09 RS Venture gt owners HELP! track losing lugs!

[rlt]

Went to change oil/filter at 516 miles, also hyfax and noticed LOTS of lugs missing or cracked on whatever the stock camoplast track is,,,,,,,,,,Have any other Venture GT owners check your track for the same thing?

I looked in the tunnel it it does not appear to be hitting anything, it has been only driven on snow covered trails and crossed the normal dry highways that you would encounter.

For what it is worth, almost all missing or cracked are at the "clips"...........PLEASE HELP!

(alignment & tension were checked at about 110 miles)

THX!

 

[hondo]

Sorry,

Don't have a clue.

 

[Grimm]

Take it to the Dealer for warranty, unless your track is studded.

 

[rlt]

Thanks Hondo & Grimm, I thought it might be one of those things that is happening to the other sleds, but it is not something that owners of new V GT's would be looking for with the sled being new and having low miles.

I was hoping others would check and also have the same problem.

The lugs that are broken or missing, all of them where at a "cleat" so I'm guessing something to do with the excess heat that these tracks (clipped only every 3rd window and having a closed window) create on the hyfax.

Hondo and others have you been going through slides more than normal? I got 515 miles out of the originals and after getting them off, it looked like I could have gotton another 125 - 150 miles max out of them.

I bought and planned to install SLP "hy-fax savers", but will wait until I get the track problem taken care of.

Thanks in advance, RLT

 

[Wilson]

Lugs are usually riped off by spining on a rock . I wonder if ice build up could cause it as well . last year I riped 3 feet off of the right side of my track ,going up a hill with a rock half way up .Never saw it just felt it .
Track was toast .

 

[hondo]

Rit,

What are your snow conditions?

If it is real cold and your running on hard packed trails your hyfax will wear more than usual.

My sled has been doing ok.

 

[rlt]

Hondo, all but 72 miles were above 20 degrees, the 72 miles was a high of 5 degrees for the day.

My other 2 sleds (wife-02 zl600 5600 miles, son-05 z440lx 1800 miles, both bought new) always ride with me and I know those sleds well enough to not even think about looking at the slides or track until the end of the season.

About 300 of the 516 miles on the GT were actually done during a moderate snow storm. Other than crossing dry/slush highways at right angles, none of the 516 miles was done on what I would call marginal snow conditions.

Thanks to finding out about TY, and reading about Yammies poor hyfax life, I bought the SLP hyfax savers to save the hyfax, but when I got back up to the cottage to install them, I found out I was too late to save the originals and that is when I saw the lugs missing and cracked/dangling.

After seeing the MASSIVE amount of snow and water dripping in the tunnel/suspension, I would have bet a million bucks that there would not be any problems with lubing the sliders,,,,,,,,,,,,,I've been wrong before!

For what it is worth, each cleat has some slider material melted to the edge where the slide does not contact.

(I'll start another thread about the rear of the sliders wearing the most, to see how to fix that issue.)

Once again, Thanks for the input,,,,,,,,,TY IS A GREAT SITE!

 

[studdog]

I have over 2000 miles on my 09 Venture GT, no track or hyfax problems. Reason for premature hyfax wear is track tightness. Since I started running all my Yamaha sleds looser than spec.much better wear.

 

[Vectornut]

 

[rlt]

Here is a update on the track: Based on the pictures the dealer sent them Yamaha said "something must have cut the track have the owner turn it in to his insurance company"

I'll pick the sled up this Friday and give Yamaha a call next Tuesday, I need to see it in writing that they do not cover any track problems on the warranty. I did not recall getting a written warranty unless it was the last few pages of the owners booklet.

If Yami still says no, I'll call Camoplast and find out what the Durometer rating of the rubber should be and then send out a chunk of track to be tested.

If I have to pick up the cost of this one I'll be sending them a copy of my bill of sale for a AC Prowler this spring and also copy of a bill of sale fo a AC Z1 next fall,,,, I'l be giving my son my wifes Z440lx, sell my ZL600 and give my wife the Z1,,,,,,,,,,,, I had my heart set on a Rhino this spring (the County I have a place in and 3 other abuting Countys allow UTVs on the trail) and a Phaser GT next fall, I doubt if Yamaha cares about losing 2 sales, BUT I WILL SEND THEM COPIES OF THE BILL OF SALES!

I'm trying to switch over from Cat to Yami's,,,,,,,,but I have a feeling it is not going to happen.

I "think" my dealer tried, but I may not even buy the Cats from him. (they sell both brands)

The only reason I feel this strongly about this situation is that I know how I babied this Venture GT and I know what the trail conditions were when I put on the 500 miles, and they were NOT poor trail conditions.

Wilson, I did mention to the dealer that on the 5 degree day, that after we came out from lunch (40-45 minute stop) I did hear chuncks of ice in the tunnel as we drove about 1/4 mile to gas up and it did take a while for them to break up, I'm guessing it fell as slush and turned to ice quickly. The dealer said that should not hurt the track and I said I hope that is not the problem as I can't see getting on your hands & knees and removing ice every time you make a extended stop.

I like the comfort of the sled, but possibly going to be the 1st and last Yamaha that I'll every own. [/i]

 

[thephast1]

Are you sure the track doesn't say Firestone on it anywhere? It sounds like the type of problem where Yamaha will say it's the track and Camoplast will say it's the sled. But my two cents is it sounds like a faulty track.