use the cover?
Havn't really looke at the mounting system but it might be a possibility. Right?
 
Now THAT'S a good idea! If the covers are removed, the mounts would just fall down towards the sidewall. When needed, you'd have to lift them up while locking in the panel handle, but no biggie.

The only problem I see is that a hinge would lower the mount by a small amount. The locking handles on the covers may not be able to reach down that far. I haven't looked at the handles, but maybe they could be removed and an equal spacer could be inserted.

This idea just may be IT.
 
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