Winter Protection - Ranger Wrap

We Install Seizmiks Cab System

Written By:

John Arens

Whether riding on farm, forest, or flat out across the sweltering desert, sooner or later nearly every Side x Side owner appreciates the value of extra protection. Northern riders are exposed to harsh winter conditions, and while the snow covered woods appears beautiful, nobody likes a biting winter wind in their face. We needed to increase the comfort on our trusty trail and work buddy Polaris Ranger 800, and Seizmik Advanced Utility Systems had just what we were looking for.

The Versashield Windshield

We’ve relied on the Seizmik windshields in the past and they’ve never let us down. When we needed a windshield for our Polaris Ranger 800 we again opted for the Seizmik system, and this time we installed their two piece VersaShield.

The Seizmik VersaShield is made from a thick, clear, plastic that bolts on easily. The VersaShield is unique in that you can run only the bottom section in warmer weather, allowing more airflow through the cab, or you can run it as a full coverage windshield in cold weather, greatly increasing cab comfort. Installing the Seizmik VersaShield is as easy as it gets although a set of directions is supplied to help you if needed. Seizmik supplies the VersaShield with a bag of mounting hardware, a hood seal strip, and both the upper and lower sections are protected by a removable sheet of plastic to prevent scratches during shipping.

To install the VersaShield we pressed the hood seal strip into place on the lower section, removed the protective plastic in the clamp areas, and installed the rubber mount grommets into predrilled holes. Next we slipped the tough, plastic clamps over the cab posts and set the lower shield in place with the seal against the hood. Now fasten everything down with the hardware and the lower section is done. Installing the upper section of the windshield is equally as quick and easy.

Seizmik VersaShield Windshield

Constructed of thick, .220" impact resistant optical acrylic.
Can be used as a full or half windshield
Excellent fit and finish. Gaskets seal seams, and lower section follows hood profile
Integrates seamlessly with Seizmik Light Bar kits, Hood Rack, and Tops (not incl.)
Easily installs without drilling
Can be towed up to 65mph on trailer

The Seizmik Soft Cab

Seizmik offers a soft top roof for the Ranger and most other UTVs, but they don’t stop there. They offer rear dust & window panels designed to work with their roof and even other roofs, soft top roofs with integrated rear window panels, and for the ultimate in weather protection, complete doors that enclose the cab.

All of the Seizmik cab enclosure panels are made of a tough, tear resistant, PVC coated Nylon. Seams are sewn neatly, and panels are attached to the vehicles roll bars with large, Velcro strips sewn into the fabric. Installing the roof and integrated rear dust panel on our Ranger was very easy; roll out the fabric across the top, align the edges with the roll bars, and wrap each post with the Velcro strips as you work your way down the vehicle. The fabric and Velcro strips are sewn to follow the contours of each machine. It’s easy to get a nice fit by following down each post, letting the super aggressive Velcro strips get a bite on their mating surface. Inside the cab and across the back are several straps threaded through plastic clips that tighten everything down. Seizmik calls this the "Quikfit" tightening system. With the roof and back panels installed you’re already well protected but doors complete the package.

Fully Covered

As with all of their parts, Seizmik includes a full set of instructions with their door kits. One unique feature of the Seizmik doors is that they will work with any other roof, windshield, and back panel regardless of the manufacturer. Each door is shipped in two pre-assembled halves but it is necessary to build the frames and fasten them to the vehicle. The frames and door panels are built from ¾” tubing which doesn’t appear overly beefy for an off-road machine, but once bolted together they become more rigid, gaining structural integrity. Assembling each frame was easy enough thanks to the instructions and photos, but to fasten the frame to the vehicle we needed to temporarily loosen a Velcro portion of our recently installed roof and rear panel. We also removed the stock side nets from our Ranger. The lower door frame bolts onto the floor board with the same fastener that holds the stock lower net post. We especially like how Seizmik supplies metric fasteners and Nylock nuts with their door kit. Washers are included where needed, although we tend to add extra washers to just about everything to give bolts more clamping surface. Once the frame is in place the preassembled door halves slide nicely into the hinges and they close evenly. About the only problem we see with the doors are the latches.

The door latch is poor at best in design, construction, and usability. A bungee cord would be an improvement. The latch is an assembly of thin, formed strips with a couple welded cross pieces. A bolt and two spacers attach the latch to the door structure and the fit is much too loose. Thanks to a poorly designed bend angle the latches also stand ready to catch any passing tree branches. It took us all of three minutes to come up with a much improved and more cost effective design which we’ll happily offer to Seizmik for future models. Other than the latch, we were generally quite satisfied with the rest of the Seizmik kit.

Ranger Wrap

The Seizmik VersaShield, soft top with integrated back panel, and doors have us well protected from cold winter weather. The kit fabric is tough, waterproof, and its UV coated for year round protection, and next summer we’ll remove the doors while leaving everything else in place. Thanks to detailed instructions that include tools needed, pictures, and tips we had no problem installing the Seizmik parts. Overall, other than the door latches, the design and workmanship is very good and about the only thing we would change is to install a limit cable to prevent the doors from over extending when opening in the wind. As usual, we did make a couple modifications of our own such as adding washers, but we took our time and with a few people working on our Ranger everything came together very well. We’re ready for winter’s worst