Polaris Lock n Ride Alternative

Many of the Polaris ATV's utilize an accessory system in which the call the "Lock-N-Ride" system. The system is a quick release system the allows you to attach various Polaris accessories such as gun racks, tie downs and several other items which are available from your Polaris ATV dealer.

When I receive my Polaris Range RZR one of the first things I noticed was the
lack of places in the bed / cargo area to tie down and secure equipment and such. Polaris in their infinite wisdom likely did this to purposely make it so you would purchase their own system in order to allow you to secure your equipment.

Here you can see what the Polaris Lock N Ride system looks like. It is a nice setup, however they run anywhere from $40-$55 for a pair. I thought this was a bit on the steep side to tie my stuff down. They are nice and they are fancy...but really, it's a tie down.

One day I was walking through my local hardware store the other day I noticed a system that has been around for as long as I can remember. This system uses the same concept as the Polaris Lock-N-Ride uses, only a little less fancier. An idea came to my mine and I thought I have seen some things that would do very much the same thing that I could use for my RZR.

I did some searching around the hardware store and came up with what is called an expansion plug. This is a product which is used in the auto industry mainly to plug holes in firewalls or wherever else one needs a hole plugged. A bolt with washer and nut sandwiches a rubber plug, as you tighten the nut, the plug expands getting larger in diameter sealing off the hole. The expansion plugs I purchased were 1" to 1 1/8" hole size; they cost me $3.05 including tax.Next I picked up a 5/16" x 3/4" eye bolt to create the tie down point, this was $.99 including tax. I disassembled the expansion plug discarding the bolt and small rubber O-ring. Inserted the eye bolt in through the large washer, the rubber plug and then the small washer, finally securing the net onto the threaded end of the eye bolt.

Once complete, you can insert the assembly into the holes on your RZR or other
machine equipped with the Lock-N-Ride holes and have completely customizable tie
down points. Simple insert and twist until snug; sometimes you will need to back
up the nut with your finger in order to prevent the plug from spinning. It works
great and a set will set you back less than $10 in most stores.

Sorry for the crappy formatting, here is a better / cleaner version:

http://www.atvtorture.com/forums/polaris-forum/5136-polaris-rzr-lock-n-ride-alternative.html

I didn't want to try and re-type and link all of the images again. Perhaps BobbyD can fix it.

went to the local Ace Hardware and pick up 4 of them.

Ahhh...what can I say, I am a cheap skate!

I done the same thing with a drain plug for a boat. They work juest as good as the lock and ride system.

Good tip!

These things work good and look pretty good on the RZR too.

kfoley1087 wrote:

These things work good and look pretty good on the RZR too.

I need some bad :104:

I used something similar from a boat plug I picked up from Wal-Mart

Awesome post - going to Lowe's tonight to get them

Did the same thing a while back...I should have shared the Idea!

BRILLIANT, Onrope!

Jeremiah Johnson wrote:

BRILLIANT, Onrope!