18 Free-Ride Cooler is Shot....

ktm131rob · Dec 30, 2017

Not a good start with a new sled, my cousin is new to the back country side of the sport and pulled the trigger last week on a new free-ride 137. Within the first 2 hours of riding it he managed to smash his throttle block and punch a hole threw his cooler. I am no expert on the gen 4 sleds and have been riding Polaris for my last two rides so I am pretty ignorant on what it takes to change one of these new coolers. I want this to be as painless as possible for the guy any advice on how to go about repairing it?

Thanks in advance

towerrigger · Dec 30, 2017

Not sure if the 137’s are the same as 146’s and up but the cooler is integrated into the entire tunnel. Nothing about it is going to be painless. Cheapest and least painless is going to involve taking it to a welder that is good with aluminum.

ktm131rob · Dec 30, 2017

towerrigger said:
Not sure if the 137’s are the same as 146’s and up but the cooler is integrated into the entire tunnel. Nothing about it is going to be painless. Cheapest and least painless is going to involve taking it to a welder that is good with aluminum.

When the new platform came out i read that it was all integrated. but it seems like it splits in three. It seems like a huge pain in the backside. It is the strangest pin whole. I may just get it welded.

Thanks

mountainhorse · Dec 30, 2017

Use some Lords adhesive and put a patch on it... Acrylic adhesive..... NOT epoxy.

my 2¢

.

kiliki · Dec 30, 2017

Call your insurance company and be riding a new one in two weeks.
You do have insurance right?

ktm131rob · Dec 31, 2017

kiliki said:
Call your insurance company and be riding a new one in two weeks.
You do have insurance right?

Yeah its fully insured. That is an option we discussed.

Dynamo^Joe · Jan 1, 2018

Ive seen 2 get welded here and they weep right away. Just can't get the inside of the cooler clean of antifreeze residue.

My riding buddy the skidoo mechanic has been trying out some patching for aluminum - the same patch kit the Ford dealer uses to patch aluminum box sides.
Lord Fusor 108B
and
3M 8115
and
Motorcraft TA-1 Metal panel bonding adhesive.

mountainhorse · Jan 1, 2018

The acrylic fusor adhesives are more tolerant of minor surface contamination....

You will need to drain your cooling system.

.

Trashy · Jan 1, 2018

Depending on where the pin hole is located....

Something I have done before: drill, tap to 1/8 NPT and insert a pipe plug. Can even use a pretty blue or red or black one from aeroquip.

Sounds cheesy but it works.

ryanjeri · Jan 1, 2018

ktm131rob said:
Not a good start with a new sled, my cousin is new to the back country side of the sport and pulled the trigger last week on a new free-ride 137. Within the first 2 hours of riding it he managed to smash his throttle block and punch a hole threw his cooler. I am no expert on the gen 4 sleds and have been riding Polaris for my last two rides so I am pretty ignorant on what it takes to change one of these new coolers. I want this to be as painless as possible for the guy any advice on how to go about repairing it?

Thanks in advance

I know I am late to the party,

Had this happen in Jackson, WY couple 4 weeks ago to an 18 850, We thought we would get it done right and took it to a local welding shop, after couple hours our pin hole had grown to a couple pencil holes. We should have chosen to just use jb-weld and all our problems would have been avoided, this was the end result, it is now a pretty good blob of crap, but it is holding, when it fail's it will get patched at a local welding shop.

never thought about drill/tap and plug, that is a great idea.

Trashy · Jan 1, 2018

I’m full of creative tricks. Lol.

While we are at it, if you need to JB weld it...... pull the cooling system down to a vacuum, clean the area and dry it, then leave it under vacuum while the glue sets up. Way better chance of success that way. Disclaimer: only for small holes and temporary repairs. Fix it properly ASAP (new parts)

jackbombay · Jan 1, 2018

Dynamo^Joe said:
the same patch kit the Ford dealer uses to patch aluminum box sides.
Lord Fusor 108B
and
3M 8115
and
Motorcraft TA-1 Metal panel bonding adhesive.

Modern body panel glue is really good at what it does, if I had a pin hole in my cooling system/tunnel I would use a 36 grit disc on my grinder to scuff up 1 1/2" or so around the hole (3" diameter circle) then glue a 3" circle of aluminum over the hole, I'd scuff the aluminum patch as well. I'd test the body panel adhesive in boiling water before putting it on my tunnel to make sure it was ok with the temps it may see.

JB weld (the slow cure) is good to 600* F, but it's pretty brittle so I'm not too sure how much I like the idea of using it for a long term fix.

Blk88GT · Jan 2, 2018

Back in 2004ish I had a pinhole leak in a cooler on an old Polaris. I hit it with some brake cleaner, sandpaper and a small dab of JB weld. It's still holding today.

PaulAnd · Jan 2, 2018

Maybe a wide headed screw with a leather washer and 2part epoxy for the toolkit for backcountry repair.
Screw and washer to seal leak
Then blob 2 part over the top

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PaulAnd · Jan 2, 2018

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stmike · Jan 2, 2018

PaulAnd said:
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Changed the torque box's on a jeep with the brother in-law. We used a two part epoxy ,don't know if it was the same stuff .Worked great better than trying to weld .

ktm131rob · Jan 2, 2018

Its going to the dealer today to quote what whey will charge to fix it. He is new to the sport and doesn't want to void the warranty. I didn't tell him yet that he will smash it next weekend LOL.

I know the JB weld option should work but it is kind half a$$ and with the cash that was just thrown down on this thing I doubt he would want it fixed that way.

I have heard a lot of guys weld them but I assumed that they could get the surface clean enough to tig it but I suppose it could be a huge issue.

Thanks for the help dudes!

ktm131rob · Jan 2, 2018

PaulAnd said:
Maybe a wide headed screw with a leather washer and 2part epoxy for the toolkit for backcountry repair.
Screw and washer to seal leak
Then blob 2 part over the top

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We ride alot in the UP so this stuff is a little more common because of the snow. I think a guy has to keep something like this in his tool kit. I know I will.

Falcon1772 · Jan 2, 2018

ktm131rob said:
Its going to the dealer today to quote what whey will charge to fix it.

Interested to hear what they say, I was talking with a friend about this the other day and we weren't sure if it was something that would total it or not due to labor and whatnot.

ktm131rob · Jan 2, 2018

Falcon1772 said:
Interested to hear what they say, I was talking with a friend about this the other day and we weren't sure if it was something that would total it or not due to labor and whatnot.

I prepared him for the worst to an extent. We have done a lot of business with the dealer so if they do fix it it may be as a "favor" for the 30+ sleds we have got from them over the years. I have not changed a cooler personally but I have seen it done and from what i can gather it should take about 24 hours to do plus parts so if the charge full pop shop labor in our area $110 your looking at about 2600 bucks plus the cooler and other misc parts. so would an Insurance company total a sled for 3600 bucks that has 8 miles on it? Idk would be tough to say. I dont think he would mind it being totaled but I don't think he would be getting a new one either as there are not to many of those laying around. I will update the post when I hear this evening.

18 Free-Ride Cooler is Shot....

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