Freezetron

Ok, as much as I have enjoyed my new 5T this last month, its become apparent that these things can cost some serious money to help make them more "bulletproof" outa the box in stock form. Lately, the first thing to come to my attention was the amount of punishment the dog bone boots take and how quickly they wear out, rip and need to be replaced. Don't think I need to tell you how annoying this is after just a few runs and cleaning up grease throw all over the chassis after they fall apart in mid ride. I've already replaced two stock HPI sets and it was getting really old and even aftermarket ones will only last so long.

Another thing that came to my attention was the possible damage to the carb diagram as a result of intaking dust/dirt while in usage. Their is a small intake hole near the fuel bulb that over time according to other peeps, will suck enough dust to require repairing the carb. Well that just plain sucks....

I was also tired of looking at these huge gapping holes in my front fender wheels where basically anything could get in or thrown in by the front tires. Not only did it look terrible, but it allow every single rock and dust particle easy access.




Of course, some smart, business people have discovered these faults and have made products to help reduce or prevent all this premature wear and tear on our Bajas. For a price. Team Chase's diagram filter and boot guards are a very nice in their own right as is ATX' products for front and rear mudguards for the 5T.

However, after seeing the total in my cart at DDM for all this stuff, I was somewhat sickened, thinking to myself "I should haven't to shell out this kinda money just for basic protection" True, good stuff costs but I'm on a budget like the rest of you and even though I really enjoy my Baja, some hobby fun stuff just arn't justifiable in comparison to pay off life's other obligations.

After seeing other peeps make their their own mudguard, and boot protectors, I saw no reason not to make my own, come out money ahead and hell, even make a better product custom made for me needs! With that, I set in motion this weekend to collect the few materials I would need. Everything I got locally at my local ACE Hardware and only cost me less then $14 and a couple of hours of work. Hmmmm $125 vs $14 with some work? I rest my case....


I had some tin snips and a drill already with me, so I purchased some appropriate sized wood screws, nut and bolts and some kinda stair/wall protection panel that was made out of a thick rubber that was nice and stiff, but still flexible. I also had a spare filter element and plenty of zip ties, so no cost their! With that, I went to work this weekend.



Measure three times, cut once!!!! *learned the hard way*
I did a rough outline of what I wanted with a pen and then cut out each boot protector plate for each side




After cutting out the panel, I had to trim a little at a time to make sure the cover would not bind up the suspension arm. this took awhile for the left side with the spur gear assembly in the way. I also had to test the suspension to make sure the boot guards would not prevent the suspension from articulating all the way. Again, trim, check. Repeat as necassary.




After being satisfied with the trimming, I then processed to SLOWLY drill four small holes into the cover and lower arm. Again, Measure, check, measure check, repeat as necassary. Afterwards I used 4 screws to attach the boot guard cover to prevent any flexing during heavy usage.






That should take care of my boot covers ripping now!




With the rears done, I had plenty of material left over for front mudguards. Again, it was pretty much measure, checking the fitment and trimming as necassary *with a few mistakes* I wanted to be sure I covered as much of the wheel wells as I could without causing rubbing on the body and taking off the paint.




After making sure of basic fit, I drilled two holes on each side of the undercarriage guard to attach the mudguards. This way, I can remove the carriage and mud guards at the same time.




I attached the mudguards using small nuts and bolts. To keep the nuts from loosening off during hard bashing, I little blue loctite should take care of that.




Those guards arn't going anywhere




Afterwards, it was a simple matter of putting on the body and trimming as necessary for the proper fit. Once again: Cut, check. Repeat






That looks pretty dang good if I do say so myself!







The muguards will help reduce the dirt and dust into the chassis as well as the air filter while still allowing of plenty of airflow inside for the engine.





For the carb diaphragm filter, it was a simple matter of cutting up some spare air filter foam to the right size then holding it down with a zip tie.








This took a fair amount of trial and error to get enough foam to cover the intake hole while keeping the foam firmly attached so it wouldn't fall off with a zip tie in the right place. in the end, I wrapped it around the carb neck and looped it over the foam and the end result was this. Simple but effective and free!





Now that looks pretty damn slick for a DIY, a few hours work and less then $10! I feel proud doing this all myself, a little ingenuity, creativeness and hard work goes a long way to saving some bucks and really making your rig unique among every elses! I had alot of fun and looking forward to my next DIY project, likely rear mudguards!

DarkFire989

I cant believe how big that area is to cover in the front fenders. Looks good!

Freezetron

Update: Right after posting my initial mods, I figured since I was already in the mood, had the time and energy, I went ahead and completed my custom rear mudguards as well! Another trip to ACE hardware for some more stair protector, nuts and bolts and were ready to finish this project!


As you can see the engine and clutch area is pretty exposed to stuff getting throw at it from the rear tires, especially my the Hostile MXT's. Were gonna fix that!








Get our tools and supplies setup once again and were off....





Start by getting a rough idea of how to align and cut the mudguard material. Once again, its measure, cut, check. Repeat!





Were going to once again use small nuts and bolts to hold the mudguards to the body. Drill time again!






Because this rubber material was pretty stiff, I needed to bend it to keep it in the proper placing. Using a lighter and slowly pressing it into position I got it bent how I wanted it





To make the mudguards look good on the undercarriage, I also attached a second piece to the rear of the body with nuts and then attached the separate peices with another bolt. Repeat for the other side









The pull start is easily easily accessible through the rear. The best part of this mod, it can easily be moved to my new body with just a few simple drilled holes!




And wallah! The rear of the Baja is now nicely protected from dirt, rocks and anything else for a fraction of the price of buying ATX's guards! It also looks more like a real truck now!

clubin

Looks good freezer let us know how those boot deflector things work. And if drilling the arms has compromised them in any way.

Mudgy

looks good. A bloke I know used some ice cream container, and zip tied the panels to the rear A arms (on a 5b),....does the job. good thinking, 99!

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Hey that's cool.
Always good to see people making improvements to factory cars.

I'd use nylock nuts rather than loctite in areas like that though.
Personal preference.

Lars from Norway

I just love threads like this one! Nice to see the creativity being used and not only see people buy, buy and buy stuff. The factory made things is not always as good as self made stuff either

goneracing_83

agreed there Lars!!!! [sm=thumbup.gif]


Freezetron... looks awesome man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dealwithit

My Feedback: (55)

yah it looks pretty good in there, good job man!

Mudgy

Forgot to ask, is that a pre painted body shell? all the white paint is flaking off. how come?

Freezetron

Yeah, HPI was having quality issues with their paint on the bodies and I got one of them. I got a free replacement but I sold it cause I wanted to paint my own.

Freezetron

Update: I decided I wasn't happy with out the carb diaphragm filter turned out. Just the foam peice alone would get covered in dirt too easily and kinda looked tacky at the same time. I decided to redo it with a some of my material left over from the mudguards and make a cover for it to not only look better, but reduce the amount of dirt that would get on the foam as well as hold it on better. This is what I came up with:

DarkFire989

Looks good. Can I have your cat? Its eyes are so bright.

Freezetron

No, you may not have my furry son!

Freezetron

Update: Drove it at the small race track outside of town this weekend because our bash pit has been closed off for some reason :*(

It got a bit rainy so this was a good chance to test out my mudflaps. Needless to say, they worked very well, but i'm never driving my Baja in mud again. Whata PITA to clean up.... :glare: The boot protectors are doing a good job of keeping the crap away from my dogbones, so that's a big win in my book for this DIY mod for less then $15.

DarkFire989

Looks good. Nice and muddy.

Lars from Norway

Your litterature is getting dirty

Freezetron

It's also long since obsolete [8D]

Lars from Norway

Dirty litterature never gets obsolete Nice to see some dirt on the car, hehe. But yes, i guess it is a p.i.t.a. get to clean when finished driving. Better off stay on dry surfaces
By the way; have you considered putting som rubber between the front mudguards?

Freezetron

Nah, dirt hardly gets through their and I want a gap for the fresh air to come in for the engine air filter as well.

Lars from Norway

Ok, if dirt isn't an issue there it is no need to do anything about it And yes, good to have the gap there for the air!

Freezetron

UPDATE:

So after running the Baja for the past few weeks, here a check up on how the mods are holding. For the most part, im very happy with the boot guards, they are doing a great job of keeping debris away from the boots. The material however cracks and breaks off if it directly hits something and i've had to replace the right side plate twice from it completely breaking in pieces. I think part of the problem was that I had it too tight against the arm and it couldn't flex on impacts. I've made it attached a bit looser and flipped the patter to the other side to make it easier to clean off.






The front guards arn't stopping as much debris as I thought they would, mostly cause I found that the front wheels really don't throw dirt up that high. They in fact are the main reason for for all the debris that gets throw at the rear dogbones and boots, much to my surprise. If nothing else, the guards will help keep debris from flying into the chassis if im ever racing anyone else, so I'll keep them on.




The rear guards seem to be working at keeping a majority of the major debris away from the engine area that the rear wheels throw around. I consider that a plus in my book.




All in all, im very happy with the mods. They just need a little bit a fine tuning and some more trial and error. Hope this helps others in making their own DIY mods for their Baja's and saving some green stuff in the process!