After being neglected for far too long, I finally undertook the job of upgrading the old Chief to make it a bit more reliable and trail-worthy. I initially built the machine back in 2007-2008 and did some mild fabrication work to make it a bit more interesting and convenient than the stock 400 Chief. It's a lot of fun and it's GeoJem's favorite trail machine so I decided that I owed it to both her and the machine itself to make it bit more fun.
I'm still running the 26hp EFI Kohler which is a really, really strong engine. (a lot closer to 30hp, if you ask me). The upgrade to 1-1/4" splined axles is about done (waiting on sprocket hubs to come in...) and we've accomplished the body-mods to fit the 25x12-9" Rawhide IIIs under it, which are just about all it can accomodate. She gained a bit of ground clearance and should be pretty decent in the mud holes. I'm gearing the drivetrain down to 26 tooth primaries and using a stronger driven-clutch spring to keep the rpms up and the vehicle speed down. Back during one of the Ledges rides in 2008 or 2009, we took a paved road back to camp to get something and I'm pretty sure she topped out at about 40mph, so we need to keep this under control.
Here are some pictures...
The lower tub had to be heated and formed just a bit over each tire to give me 3/4 to 1" clearance over the Rawhides. A little forming around the clutch bump-out was necessary as well.
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