The wheelbase stretch kit that will make your RZR a top performer

Posted on November 9, 2016

BOONDOCKER LONG CAR RZR

Long travel suspension kits are becoming more and more popular for the average UTV owner, and it’s not hard to see why. The advantages of greater stability, a plusher ride, and a more aggressive appearance are all great merits. However, it’s hard to ignore the ride quality difference between a stock 2 seat sport UTV and its 4 seat counterpart, and that is entirely due to the vehicle’s wheelbase.

Many people commonly refer to a vehicle’s width as its wheelbase, which is incorrect. A UTV’s track width is the distance between the left and right wheels- a stock Polaris RZR XP 1000 is 64” wide. A vehicle’s wheelbase is the relationship between the center of the front axle and the center of the rear axle, which is effectively the length of the chassis. Overall vehicle width is affected by long travel kits, body work and bumpers, wheelbase is not.

Boondocker Long Car has a 102″ Wheelbase

Knowing that, it is easy to see why a longer wheelbase vehicle would produce a better overall ride (to a certain extent). Longer wheelbase vehicles push the wheels away from the driver and passenger in longitudinal directions- meaning fore and aft. This slows the pivot motion of the vehicle in rough terrain, commonly referred to as “bucking”. This is a great way to improve stability (and make room for more passengers), but there is a limit to its advantages. A car with too long of a wheelbase will suffer from decreased breakover angle capabilities, meaning the center of the car will get hung up over obstacles more easily.

The solution? Boondocker has built a full bolt-in kit that will stretch your 2 seat Polaris RZR XP 1000 or RZR XP Turbo to a wheelbase length that splits the difference between a 2 and 4 seat chassis. The end result is a car that rides smoother, maintains traction better, and is more stable in rough terrain, without sacrificing the agility and climbing prowess that the shorter 2 seat platforms are known for.

Boondocker (www.BoonDockers.com) is a performance parts manufacturer based out of Idaho Falls whose roots trace back to snowmobile hop ups, which they are very much involved in to this day. This small, family-run business takes a lot of pride in their work, and are known for having one of the best turn-key RZR turbocharger packages in the industry. They have started to branch out into the UTV world, and this offering is the result of months of hard R&D time in the dunes, on the trail, and out in the desert.

We got the chance to meet up with Boondocker in St. Anthony, Idaho during the 2016 UTV Invasion for a romp around in their two prototype “Long Car” kitted machines. Both cars featured a ton of other performance-enhancing additions that were hard to ignore, but the sheer advantage of the Long Car kit is very well founded.

If you look at the winning machines in desert racing, most of them are running extended wheelbase configurations (some based off 4 seat chassis models). The extra length is a necessity in the big desert whoops and holes of the Southwest, and it lends itself well to dune cars as well. We sat down with Boondocker for the inside scoop on their new bolt-in wheelbase extension kit and exactly what it does for your car.

“The kit is entirely bolt-in, but we do offer weld-on options for the cage mounts and some brackets for customers who want a seamless connection,” says Rocky Young Jr. of Boondocker. The kit adds a full 12 inches of wheelbase to the RZR’s 90” stock measurement, bringing it right in line with the new Maverick X3 at 102 inches, wheel center to wheel center. The kit will be released in the coming weeks, as Boondocker is finalizing a few prototype trim pieces before the launch.

Rocky and Rocky Jr. at the UTV Invasion

The kit can be used with any stock 2 seat RZR. If you have an aftermarket cage that does not utilize a built-in rear bumper (wraparound style), then your aftermarket cage will also bolt right up to the Boondocker kit. It works with any 2 seat door configuration, whether stock or aftermarket. Boondocker examined the RZR chassis very closely to come up with sectional extensions that not only lengthen the car, but strengthen its chassis as well.

Stock RZR chassis bolt together underneath the footwells, allowing bent pieces to be replaced individually through a dealer. Boondocker developed a sort of I-beam extension bracket system that encapsulates the ends of the stock frame for greater strength, while adding in the full 12” of extra length. The high strength steel alloy brackets are a claimed 30% stronger than chromoly, making this a race-capable kit. It uses six extension brackets across the lower frame area for increased strength.

A new bolt-in brake line extension kit accompanies the kit, so no new lines must be sourced. The front driveline between the differential and the carrier bearing under the floorboard is also included with the kit, as are extensions for the coolant hoses, a new shifter cable, and a wiring harness kit. New brackets and panels for the space that opens up between the rear fenders and the back of the doors also come with the kit. Two-piece aluminum filler panels bridge the gap created on the underside of the car.

Some small wires and hoses must be cut and extended with the supplied pieces in the kit, and the lower plastic rocker panels must be cut and drilled to accept the new aluminum extensions that Boondocker supplies with the kit. For a cleaner install, Boondocker will also have optional full aluminum or steel rocker panels available as add-ons to the kit.

The Long Car kit works with stock three point belts or any aftermarket harnesses that attach to the roll bar and stock seat belt buckle mounts. Since the whole seat base is moved, the cage and cab area stay intact, which is how Boondocker got around making customers change their cage with the kit. This kind of adaptability makes it an easier purchase for those who already have some aftermarket parts on their RZR.

Boondocker’s setup works with any suspension kit, be it stock or long travel. They will also offer custom cage pairings and full aluminum or steel skid plate kits to go with the package at a later date. As it sits, the full bolt-on kit can be installed by an average wrencher in a weekend, made much easier by not having to weld or crimp any custom line fittings to complete the transformation. Average hand tools and a little elbow grease will get the job done in your own garage.

The objective performance advantages of the kit were easily seen when the Long Cars ran along side a stock wheelbase car. In the rough, the Long Cars stay much more stable, and are able to put the power down more easily and predictably. From a subjective standpoint, we have to say that a little bit of a stretch really makes the RZR’s proportions even out, producing a long, sleek, sporty-looking UTV that just appears faster.

Long Car kits are positioned to go on sale shortly after you read this, and the base kit starts at $1,995.00. For that $2K price tag, you get:

6 High Strength Steel Chassis Extension Brackets
2 Aluminum Lower Chassis Filler Panels
New Extended Front Driveline
New Brake Line extension (bolt-in, not spliced)
Pre-Cut Wiring Harness Extension
Rear Door Body Filler Panels and Brackets
New Rear Cage Mounts (fits any 2 seat cage that uses stock mounts and does not have a built in rear bumper)
New Extended Shift Cable
New Coolant Line Extensions
New Rocker Panel Extensions (Attaches with plastic push-rivets, no special tools required)
Full Detailed Instructions
All Necessary Hardware

Boondocker has created a new category of performance enhancing parts here, and we can’t wait to install a Long Car kit on one of our project RZRs. The car we shot in Idaho was one of their fully-built showcase machines, featuring a turbocharged, built engine that puts down nearly 300 horsepower. Even with the extra 12 inches of wheelbase that the Long Car kit provides, this RZR had no issue pulling the front tires up in the sand under hard throttle. The car was created to showcase what Boondocker’s catalog of parts and hop up pieces can do, and it was a sight to behold ripping around Idaho’s wet sand.

Boondocker Blue Long Car Build List

2015 Polaris RZR XP1000
Boondocker Bolt-On Long-Car™ 102” Package
Boondocker prebuilt exchange turbo engine – Fully built in Boondocker’s engine shop with H-beam rods, Boondocker JE forged 9.5:1 pistons, Boondocker balanced crank shaft and rotating assembly,CNC Ported Head, Premium performance valves and valve springs, Boondocker head studs and 93mm closed deck cylinder
New Boondocker High Pressure Turbo Package with Garret 60mm billet compressor wheel turbocharger and 25+ PSI liquid cooled intercooler
+6 Long Travel suspension
FOX RC2 2.5 Podium shocks
Extreme chromoly cage and door package
ZRP 6 lug aluminum hubs
American Racing Outlaw 15in 6 lug Wheels
Front tires GMZ 30/13 r15 Sand Strippers
Rear tires 30/15 R15 20 stagger paddle