That uhmw looks like a good idea. Did you do your bending cold or with heat?
Good question. I did both, using a sheet metal press brake to make the wide bends cold for the lower section of the chute. However, this was neither really needed nor particularly efficient, as the UHWM springs right back leaving you with a bend of about 15 degrees.
What worked nicely is a hot air gun. I used a spot IR thermometer to monitor things (just roughly and only on the first test bends on scrap). The material starts to get easier to bend as the temperature goes north of 200 F - - target being around 285. The radius of the bend becoming tighter the higher the temperature. Then you have to either hold or clamp in place until it cools a bit. I also tried getting a scrap piece "very hot" . . . what happens is the UHMW starts getting clear but did not flow. When clear, it bends with no resistance at all, but this was much too hot for the radiused bends I was after.
To accurately make the bends for a snug fit, I used a 1" wide waste strip and held it in place inside the chute to mark the center line of each bend with a felt tip. I did this cold, as the 1" strip was easy to force into position, mark, then straighten out to get the bend center marks accurately on the material. Then used a square to mark the sheet full length.
The large lower part of the UHMW chute liner is held in position only by the deflector adjustment slot bolts and at a couple of holes that were used to mount the grill guard (no longer used). Since UHMW has a much higher thermal coefficient of expansion than steel, it maybe advantageous to use fewer fasteners to allow for movement. None then less, it's not going anywhere and fits very tightly.
For the deflector, the liner is in 3 parts. The top, which has a gentle curve so no bends needed, is held in place using two SS countersink 8-32 screws through the UHMW and into drilled and tapped holes in the deflector near the front edge. Side pieces are fastened in a similar manner with two screws each.
Had a chance to use it yesterday and the liner works amazingly well. Stayed clean and slick with no build up at all. Throw distance also increased, I would guess maybe 20%.
bumper
