Max II tub repair

[golpher76]

So I read a whole ton of plastic welding posts on here, but I am still a little confused as I have some extremely large gaps/wholes/tears in my tub. The middle of the bottom of the tub is essentially perfect as is the sidewalls, my problem is the lower rails on either side of the tub are pretty much destroyed. One side has a long gash almost the length of the tub and it is crushed in the middle so there is like a 3ft long by 4 inch gaping hole. How should I get this held together so that I can plastic weld it?? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and if a new tub is the best idea does anyone know what one costs? Thank you all in advance.

[racerone3]

if you could post some pics of the carnage, it might make it easier to advise you on a route to go. for areas with chunks missing, you can get poly from any plastics supplier and weld it in place. for cracks, don't be afraid to rivet a piece of aluminum in place to hold things together, weld a bit on either side of the aluminum, then drill the rivets out and weld the holes up. as for cost of a replacement, just call MAX at 1-800-255-2511 and ask for Jay in parts

[hydromike]

Hey Golpher...

Welcome to the Site! It sounds like you've got a decent sized hole in the bottom of your machine. You have a few options, but I don't know if plastic welding is going to be a viable one, given the size of the repair you speak of. Your absolutely best bet would be to find a extra tub, but I'm not sure how easy they are to come across. You could buy a new one, but again, I don't know what Recreatives would charge to get it to you. There is the option to build a skid-plate for the machine out of a donor piece of plastic. There are a couple different threads on building one here on the Site if you search for them. You could also make the machine reasonably waterproof by splicing in (riveting, for example) a donor piece of HDPE where yours is torn up. I forget if the bottom of the Max II rails are smooth, but if they are, it may be quite easy to just rivet/silicone a 1/4" piece of poly (HDPE) onto each of the lower rails to get you back into business.

Do any of these sound like appealing options?
~m

::edit:: two minutes? He always beats me by two minutes!

[thebuggyman1]

New tubs are $1000 from R.I. at full price plus shipping. They do sell seconds at half price, but unless you pick it up you don't get to see the scrape/gouge before you buy.
Where are you from? I have a couple extra max II bodies that are repairable, also a whole machine if you just wanted to trade up. PM me if interested.

[golpher76]

I will post some pics tomorrow evening around 530 so that you guys can see the mess. I plan on ordering a sheet of poly and forming my own skid plate to protect the repairs. I really can't afford a plastic welder right now but if I find one cheap enough what kind of buckets are made out of hdpe?

[thebuggyman1]

I have done very little plastic welding, but what little I have done: I had the best luck with "virgin plastic" instead of used stuff. I think it just melted and stuck better.
McMaster-Carr I did buy a plastic welder, but it only works well on small spots. Try a heat gun, it's the same idea (hot air).

[golpher76]

As promised the carnage

also pics are huge so you can really get a good idea what is going on. Dialup users grab a beer and relax for a few while they load.














that all of them for now

[golpher76]

thebuggyman I live in central NY, pretty much the geographic center of it between utica and syracuse so michigan would be a little bit of a haul.

[racerone3]

if it was some sort of really rare machine, I'd say get some poly and fix it, but a decent maxII lower body shouldn't be that hard to come by. in this case I would replace it.

[golpher76]

i'll have to start looking. I am just really ancy as I just want to ride the thing, but I don't want to get all kinds of mud and debris in the inside. I might just ziptie them closed and silicone it then go over it with a thin piece of poly and load it up with silicone adhesive untill i can find a new tub.

[lewis]

Rec may have some blemished bottom tubs for a very reasonable price give them a call.

[golpher76]

i sure will give them a call thank you all for your help.

[golpher76]

So since I can't afford to buy a tub right now or in the near future I will be building a poly skid plate and siliconing/riveting it to the original body. I'll just have to deal with it like that till i come up with enough jingle to buy a new tub from recreatives. If anyone else has any more ideas feel free to throw them my way so I can look into it.

[golpher76]

Tub is about 99% repaired I just have a few rivet holes from the previous owner left to fill. I mad a tip out of an old scraper for my heat gun and built a feed tube in it. I then cut a bucket up and began welding the plastics all together. It is not pretty or smooth yet but I am going to wait for it to settle for a couple days(and my arms to recover) then I am going to smooth it all out. The tip I made worked great, I dumped some water in the tub and the weld spots aren't leaking at all. It doesn't seem as strong as original but untill I can save up for a new tub i'll just have to keep an eye on it. I just want to thank everyone for all their suggestions.

[Brock Landers]

Hey golpher, I'm in Cicero and working on an old max also. My tub is not as bad as yours but it meeds some work. the guy I got it from had most of the plastic welding done. Harbor Freight in North Syracuse has 3 different types of plastic welders for cheap. I have used a HF one for years on motorcycle plastics and it works fine.