I have a 2009 Rhino that I bought from a friend (he's STILL a friend) that was "upgrading" to a 4 seater Polaris Ranger...I don't have the heart to tell him what my ATV repair guy said about Polaris
because he gave me such a great deal on the Rhino.
The Rhino came with about $1000+ of aftermarket upgrades, including 1/2 windshield, metal roof (strong enough to stand on), double gun rack w/ 2 Koplin gun boots, 4 halogen PIAA spotlights (2 on bumper, 2 on roof), OEM Yamaha Rhino seat covers, an OEM Yamaha Rhino UTV cover and aftermarket LED stop/reverse lights.
One of the first things I had to do was to clean the radiator due to overheating. It was really gunked up with mud, seeds and caked on road grime and took a week of soaking and flushing (with a garden hose sprayer (DON'T use a pressure washer) before I could see through the radiator fins again (someone had a great suggestion to my previous post about using A/C cleaner as a preventative measure that I will definitely take to heart). Since I had to remove the radiator to clean it, I also took the opportunity to upgrade the original cooling fan to a more powerful (and noisier) aftermarket fan and haven't had any further overheating issues.
I think that a windshield and roof are "must have's" and while I would have preferred a 2 piece fold down full windshield, the 1/2 plexiglass windshield has a curve on the top edge that does a great job at directing most of the wind and dust away from the cabin. I can ride without my hat blowing off, except when I tilt my head back to take a sip...LOL! I love the metal roof because I can stand on it when filling feeders or cutting limbs so I don't have to drag a stepladder around with me.
I wasn't crazy about the 4 halogen PIAA spotlights (2 on bumper, 2 on roof)...not bright enough, so I swapped them out with a 32" Nilight Combo (spot/flood) light bar under the roof (to prevent snags) and two 4" Nilight Combo (spot/flood) lights on the front bumper using the PIAA wiring and switches...what a difference they made, really light up the night. For an added measure, I also swapped out the original (halogen?) headlight bulbs for LED bulbs...big improvement.
The LED stop/reverse lights are a great addition too because I can keep the Rhino in reverse when I'm closing a gate behind me as they provide plenty of light to get the job done so I don't have to break out a flashlight. As an added bonus, I was able to sell the PIAA lights on Facebook Marketplace for $50 a pair which more than paid for the LED replacements with plenty left over for beer money!
The original seats were in great shape so the seat covers weren't necessary so I wound up selling them too...more beer money. I will keep the OEM Yamaha Rhino UTV cover though, in case I ever have to store my Rhino outside. It is currently parked in a cargo container at the lease. I did buy a $15 solar charger at Harbor freight , put it on the cargo container roof and fed the wires through a small hole in the side so that I am able to plug it into the 12V outlet on the dash when I park the Rhino. That way, the battery is always fully charged in case I don't get back to the lease for a while.
I haven't used the gun rack/gun boots yet. They should do a great job at protecting my gun(s) from the weather and road dirt/mud but they are mounted back behind the driver/passenger compartment so are not readily accessible. I like to have my rifle and/or AR-15 handy in case "Muy Grande" or a herd of pigs put in a surprise appearance. Anyone have any suggestions or experience with what works for them in that department? If so, pictures might be helpful ("one picture speaks 1000 words").
I did see a post where someone rigged a bed cover for their Rhino and can see where that might be useful when it's wet and messy out. I would expect that it would need to be easily removeable though so I wonder how he attached it to the front of the bed against the cab?
So does anyone have any mods/upgrades they have done that were worth the bang for the buck?
