Cab Heat

Not warm enough for that yet here, but I appreciate the heads-up. I'll be thinking about ways to deal with that myself.

Hayseed said:

I am experiencing more cab heat than I expected. When it is warm weather in East Texas, the cab heat is noticeable. I have felt the firewall and it is quite warm. The radiator seems to heat the firewall and it radiates onto my feet and shins. I am thinking of getting some insulation of some kind and shaping it to cover the flat parts of the firewall. Has anyone else noticed this and come up with a solution?

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Yeah, I noticed it too. Not that hot yet to be uncomfortable. Probably good for the winter, but might be stuffy in the summer. Might be able to make some floor vents like the old cars had before AC. Need to keep out the water and mud. Might be tricky. I noticed my a$$ getting hot as well. Being tall I have the seat all the way back. If the seat is more forward there is more of a gap between the seat and the engine access panel. Your butt is only a couple inches from the exhaust header.

I agree with Geerhead..it was 86 today and we rode hard. I didn't notice an uncomfortable amount of heat around my feet, but my A$$ was pretty hot the entire trip, especially after hitting the mud holes and river...the steam comes right up between the gap in the seat.

I have decided on an approach to the cab heat issue that I have. I ordered this today.

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This is a thermal acoustic lining with a self-adhesive backing. It comes in a 32 in. x 54 in. sheets. I got it at Amazon for $67. I believe there is enough to line the firewall in the cab and line the interior of the engine compartment. It has 3/4 in. of sound deadening foam so it may reduce the engine noise also. The inspection plate behind the seat is very close to the engine. It gets really hot as does the firewall. I have the seat about an inch forward so the rear heat has not bothered me a lot. I should get it on Thursday. I hope to have it installed before Monday. One-Shot and Robert are bringing their Aces to my house for three days of riding. I will take photos of the installation and post the results of three days of riding.

I have noticed the cab heat also. It's not hot but a little warm. There is zero air flow from steering wheel down.

my wife has the small ACE and the heat on the floor is tolerable but my new 900 get uncomfortable after 20-30 minutes. i think the heat is coming through the hole in the floor around the steering column.Is there a material or grommet that will work for that? I need to do more investigating on materials .
any help will be appreciated ..

With lower side doors and full windshield, my 900 got downright toasty in the drivers seat. Great for winter riding. At times way to warm on milder days. I removed my side doors and windshield for upcoming warm months and did notice that I was far more comfortable riding on a 45*f day a couple days ago. But another 45-60 days and it can be unbearable hot and humid here in NH, so looking for ways to keep radiator heated air pushed by the fan out of the drivers compartment will be on my list as well.

I haven't looked close enough to see how much space there is around the steering shaft to allow air to pass. But if there is room, it maybe as simple as fabing a frame out of aluminum and using that to sandwich a piece of rubber(old inner tube or like) with a hole in the middle and a slit to allow it to wrap around the steering shaft. Rivet the frame to the firewall . I built something similar in my old stock car and it worked well to keep engine heat out of the car.

I just took a look at the floor board where the steering column goes thru. That's a fairly good size and odd shaped hole. Probably something needed to allow easy access to the bolt that hold the steering shaft onto the rack or power steering box. @2"x3" hole.

Now I'm thinking that some form of thin self adhesive rubber type material might work to seal that hole up but still allow access to the bolt if needed.

I welcome the heat during the winter. Installed a front window to help with the cold too.
In the summer, I just ride without the windshield. It helps disperse the heat without a window up front.