iTi Doors – You Need Them in the Mud

Shannon Bushman | May 18, 2010 | 0 Comments

Shannon Bushman – XXXoffroad aka Borneo Man

I knew there would be mud, plenty of mud. It was monsoon season after all and that is exactly why the Indonesian Offroad Federation picked December, to make the Boreno Equator Expedition as tough as possible. A true test of man and machine. I am a desert rat so mud is not my thing but I made a few preparations knowing full well I could spend the entire trip covered in mud. I have been to the Mud nationals and played in my share of mud but we simply do not have this kind of mud in the USA. Not hundreds of miles of serious mudding day after day after day.

Of all the decisions I made, doors was one of the best. When iTi chipped in and hooked me up with a set of their killer doors I knew I just might make it home somewhat sane. Timing was really tight and I oh so thankfully picked up the doors at iTi’s facility the night before the RZR-S was due to ship out for Borneo. With a little help from a few friends we bolted them on in just a few hours and I even managed to get some sleep that night.

If you haven’t noticed, the tires on a RZR-S stick out a lot. Like seriously past the fenders even with the flares. So as soon as we hit wet ground, which was 30 seconds after unloading from the boat in Borneo, the mud started to fly. Immediately I was SO happy to have doors. They literally stopped about 75% of all mud flying off the drivers side tires from landing in my face. Without these doors I’m not sure I could have withstood that much mud and water. Without them I am sure there would have been days where the cab would have filled with mud to the point where I would have had to shovel it out to get the pedals clear to drive. As it was, the RZR-S was loading with plenty of mud. Doors can only do so much and after while it was seriously weighing me down.

In this environment doors are not just good for your creature comfort. There were times when the RZR-S was tipped on its side in deep mud holes trying to winch out. If the mud had been allowed to penetrate the cockpit and start lodging in the seats the RZR would have become a big anchor. With doors, we pulled it through deep sticky mud that was well up beyond the door and the door worked like a skid to slide along.

There are a few very nice features of iTi’s doors. My first thought of door is that they will sort of cramp you in the cockpit. The RZR is not exactly a bastion of roominess to begin with and I am no skinny minnie, at 6’3″ and 225 I need all the room I can gather. iTi has added just enough of a bow outwards at the top of the doors to more than accommodate your arms and shoulders. Seriously, I felt no cramping or crowding and never hit an elbow on the door. Its spaced just right and the bow looks great on the rig.

The second great feature is that it has a full perimeter frame. It does not just bolt to the plastic at the bottom of the door. It has its own frame that mounts in three locations to the rig. The door then hinges inside that frame. Once it is mounted its not moving and this makes the third feature the best.

The third feature is the latch pin. iTi does not use the typical latch. You know the kind, like is on your front door. These type are designed to automatically latch when you close the door. Well thats great for your front door but not so good on an offroad vehicle that flexes. That type of latch is only held in place by about a quarter inch over lap. Your rig can flex quite a bit more than that and you might find your door popping open at the most inappropriate moment, like when your traversing a hairy obstacle. iTi uses a 5/8″ pin latch. This latch is simple, it is operated by a cable and handle mounted toward the front of the door. The cable goes back to a pin mounted inside the frame of the door and it latched into a matching hole in the perimeter frame. When the pin is in place its at least 3/4 of an inch inside the frame. There is no way this latch can pop open under flexing. I can attest that is does not, I flexed plenty. In fact there were times I thought those big rig winches were going to tear me in half and probably stretched the RZR-S 2-3 inches and the doors never popped open. The pin and frame are very strong. I laid it on its side one day, full weight on the doors and they held and the latch held.

These doors swing open wide, almost a full 180 degrees so they are not in the way when your trying to do something like remove a small tree that jammed its way through your floor boards in a direct attempt to impale your manhood. The aluminum skins are held on with dzus fasteners that are flush and easy to remove and install. The edges of the aluminum are molded to match to round tubing of the frame, no sharp edges to get you. Install was a breeze.