By Bob Duke on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I looked under my MAX the other day and noticed water dripping out. On closer examination noticed a hairline crack in the bottom just to the inside of one of the axle penetrations. Two questions: How do I repair and is there an add on metal plate or other protection for a MAX II that can keep this from happening again? Help?

By Fred Sowerwine, Montana's Max Dealer (Fred4dot) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Bob, I don't think you have cracked your body - the only damage I have seen to the HDPE plastic is from chains cutting holes from the inside. My guess is that your leakage is coming from your axle bearing bolts being of uneven tightness (maybe just loose). I would check the bolts and get them all at about 20 ft lbs of torque (use short handled wrench -holding the head inside if not carriage bolts), grease the cavity (if a glob comes out between the metal plates some place, they are not uniformly tight or a grain of something is holding them apart).

If in fact you have cracked your body, a good plastic welder can repair it for you or you can use metal on the outside and metal on the inside (with a silicone sealant between the plastic and the metal) bolted together with "marine quality" bolts. There is no special part available that I am aware of.

By davidb3rd@aol.com (David3rdd) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

what year max is it, in other words is it abs plastic or polyetheline ?
the abs can be fixed with abs repair "goo"as it's bin called here, check out arcives under
route 6x6 discussion board : shop talk: tech tips and q&a section: attex bodies: archive threw august 5,1999, there you will find plenty about abs repair, BUT if your max is polyetheline you can weld it with soldering iron or fix it with urithane from urithane suply co. on the link's page,
if you don't know the year maybe you can phone ri with the sireal # and find out the year and type of plastic it was made of,

By Chris on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I can't help you with your question, but I'm very curious about this too. From what I've been told, there is no repairing a Max hull that's broken. Anyone out there have an answer?

By Bob Duke on Unrecorded Date: Edit

The MAX II was purchased new this year (February) so I'm assuming its this year's.

Thanks for the info. on repair. I'll check out the archives.

By MaxRules (Brandon_price) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Bob, are you sure this is an actual crack? I have some scratches on the lower body of my Max II and the water will drip off them, making it look like a crack.
If it is a crack, any idea how it happened?

By Fred Sowerwine, Montana's Max Dealer (Fred4dot) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Bob, If you bought it in February, it is still under warranty - call your dealer or the factory if you are sure it is cracked and they will fix you right up.

By mr. tinker on Unrecorded Date: Edit

the body of your max can definitely be fixed.i repaired all my holes,rips, and tears on my max IV.you can go to urethane supply company and buy their rods and welder like i did.their welding rods are nothing but clear hdpe. if you want to make your own rods and welder it is very easy to do.for welding rods 5 gallon buckets or anything marked hdpe [usually on bottom]can be your welding rods.nothing sticks to hdpe except hpde pieces that are fused by heat.other things that are hdpe are quart oil containers and trash cans. make sure whatever it is is marked hdpe[high density polyethylene].i used my welder i bought and also used a old large type soldering iron.i found that heating both pieces of plastic and spreading them together was my best approach.the color makes no difference except for appearance.i had some holes big enough that i made a patch from my 5 gallon bucket. it is slow going but repairs your hdpe max body no problem.

By Bob Duke on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Brandon,
I'm pretty sure it's a crack because there was some water left in the bottom and it made quite a puddle under the Max. As to how it happened, I've interogated by teenage son and he (of course) claims innocence. I'm veeery suspicious.

Fred,
Thanks for the suggestion about warranty. Do you think it cover this kind of wear and tear?

Mr. Tinker,
Thanks for the info. on patching. If the warranty route doesn't work out, this may be my only recourse.

Bob Duke

By Fred Sowerwine, Montana's Max Dealer (Fred4dot) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Bob, I was told that if a body fails within a year, regardless of why, it will be replaced. It is a big job.

I still think your problem is the bearing flange bolts.

By MaxRules (Brandon_price) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Bob let's not be too quick to blame those teenagers!! haha
Put a floor jack right by that crack and jack up the Max. See if the plastic separates to where you can see through it. It's a scratch I tell ya!
Let us know how it works out.