I’m a little late with this, but as promised, here’s pictures of how I insulate the Xpeditions.
The majority of the work is done from underneath, so I start with removing the entire skidplate. Then, using foil backed 3/8” foam insulation, on the lower firewall. I leave the pieces long enough to reach the skidplate where it can to block off both noise and hot air from the clutch vent.
Then I stuff Polyfil between all the frame crossmembers, up the sides and around all the hoses, pipes and wires.
If you ever get the opportunity to see the area between the skidplate and floor, it’s a huge mostly open area that all the hot air and noise from the engine can gather in and then gets amplified into the cabin from all the plastic reverberation.
Under the console area, it’s wide open, from the top straight down to the skidplate. That store area gets stuffed with polyfil and then a piece of aluminum backed fiberglass insulation fitted underneath so nothing will fall down into the driveline
It also gets polyfil stuffed from the top to make sure all areas are filled and no hot air can get through.
The front portion of the tunnel also gets lined with the foil backed foam. Once the skidplate is back on then the battery area gets packed with polyfil as well.
Hot air also gets in around the door striker loops, mostly on the passenger rear. There is some factory foam insulation those areas but it has gaps so I stuff those areas too.
While 5db see in noise levels doesn’t seem like much, it’s a drastic difference in person.
We initially started doing this on my brother’s and my XP5 Ultimates because it would get way hotter inside the cab than the outside temperature. Noise wasn’t really an issue for us. Since then we’ve done it to 10 Northstars, both ADVs and XPs. For those it was more about the noise, but it helps the A/C work better as a side effect.
It’s a lot of work, but a massive improvement from stock. It’s also something Polaris could easily do without any drastic expense, if they put a little thought into it. Personally, I don’t think neutering the machine is the way to fix it.
The majority of the work is done from underneath, so I start with removing the entire skidplate. Then, using foil backed 3/8” foam insulation, on the lower firewall. I leave the pieces long enough to reach the skidplate where it can to block off both noise and hot air from the clutch vent.
Then I stuff Polyfil between all the frame crossmembers, up the sides and around all the hoses, pipes and wires.
If you ever get the opportunity to see the area between the skidplate and floor, it’s a huge mostly open area that all the hot air and noise from the engine can gather in and then gets amplified into the cabin from all the plastic reverberation.
Under the console area, it’s wide open, from the top straight down to the skidplate. That store area gets stuffed with polyfil and then a piece of aluminum backed fiberglass insulation fitted underneath so nothing will fall down into the driveline
It also gets polyfil stuffed from the top to make sure all areas are filled and no hot air can get through.
The front portion of the tunnel also gets lined with the foil backed foam. Once the skidplate is back on then the battery area gets packed with polyfil as well.
Hot air also gets in around the door striker loops, mostly on the passenger rear. There is some factory foam insulation those areas but it has gaps so I stuff those areas too.
While 5db see in noise levels doesn’t seem like much, it’s a drastic difference in person.
We initially started doing this on my brother’s and my XP5 Ultimates because it would get way hotter inside the cab than the outside temperature. Noise wasn’t really an issue for us. Since then we’ve done it to 10 Northstars, both ADVs and XPs. For those it was more about the noise, but it helps the A/C work better as a side effect.
It’s a lot of work, but a massive improvement from stock. It’s also something Polaris could easily do without any drastic expense, if they put a little thought into it. Personally, I don’t think neutering the machine is the way to fix it.
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