[Hayseed]

A day or two ago I noticed that the left side latch of my front box cover was a little looser than the right. I did not give it much thought and I should have.

View attachment 1093

The bolt that holds the latch mechanism vibrated out and the latch is missing. The bolt threads into a plastic shaft but I will try thread lock on the replacement and hope it works on plastic. It might be worth checking your Ace. Any advice on securing metal into plastic would be appreciated.

 

[shortbed]

HI Hayseed, somebody posted a couple weeks ago about those bolts getting loose. I checked mine & both were loose. Put some blue locktite on them & that seems to have done the trick. Cheers

 

[Hayseed]

Thanks Shortbed, I will do that.

 

[Greybeard]

Same story as Shortbed except I used Red Locktite "Super Strength" I used it on racing motorcycles for years. Thanks for the Heads-Up.

 

[dunejunkee]

Same thing on mine left side. Looked at an ace at the dealership this week and same side was loose. Check them or lose them:}

Sent from my MILESTONE3 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Scoundrel]

Mine was loose from the dealer. Nearly lost it.
After 120 or so miles this weekend, it was loose again in a different way (the smaller crossbar bolt vs the whole latch assembly - the big nut).
Going to loctite them this week.
Mine was the right side as you sit in the seat.

 

[usstickers]

Me too! Both sides were loose. The left side fell off in my garage so I heard it hit the floor so I found the parts easy enough. I checked the right side and it too was very loose.

 

[Indy Joe]

Both of mine were loose. Could remove them with my fingers ! Red Loctite for both . THANKS FOR TE HEADS UP !!!

 

[Fordsc]

Same here! One fell off while riding. Couldn't believe I actually found it by retracing where I had ridden. Lost the little bolt so I have to try to find one. Have already put loctite on the one that's still on and will do the same on the other when I get a new bolt.

 

[MAJikMARCer]

Wow, this is a common problem. Same thing happened on my left latch as well. I had to buy the whole thing new. Polaris doesn't just sell the metal part. (urgh!)

I used blue loctite on the new one. The other thing I noticed is that the latch needs to turn IN, not out. there is a bump out on the inside but not the outside, that the latch holds onto. If it's turned out, it'll hold but bounce more, probably making things worse.

I recommend checking the large ring nut too. That worked loose on mine as well. Polaris really needs to go with metal there, not plastic.

 

[Rduhon]

My upper seatbelt bolt/lock nut was loose, not hand tight. My neighbor touched it and it came off. I re-installed and tightened.
Today, I decided to run the wiring harness for my new LED lights. I pulled the seat and the left cover to get to the battery to remove the terminal while wiring it up.
I found the battery sitting there, with nothing holding it down. Just a battery. I can see where something goes, but it isn't there.
So, I decided to do some of my own QA/QC and found many lose bolts. There are also way too many of those plastic plugs that hold most everything down.
I probably found at least 10 to 12 loose bolts. Some very important, some not so important.
So I spent half the day going over everything I could to make sure most everything was tight, like it supposed to be from the factory.
I also found a ty-wrap that was used when the winch wiring was installed, that was hitting the fan blade. Just had to be cut.
I also found an allen wrench on the seat slider when I removed the seat. I didn't see any allen heads that small while tightening everything up.

 

[Rduhon]

I checked the nuts on mine today. They were tighter than hand tight, but I did snug them up more to make sure they don't vibrate off..

BUT, I did find both bolts that hold the latches about ready to fall off. So today, again, I looked around all morning for loose bolts and nuts under the front end.

I think my bike was built on a Monday or Friday. Someone forgot or signed off on a lot of stuff that wasn't done.

 

[Rduhon]

Another booboo that I didn't notice till today.
It looks like something didn't go right so they drilled a hole and ran one of those plastic rivets from under the fender.
Looks crappy, but I can live with it now. It is to the right of the gas pedal.

On another note, how does everyone else remove these plastic rivets? I took some dikes and lightly pinched and pulled the inside part out.

 

[70cyclone]

Push Pin Pliers
yes you can find them elsewhere if you are anti-harbor freight

 

[Rduhon]

Thanks.
I am not anti-Harbor Freight, especially if I need something disposable or that I may only use once.
I think I need to keep this kind of tool on the Ace. You can't get to anything without taking out a few of those plastic thingys.

 

[ted]

I would pick up a bag of 50/100 to keep on hand for the push pins. Some end up wonky after awhile

 

[Rduhon]

Can you get them anywhere else besides Polaris? If so, what are they called and what size are they?

 

[70cyclone]

8MM can find them many places for example:
Amazon.com: 8mm 40 Pcs / Pack Nylon Bumper Retainer Fender Flare Mud Flaps Guard Fastener Rivet Clips For Honda 450r ltr450 Yfz450 Rubicon Rancher Foreman Polari ATV Trail Boss Predator Scrambler Sportsman Kawasaki Brute Force Bayou Prairie KFX700 KF

 

[Rduhon]

Thanks. Going to order me a couple packs. Just in case.

 

[Scoundrel]

Those ones are OK but the heads are a little flimsy. I ordered some of those first and don't care for them much.
These ares are the real deal though - identical to the stock ones: http://www.ebay.com/itm/100pcs-ATV-Fender-Retainer-Clips-Fasteners-Honda-Suzuki-Kawasaki-Polaris-USA-/201094432181