Dan_Goodwin
Birmingham, AL
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2012
- Messages
- 126
Figured some of you might enjoy this build, so here goes.
After years of riding shotgun I decided to sell off several project Seadoos (I used to flip 90's 2 strokes and had a few sitting around) and bought what I could afford to get out in the woods - a 2004 Rhino. This entire build has been done on a shoestring budget and in my carport as I don't have a shop yet.
This was the day I brought it home. It has a +6 HCR LT kit, 2.0 Kings, 686cc stroker motor, and a pile of other stuff. It was a solid foundation to start out, but had a lot of hard miles on it. The first trip out was to Top Trails and the thing did remarkably well, walking up everything I pointed it at. The trip went great until I clipped a stump at speed and broke my left wrist, leaving me in a cast from my knuckles to my shoulder for 12 weeks and only able to work on small projects. Power steering, new radiator and electric fan, new exhaust, radio, added lighting, water temp and fuel gauge were all added.
Once I was back to wheeling again a smoking deal on a set of 29" Bighorns came up, so off came the 26s.
The larger tires made a dramatic difference in capability, but I added a .5mm primary clutch shim to gain back some of the lost bottom end, but my 35hp definitely could tell the difference. I wheeled it like this relatively unchanged for almost 2 years, having a few issues (some self inflicted stupidity), which were mostly axle related. Either my driving ability or the 29s made these axles able to break almost on command (to the tune of $250 per shaft). I ride with mostly RZR 1000s and, believe it or not, this Rhino has made just about every obstacle they have and done it with relative ease.
And no, I didn't make it up Boat Ramp or V Notch. The last picture of me pulling cable was 15 mins into a ride and another broken axle, which almost lead to me selling this rig.
Since this is a build thread and ending there would be boring, you can guess I decided not to sell it.
After years of riding shotgun I decided to sell off several project Seadoos (I used to flip 90's 2 strokes and had a few sitting around) and bought what I could afford to get out in the woods - a 2004 Rhino. This entire build has been done on a shoestring budget and in my carport as I don't have a shop yet.
This was the day I brought it home. It has a +6 HCR LT kit, 2.0 Kings, 686cc stroker motor, and a pile of other stuff. It was a solid foundation to start out, but had a lot of hard miles on it. The first trip out was to Top Trails and the thing did remarkably well, walking up everything I pointed it at. The trip went great until I clipped a stump at speed and broke my left wrist, leaving me in a cast from my knuckles to my shoulder for 12 weeks and only able to work on small projects. Power steering, new radiator and electric fan, new exhaust, radio, added lighting, water temp and fuel gauge were all added.
Once I was back to wheeling again a smoking deal on a set of 29" Bighorns came up, so off came the 26s.
The larger tires made a dramatic difference in capability, but I added a .5mm primary clutch shim to gain back some of the lost bottom end, but my 35hp definitely could tell the difference. I wheeled it like this relatively unchanged for almost 2 years, having a few issues (some self inflicted stupidity), which were mostly axle related. Either my driving ability or the 29s made these axles able to break almost on command (to the tune of $250 per shaft). I ride with mostly RZR 1000s and, believe it or not, this Rhino has made just about every obstacle they have and done it with relative ease.
And no, I didn't make it up Boat Ramp or V Notch. The last picture of me pulling cable was 15 mins into a ride and another broken axle, which almost lead to me selling this rig.
Since this is a build thread and ending there would be boring, you can guess I decided not to sell it.
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