# My backrest build



## Cal3bCart3r

*My backrest build *COMPLETE**

So I got tired of my gf flinging back wen I would do water wheelies and me go with her (lol) so I browsed for some back rest and man the good ones were around $100 and I didnt want to get the $50 just to replace it shortly so I decided to venture out and build my own  

*Warning* Some photos contain ghetto/jerry rigging objects, please be advised.

Anyways, I started off by goin to my local fabric store and picked up some foam and waterproof leather vinyl - costed me $17.19. I then I gathered up some metal and wood we had layin in the barn and my project begins. I made the wood about 16 1/2" long by 11" wide to accomedate some moving around room. 










Next I cut 2 strips of metal about 7 1/2" long by 2" wide (just enough I could drill 4 holes on each side of the wheeler bars). After getting the holes drilled, painfully (yes painfully, a bit broke while drilling and I cut my middle finger up pretty good and scraped my thumbnail up), I didnt have any u-bolts and didnt feel like going to the hardware store so I found some bolts long enough to go to the other side of the wheeler rack and found plenty of washers, in all sizes, to act as a brace on the bottom side to keep the plate from moving. As pictuted below:


















More to come as I move along in this process, im taking my time and will post as I get stuff done to this project.


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## Cal3bCart3r

Btw, this stuff does wonders when drillin. Keeps it from being hot and keeps the metal shavings from falling back in the hole:


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## redrumredrum89

check mine out ,I put ammo box's for arm rests ( with nice vinyl and foam pads on top) and a cooler for a back rest.Its slightly leaned back.Me and the wife wheelie our a55's off an it has not moved at all.


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## gav09

thats pre sweet with the ammo cans. good idea!


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## Cal3bCart3r

yea i like the arm rest idea!! i have two ammo cans on each side but i think they are spaced out too wide for arm rest lol


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## CRAZYCRACKAZ71

nice!!!!!!!


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## Cal3bCart3r

So I got a little more accomplished tonight. Got the two side supports welded up.


























I still have to cut some notchs in them and heat em up so I can angle them back so the backrest wont be straight up and down and it will make for a comfortable ride.

After tht I put the board up and clamped it to the supports so I could mark the holes up to drill in the wood. After doing tht and drillin the holes, I bolted it all up (using 1/4" bolts with a lock wash and washer on front and locking nuts on back) and sat on the wheeler and, LOL, it wasnt comfortable since I have angled it yet but it will be if I can ever get tht done.


















I still have to angle it, wrap the board up, and sand everything down and paint.
*Side note: wen I was standing behind the board I noticed the gap between the two supports so I pulled on the middle of the board pretty hard and it flexed a good bit so im wondering if I should weld two supports pointin toward the middle from the two main brackets, but idk because I dont think my girl will be leanin as hard as I pulled. I guess we'll see wen I cross tht bridge.

More to come soon.


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## Polaris425

lookin good


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## Cal3bCart3r

Well i got it to where i can finally say i am on the downhill slide to finishing this up! Last night I cut the L brackets in half and layed them back to a 75* angle and welded it back up.










Next, for double measures, i found some rebar layin around, cut it about 8 inches long (enough to fit in between my 2 holes and to make it to the end of the bracket) to brace up the brackets a lil. (my welder was actin up so i couldn't lay down a good weld most of the times)


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## Cal3bCart3r

Attached the wood, sat on my wheeler and man was it comfortable (aside from not having cushion it was rather good). Waited for my gf to get some, went outside, and me and her sat on the wheeler and she said it was good enough for her. So i guess my ******* backrest-making skills were a success!


























I also noticed while sitting and leaning back on the backrest, it was bending a lil in the middle. *Note* I'm only using 1/4" plywood so it doesn't have the most strength. But i quickly fixed this by getting a 1/8" metal bar (not flimsy but has some bend) and bolted it to the backboard.










Now all i have left is to put some Thompson waterseal on the wood then wrap the board with foam and vinyl. Should get to that sometime soon lol ...im looking to be under $30 with this build, hopefully.


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## wolf_36

I did'nt like the store bought ones so built my own also 

















1" square tube for the frame work , used 2" foam glued to 1/2" plywood wrapped with heavy duty cloth backed vinyl, stapled at back of plywood . Covered backside with sheet metal and silicon for a good seal for the backrest . To mount the backrest I used T-nuts glued into the ply-wood with 1 1/2 " bolts just enough to go through the tubing and into the t-nuts about 3/8 of an inch along with some loctite . 
Have'nt seen any store bought ones built as good and have had several people comment on it .


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## todbnla

OP what part of MS you in, just curious...


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## Cal3bCart3r

@wolf_36: nice backrest! good idea on the silicone and metal plate!

@todbnla: Petal


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## wolf_36

Thanks , just thought I'd throw it out there to lend a hand on design


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## Cal3bCart3r

yea thats fine with me man!

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So i have everything finished and will start where i left off. 
- I skipped ahead and wrapped the seat (put a TON of staples around the backside lol and used a locking nut on the bolt on the backside of the wood so the bolt would stay put while i wrapped the seat and so i could align it perfectly with the backrest brackets), wanted to make sure it wasn't going anywhere. On the piece of wood i used, i picked up a can of Thompson Waterseal and sprayed it with that to treat it.









I then went on to painting the back supports. I wanted to do the base red and then from there up, black. But when i was painting, somehow (without even trying), the two blened together and now it looks totally awesome! The red like fades into the black making it look super cool to me.

































I wanted to clean the back up a lil so the wood and staples wouldn't show so i found a piece of aluminum sheet in the barn and traced it out a lil smaller than the backrest. And bolted everything up and here is the final product! I couldn't be happier and for about $25, this is a cheap, productive backrest!









































**went riding with it and my gf is super pleased with it. She said its nice having something to lean on when riding now, so that made me feel even better about it*


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