2013 Pro 155 tear down - Powder Coating - pics
- Thread starter mickyd32
- Start date
I haven't reassembled yet, parts are still in the back seat of my truck
Well after reading this thread. I won't have to go out and buy a shop manual.
For me, when I tear anything apart. I use a digital camera, and take lots of pictures so I know in what sequence the dang thing goes back together.
mickyd32 Awesome write up. You said this task took six hours? I couldn't do that write up you wrote in six hours!
actually it likely took less than that, I was doing other things in the shop at the same time as this tear town
so here is an update
Received my parts back from the coater today. Overall I am quite pleases with the way they turned out, a few small blemishes but most are in places no one will ever see.
Here is what I have learned after receiving the parts back and so far with putting the front end back together.
1- its pretty pointless to tape off most areas, bushings still go in to all the a arms, balljoints still slide in where they need to (more or less). I'd say there are only 3 areas that will cause any concern
a) where the lower ball joint presses into bottom arm, I removed my ball joint and made sure no coating would get in here, others have opted to leave the ball joint in, to each his own. If you remove, don't get paint in here, its tight enough as is
b) I had to sand off some coating where the spindle attaches to the lower ball joint. This is a very tight spot to start with and the addition of a powder coat made it too tight to go back together, so out came a drill with a sanding attachment, simply removed a small amount of coating and it all slid back together
c)the threaded area where the shock bolt attaches to the lower arm - not necessary to tape off, I tapped it out and it worked great (on the second side I put back together) On the first side I figured I would be able to simply thread the bolt in and out a few times and I would get the coating out. WRONG. I ended up snapping the bolt (under what I thought to be low amounts of torque) Maybe it was a crappy bolt, maybe not, but tapping the second side out sure was alot easier. IF you snap this bolt, you have a certified nightmare. Took about 2 hours to get it all drilled out and removed and the threads properly cleaned. I learned my lesson.
Now as for what I have put back together:
I simply used to properly sizes sockets and a vise to press my ball joint back into the lower a arm, then attaches the snap ring. Simple. Every thing else is just remember where to bolt things, add some grease and a little locktite and reassemble. Note that so far I only have the front suspension and bumper reattached
Tomorrow I will tackles the rear skid and give some feedback and some final pictures and more write up. I took a few pics, should have a finished pic then as well
Received my parts back from the coater today. Overall I am quite pleases with the way they turned out, a few small blemishes but most are in places no one will ever see.
Here is what I have learned after receiving the parts back and so far with putting the front end back together.
1- its pretty pointless to tape off most areas, bushings still go in to all the a arms, balljoints still slide in where they need to (more or less). I'd say there are only 3 areas that will cause any concern
a) where the lower ball joint presses into bottom arm, I removed my ball joint and made sure no coating would get in here, others have opted to leave the ball joint in, to each his own. If you remove, don't get paint in here, its tight enough as is
b) I had to sand off some coating where the spindle attaches to the lower ball joint. This is a very tight spot to start with and the addition of a powder coat made it too tight to go back together, so out came a drill with a sanding attachment, simply removed a small amount of coating and it all slid back together
c)the threaded area where the shock bolt attaches to the lower arm - not necessary to tape off, I tapped it out and it worked great (on the second side I put back together) On the first side I figured I would be able to simply thread the bolt in and out a few times and I would get the coating out. WRONG. I ended up snapping the bolt (under what I thought to be low amounts of torque) Maybe it was a crappy bolt, maybe not, but tapping the second side out sure was alot easier. IF you snap this bolt, you have a certified nightmare. Took about 2 hours to get it all drilled out and removed and the threads properly cleaned. I learned my lesson.
Now as for what I have put back together:
I simply used to properly sizes sockets and a vise to press my ball joint back into the lower a arm, then attaches the snap ring. Simple. Every thing else is just remember where to bolt things, add some grease and a little locktite and reassemble. Note that so far I only have the front suspension and bumper reattached
Tomorrow I will tackles the rear skid and give some feedback and some final pictures and more write up. I took a few pics, should have a finished pic then as well
more pics
another
one more
so here is the latest. Its all back together save the one red ski that I am still missing. Hence one red one black ski in the last pics. It all went together super easy. Just had to make sure and bolt things together in the right order with the right washers when it came to the rear skid.
In short, as this was my first tear down for powder coating ever, I can say this. The Pro RMK chassis is stupid easy to work on for this particular project. Any grief I had I will chalk up to learning the chassis and learning what to do with threads etc after getting parts back from powder coat. I will be doing this again. If people want to do similar work but are scared to do so, I wouldn't be on this chassis. Just do your homework, and take your time, lay things out properly, and make notes where things come from. Take pictures and look at the parts microfiches if you get stuck on assembly. Its all real easy!
now here are some "finished" pictures, I'm still awaiting my tunnel wrap, and that will be another "first" for me
next time I will likely do the whole rear skid, instead of just the rails, and possibly the steering arms. Maybe go a little bolder on the color. Depends on what sled it is and how the color scheme brakes down I guess. On this particular sled however, gloss black is well suited. Also for those who would think I need black hyfax, I would agree, I just didn't want to wait on them so the white ones are on there.
here are some final pics. sorry they are not the best quality it was getting dark and the old iphone is only so good
In short, as this was my first tear down for powder coating ever, I can say this. The Pro RMK chassis is stupid easy to work on for this particular project. Any grief I had I will chalk up to learning the chassis and learning what to do with threads etc after getting parts back from powder coat. I will be doing this again. If people want to do similar work but are scared to do so, I wouldn't be on this chassis. Just do your homework, and take your time, lay things out properly, and make notes where things come from. Take pictures and look at the parts microfiches if you get stuck on assembly. Its all real easy!
now here are some "finished" pictures, I'm still awaiting my tunnel wrap, and that will be another "first" for me
next time I will likely do the whole rear skid, instead of just the rails, and possibly the steering arms. Maybe go a little bolder on the color. Depends on what sled it is and how the color scheme brakes down I guess. On this particular sled however, gloss black is well suited. Also for those who would think I need black hyfax, I would agree, I just didn't want to wait on them so the white ones are on there.
here are some final pics. sorry they are not the best quality it was getting dark and the old iphone is only so good
another
front
side
side again
and finally back in the stable waiting on snow
