With a UTV as powerful as the Can-Am Defender, excess radiant heat is inevitable. Even in its basic stock form the Can-Am Defender’s engine puts out a lot of heat, but if your Can-Am Defender’s engine is souped up with a ton of aftermarket side by side engine upgrades you’re going to feel even more heat coming off of it. Radiant heat can rear its ugly head in a variety of different ways. You might notice radiant heat emanating from your floorboards or dash panels. If your Can-Am Defender has an enclosed cab or if you live somewhere that gets hot, having radiant heat coming from your floorboards or dash panels can make for a very sweaty and uncomfortable riding experience. Aside from making your Can-Am Defender’s cab a sweaty mess, radiant heat can damage electronics and other sensitive pieces of equipment on your Can-Am Defender.
The best way to avoid radiant heat from making its way into the cab of your Can-Am Defender is by installing UTV heat shields and heat protective materials. Side by side heat shielding is designed to act as an insulated barrier of protection between your engine and your Can-Am Defender’s heat-sensitive equipment and electronics. Heat shields can also be used to keep radiant engine heat from emanating into your Can-Am Defender’s cab. A great example of a good heat shield for the Can-Am Defender is the Can-Am Defender Reflect-A-Cool Heat Reflective Sheets by HMF Racing. These heat reflective sheets are made from a fiberglass material that’s backed with a layer of aluminized reflective foil. These heat shields are rated to handle 400 degrees of continuous heat and 2,000 degrees of intermittent radiant heat. You can order sheets of this heat shielding in two different sizes, and they can be easily cut into any shape or size to protect things such as your Can-Am Defender’s air box, fuel tank, body panels, and engine compartments.
Many riders complain about the radiant heat that makes its way into the bed of their Can-Am Defender. If you’ve got heat-sensitive gear or equipment in the bed of your Can-Am Defender, radiant heat in your bed can be a big problem. In addition, it’s difficult to keep ice warm in the bed of your Can-Am Defender if you’ve got heat issues. The best way to minimize radiant heat in your Can-Am Defender’s bed is with something like the Can-Am Defender Heat Shield by Geiser Performance. This side by side heat shield is shaped to fit right into the bottom of your Can-Am Defender’s bed to nearly eliminate the heat that comes up from your engine. This Can-Am Defender heat shield comes with all the hardware needed for an easy installation and is proven to keep your ice cold for longer and your heat-sensitive gear protected.
Some other places where radiant heat tends to accumulate on UTVs and side by sides like the Can-Am Defender are exhausts and mufflers. While this may be outside of your cab, having a piping hot exhaust or muffler presents a challenge of its own. An uncovered exhaust or muffler that’s burning hot can burn the legs of you or your passengers. Anyone who’s ever had the misfortune of burning their leg on their Can-Am Defender’s exhaust knows just how painful and dangerous this can be. The only way to prevent exhaust burns is by wrapping your Can-Am Defender’s exhaust or muffler up with exhaust heat wraps like the Can-Am Defender Exhaust Wrap by Design Engineering or covering it with an exhaust or muffler heat shield such as the Can-Am Defender Muffler/Exhaust Heat Shield Kit by Design Engineering.
It’s always a good idea to protect electrical wiring with UTV heat sleeving like the Can-Am Defender Fire Sleeve – Silicone Coated Sleeving by Design Engineering. This heat sleeve comes in a ton of different sizes depending on the length and width of your Can-Am Defender’s wires. You can also wrap up your wires or heat-sensitive components with heat tape like the Can-Am Defender Fire Tape / Self Vulcanizing by Design Engineering. Whether it’s a heat shield, heat wrap, exhaust or muffler heat shield kit, heat sleeve, or heat tape for your Can-Am Defender, chances are we have it here at Everything Can-Am Offroad!