Frame tweaking

[cclingma]

With my frame out I can see that it may be a little tweaked. The portion I'm most interested in trying to correct for now is the upright part under the drivers seat where the battery and shifter go. I tried to take a couple pictures to better help me ask the question. Which side is right? Should the upright be strait or slightly bent in? Thanks!

[atvrider93]

i dont think i see where the frame is tweaked and i dont have a Hustler but that cart you have in there looks pretty cool

[cclingma]

Thanks. I actually put about 20 miles on the cart right before I took the pictures. I think my pictures stink. May have to try again.

[atvrider93]

a pic from the middle of the back toward the front should show if its tweaked

[boncrshr]

Here is a pic of my frame out of the vehicle, there are a few more in this webshots album also.

pictures 093 pictures from outdoors photos on webshots

BTW, now that you have the frame out, closely inspect the front crossbracing. It is C-channel as opposed to the square tubing in the rear. It is a common thing for the welds to fail there. You may consider adding some square tubing front bracing, however; if you do this I would place it just above where the bottom portion of your chain runs. This will give you the least interference with chain adjustment in the future.

Also, beefing up your trailer hitch attachment to the frame is a worthwhile mod at this stage.

[cclingma]

Thanks boncrshr. Those pics do help me out some. How about the portions that extend above the frame to support the rear floorboard. Mine are bent out some but it almost looks like yours might be too. Thanks again.

[boncrshr]

Thanks boncrshr. Those pics do help me out some. How about the portions that extend above the frame to support the rear floorboard. Mine are bent out some but it almost looks like yours might be too. Thanks again.

Maybe I did not pay too much attention to them to be honest. No problems with them thus far. We basically focused on strengthening the center channel, trailer hitch and front cross braces.

[brushcutter]

Try checking your tub to see if it shows signs of wear or rubbing.The floor support appears to be bent as does the Trailer hitch support. A little wear at the shift linkage will be "normal" but heavy scratching should be looked into to see if the upright under the rear seat that supports the shift linkage needs to be bent to its original position.

[boncrshr]

Good thinking brushcutter!

Here is a pic of what we did with the hitch mount to the frame..

pictures 088 pictures from outdoors photos on webshots

And center rail over inner bearing mount...

pictures 087 pictures from outdoors photos on webshots

T-20 hold downs would be easy/inexpensive now also. Here you can see where I drilled holes about 1.5" down from each T-20 stud. Pushed a 1/4" bolt through the hole and tack-welded the bolt in place. What is not shown is I use a piece of strap stock with 2 holes drilled that connects the two bolts. It slips over them, then tighten nuts on top of the strap stock. This prevents the T-20 from walking up and down.

hustler rebuild 007 pictures from outdoors photos on webshots

[cclingma]

Ahhhh. T-20 Studs? I had a bad feeling about that. I only have one stud. The other three are tapped holes that I run a bolt into. In fact, I had to Helicoil two of the other three holes several years ago. So the T-20 should have all four studs?

[brushcutter]

Bolts will work, just be sure that they are not too long or they could bottom out and damage the housing /threads. Not to mention, if they bottom out they will seem tight and not actually BE tight which will cause all sorts of problems.Measure the depth of the holes and use the proper bolts of a slightly shorter length than the measurement.

[cclingma]

T-20 hold downs would be easy/inexpensive now also. Here you can see where I drilled holes about 1.5" down from each T-20 stud. Pushed a 1/4" bolt through the hole and tack-welded the bolt in place. What is not shown is I use a piece of strap stock with 2 holes drilled that connects the two bolts. It slips over them, then tighten nuts on top of the strap stock. This prevents the T-20 from walking up and down.

This sounds like it would be of great use on my machine. I'm not sure if I'm completely following you. Does your strap stock end up with two slots in it so that it can slide over the sides of the bolts once the T-20 is already in place, or does it slide over the ends of the bolts before the nut goes on the hold down bolt? Should the T-20 sit all the way to the bottom of the slots in the original mounting bracket?
Thanks

[boncrshr]

This sounds like it would be of great use on my machine. I'm not sure if I'm completely following you. Does your strap stock end up with two slots in it so that it can slide over the sides of the bolts once the T-20 is already in place, or does it slide over the ends of the bolts before the nut goes on the hold down bolt? Should the T-20 sit all the way to the bottom of the slots in the original mounting bracket?
Thanks

They just slip over the ends of the bolts. I drilled holes slightly larger than the bolts themselves. The nuts tighten on top of the strap stock. Also, use back-up nuts! My T-20 sits all the way at the bottom of those factory slots. But with these old machines, you never know who has done what with them.