2006/2005 Arctic Cat M7/M8

This is a straight forward install, the rack fits great so all you need to do is remove the old hardware and install the new hardware. Drilling IS required.

Tools Needed:

T27 torx bit

Hacksaw or sawsall or rivet gun

7/16” socket and wrench

¼” Drill bit, relatively long

Small (pilot) drill bit

Cordless drill (or corded I suppose)

2x ¼” stainless bolts, 1” long

6x ¼” x1 stainless fender washers

2x ¼” stainless flat washers

2x ¼” nylon insert locknuts (if you cant find these, get regular stainless nuts and stainless lockwashers)

Safety glasses (youre going to be drilling up with your face right there and trust me aluminum shavings in the eyeball are NOT fun)

 

Step one: cleaning

Clean off the old rack from the tunnel. Peel the sticky pad off (heat gun or hair dryer can help with this) and unbolt the rack half nearest the seat using the torx bit. There are 5 bolts per rack half.

The half nearest the tail presents some difficulties as the bolt heads are hidden by the shielding to protect the rad hoses from damage. One option is to drill out the rivets (don’t need to drill all the way through, just through the mushroom), remove the shielding, then unbolt them. However I don’t have a rivet gun and you WILL want to reinstall the shielding after.

The easiest option is to simply cut the bolts from the top side. Take care to try and remove as little aluminum from the tunnel as you can. A decently sharp saw should get you through this stage in a minute or two.

Step two: mounting

If you move the rack around you will find two bolt holes can line up with the factory holes. Get them lined up and insert a bolt (with a washer on both sides, fender on the inside and flat on the outside/top) upwards from the tunnel. Install but don’t fully tighten the locknut. You want fender washer on the inside as the tunnel is very thin aluminum and you want to prevent it from tearing the bolt right through. Spreading the area around a bit will help reduce the chances of this happening.

Now, using the pilot bit, drill the corners of the tunnel just rearwards of the shielding for the rad hoses:

Try to leave space for the eventual washer and definitely for the nut head between each side and be extra cautious not to hit the rad or lines.

Next, upsize the hole. I found that the shape of my drill required me to use a longer drill bit. The one pictured is a bit excessive, but its what I had on hand…

Once it punches through, hold the rack down and continue upwards through the rack.

Now is where the washers come in. The tunnel has these little bumps for the old rack, and you need to create spacers to ROUGHLY match the bump. I found 3 washers did the trick but mileage may vary. Less will work better than more if you find yours is 2.5 or 3.5, round down.

This can be a bit fiddly, I recommend using a very small allen key to jostle the stack of washers into position. You will want the bolt fed upwards like before, plus a washer, then through the 3 washers, then through the rack, then another washer, then the locknut. See photos below.

Tighten the original two bolts down fully and Et Voila! Your rack is now mounted! If you like, you can even add another pair of bolts on the seat end of things. Just remember to drill UP so you don’t accidentally hit your coolant lines.