Kawasaki MULE hood fix

[HainesNYT]

I have done this type of fix on three of these MULE’s now. This one, mine, is an ‘06 3010. These plastic hoods and how they were attached are a very poor design. Mine was already starting to fail when I got it, so I never use it. Tried opening it yesterday to fine it gave up on the drivers side and was almost gone on the passenger side.


Here you can see the bracket with two small rivets..and where they tore through the plastic.

[HainesNYT]

How it’s supposed to look.

[HainesNYT]

Driver’s side front hinge. Missing a bolt and the plastic is broken

[HainesNYT]

Cut some small angle iron...I believe it’s 1x1, 1/16” thick.


Traced it against the original bracket, to ensure it will clear stuff as it closes. I cut it with a plasma cutter but I’m sure you could do it with a wizard wheel or sawzall/jigsaw.


Drilled out the holes to rivet it to the hood. Welded the two pieces together but you could drill and rivet them together too.

[HainesNYT]

Clamped and drilled holes through hood. I used 1/8” x 3/8” rivets.

[HainesNYT]

Did the same thing to the other side.

[HainesNYT]

Made two small brackets to river to the front...off to the side a bit, and one bracket in the center. Because of the stand off in the center, I used 2”x2”, 1/8” angle iron. These 3 pieces of angle I welded directly to the round bar that attaches to the hinges.

[HainesNYT]

Done


As I said before, these hoods were poorly designed originally. I do believe if one were to do the side repairs before the centers brake apart, it would likely last much longer. I think the sides brake first, causing the centers to brake. I did a similar repair on my parents Diesel MULE, about 6 years ago, and it’s still going strong.

Good luck

[RascalArms]

Great fix...yes their hood is indeed poorly designed. I may check into this on my ‘09 4010.

Thx