LT450R Nerf Bars for my Blaster

[dksix]

The only Nerf bars I really like are the XRF Pro Pegs from eBay but at near $300 are pricey. I didn't want to pay $100-$150 for ones that I didn't really like and couldn't make myself let go of $300 for the ones I do like but need Nerf bars, so I thought I give a try at modding a set that are from an LTR450. The bars a Bling Star brand, given to me for some work I did to the LTR450. They were, of course, much too long to mount to the foot peg like normal but with some cutting I got them positioned between the wheels. I cut 4" off the back and 3" off the front tubes where they meet the frame. With the front bar being on an angle, making them narrow makes them shorter too. The rear meets the frame about an inch below and 5" behind the front foot peg bolt. I could weld an extension to the peg/brake lever mounting plate but making a new one seemed to be a better option and it would allow me to lower the pegs an inch for a little more leg room. I've found using easy to work it materials for mock up to make things much easier, so here it is (OSB for mounting plates, plastic wedges for foot pegs, pieces of broom handle the right diameter that fits tight into the tubes and half in bolts for brake lever pivot. At work we have a place that does laser burning for us. I'll have the mounting plates done there. Had planned to make the pegs from billet but looking at some of the aftermarket quad pegs I might go with welded plate. Here's some pictures of the mock up and the CAD drawing of the plates I'll have burned and a model of the pegs if I do use billet.










Forgive the mess I've let me shop get to. The last 6 months I spent remodeling a house I inherited to rent and everything from the house and extra material has just been piled into my shop, can't move around or find anything. Meant to get it back in order this weekend but worked on quads instead. Just needing to work on something fun for a little while.

 

[Wifesblaster]

Pretty cool. They look just like the alba and tusk nerfs now. I don't really see the sense in doing all that unless they have heel guards. I'm not knocking it and your fab work looks good. I'm just a bit confused.

 

[Awk08]

looks good so far, you're definately going above and beyond

I've done similar,
ltz400 pro armor pro peg nerfs, i cut 5 inches out to shorten them

 

[dksix]

Pretty cool. They look just like the alba and tusk nerfs now. I don't really see the sense in doing all that unless they have heel guards. I'm not knocking it and your fab work looks good. I'm just a bit confused.

Doing it for a combination of reasons; these are basically free, the laser burning is the only part I would be paying for, like $.18 per inch plus material, probably about $8. The rest I'll do at work. My stock right side peg is bent pretty bad, this covers that repair with better designed pegs and lowering them an inch would give me a little more room. I just recently changed jobs, designing these parts are good practice with the drawing software I'm using now. Between training someone for my old job and learning my new one and remodeling that house it just seemed like a fun project that I could squeeze in. But I agree with what you're saying, if it I was paying to have it done there is no way it would be worth it.
With the back tube being behind the peg it leaves a good point to tie in a set of heal guards. After the nerf bars, pegs and lever are finished I'd like to try to design heel guards that tied in with cut outs of the fenders. I'm always working around not having access to aluminum welding.

looks good so far, you're definately going above and beyond

I've done similar,
ltz400 pro armor pro peg nerfs, i cut 5 inches out to shorten them

I have access to almost everything I could want at work, except welding aluminum. We have a TIG setup at work that will weld aluminum, just no one who can weld aluminum. I keep saying I'm going to learn but there is always something else to do.

 

[Awk08]

sounds like good reasoning and plan to me
keep the pics coming as this progresses

 

[Wifesblaster]

Well that makes perfectly good sense then! I wasn't trying to knock your work or anything I just figured you could have bought a set for $80. If the nerf bars were free than it's a no brainer. While your doing all the fab work you should try to incorporate heel guards.

 

[dksix]

Wifesblaster, no misunderstanding, I agree with what you were saying. I wouldn't have spent 50% or more building something that I could buy and bolt on. I do like the style of the Bling Star's that I'm using, the way they turn up in the back. I think I'll like what I'm building better than all but the XRC pro peg set. Plus, it's good to be back working on something fun. I'm 6'3", I think the pegs being lower will make it all worth it, bigger grippyer pegs make it a lot more comfortable which is a bonus. Will probably improve the lever pivot too, while I'm there. I might even end up with something I like better than the XRC's. Which would be a big bonus. I traded around and got both my Blasters, along with about $800 profit. I've knocked that down to more like $400 ahead on it. Was hoping to have it finished and be even in it. Still plan a better exhaust system (right bend, Toomey or Pro Circuit) to go to a bigger carb, better air box and better front shocks. The Banshee fronts are a major improvement over the Blaster shocks but just enough to make you want to take to the next level. Shocks, exhaust and bigger carb is where the money will be spent next but there will be some freebies in between,

 

[dksix]

Instead of waiting for us (at work) to be sent for laser cutting I decided just to machine the parts. The plan was to get everything ready for welding (I've got a couple other things going on too) and finish it up at the plant Saturday morning. Everything was going great, had finished up the machining on a swingarm I'm repairing for a friend and another set of nerf bars for a 250EX and started on my pegs. I needed to cut 45's across the top so I tilted the head to 45degrees and made the first group of cuts. But, when bring to head back to 90 degrees things started going south. Long story short, the shaft the drives the worm gear to tilt the head had broken and the head was stuck. After hours of trying to avoid it I admitted the head had to come off. When I got it of I found that the shaft had broken just outside of the gear and it would have to cut out. After I got all the parts out and made drawings of what will have to be replaced I put it back together and locked the head down at 90 degrees. Trying to keep this thread current until completion, I have pictures of the night.

Decided to not go with billet pegs. New design pegs and mounting plate



Drilling the holes to set the cross bars, everything will press together before welding.


Cutting the top of the peg plates. There are 4 .125" plates hear, welded together on what will be cut off last.



And that's where everything thing halted. This is the mill once I got the head off the ram and the gear that had to be cut out.




I never did find a reason for it breaking and even with the gear out, when I tried to turn the head back to verictal, there was still a catch that I couldn't rotate through. End up having to complete a 360 degree revolution rather than going backward to vertical. I'll figure it out when I put the new parts back in.