As some of you know, I may be a little hard on my machines. Also, the Max IV is prone to having issues with the t-20 mount. Well, I've had a few issues and kept trying to patch the problem. This weekend my intent was solving the issue by reworking my frame and adding some extra strength to it.
My IV already had a 2008 upgrade kit added to it when I purchased it. However, the PO just welded in the new mounting plate on top of already bad holes. This caused the new plate to get tore up as well. I also have broken off my front ears a time or two.
I started by cleaning up the area and welding the holes closed.
Once that was done, I then trimmed the ends off of a new support plate, lined it up with the original holes, and welded it in place.
Once the plate was welded I could use the plates holes as a jig to drill the holes through my welded up frame.
This essentially makes my lower mounting holes 3-plates of 10 gauge thick rather than one or two.
With the new holes in place I set a t-20 in it and figured out how far off my front ears were since they were welded in while the rest of the mounting holes were already enlarged. So I cut them off.
And the I welded them on in the proper position and ground down anything that would interfere with other items mounting points.
Once the frame was right, it was time to add some rear support. I have discussed many ideas with other members and stole a bit from almost everyone. Onlyonce uses a thicker plate for his lower mounts, hence my triple plate. He also uses a custom rear lockdown point made from uni-thread. Others have made full cradles to lock it in with. The key is the rear supports have to be removable to get the t-20 in and out. Having many parts from different machines, I decided to utilize and Attex t-20 dick brake mount for my starting point. In this shot you can see the stock parts as well as the trimmed pieces.
Because the t-20 is not the same front and back side, I had to trim a few spots for the fins to clear as well as the trimming the back bottom parts to sit in the frame correctly. I left some of the caliper mount on to ad support. There was discussions of cutting it off completely, but I thing the extra support is a good thing.
Finally, I was able to mount the t-20 on the frame and attach the rear supports to the t-20. With the support clamped in place, I drilled out the first mounting hole in the frame. Then I bolted the support to the frame and drilled the other hole on that side. Repeat for the other side, and here is the almost finished product.
I do have to paint everything still, and I will be utilizing the original bars that go from the top front t-20 mounting points down to the frame by the battery tray as well. I don't know that I need to still utilize them, but it can't hurt having another support piece in there anyways.
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Originally Posted by Rusty-Gunn
