hugger70mtnmax
Expert
I thought that I would start a topic on my install that I am doing. I know that others like nikolai have done the same thing but I thought where my sled is just a hair closer to stock than his people might find this interesting.
First of all my reasoning behind the cat skid is three fold. First you can find a cat skid for a fraction of what it costs to buy an aftermarket skid. I picked mine up as a brand new takeout for almost a quarter of what a timbersled with rails costs.
Second reason is that it drops a lot of weight off also. Had both of the skids on the scale. The stock skid came in at 68 lbs. The cat came in at 43 lbs. Not quite as much as a timberskid but pretty close.
Third is that I really like the way the cat skid rides. I have ridden quite a few cats and they work really well. This skid was good enough also that from pictures the new cats appear to be using pretty much the exact same design. I have one of these in my Mountain Max already and love the way it works.
Some of the drawbacks are that it is not quite as turn key as some of the aftermarket skids out there. The real big trouble is that you have two color choices: hideous orange or hideous green. So you will probably have to take it apart and have it powdercoated which will cost you a little money.
I will post a few pics and some measurements of the two and some comments on install.
First of all my reasoning behind the cat skid is three fold. First you can find a cat skid for a fraction of what it costs to buy an aftermarket skid. I picked mine up as a brand new takeout for almost a quarter of what a timbersled with rails costs.
Second reason is that it drops a lot of weight off also. Had both of the skids on the scale. The stock skid came in at 68 lbs. The cat came in at 43 lbs. Not quite as much as a timberskid but pretty close.
Third is that I really like the way the cat skid rides. I have ridden quite a few cats and they work really well. This skid was good enough also that from pictures the new cats appear to be using pretty much the exact same design. I have one of these in my Mountain Max already and love the way it works.
Some of the drawbacks are that it is not quite as turn key as some of the aftermarket skids out there. The real big trouble is that you have two color choices: hideous orange or hideous green. So you will probably have to take it apart and have it powdercoated which will cost you a little money.
I will post a few pics and some measurements of the two and some comments on install.
hugger70mtnmax
Expert
I will post some pics a soon as I figure out how to do it but I thought I would post up some of the critical measurements off of the two skids.
Remember that these measurements are for a 153 yamaha and a 162 cat.
Tip to axle Y=58.75 AC=64.25
Tip to Front arm Y=5.5 AC=5
Tip to Rear arm Y=37.5 AC=36.5
Front arm to Rear arm Y=32 AC=31.5
Front arm height Y=12.1 AC=12.9
So the rails are about 5.5 inches longer. The longer track will take up about four inches of that so I am going to mount the front arm about 1.5" further forward. The cat's front arm also sits higher so I am going to mount it a little over an inch higher in the tunnel. I will also move the mounting plate on the outside of the tunnel with it.
(edit) ended up moving the front arm an inch and a half forward and up. I moved it up a little more than necessary to help with the track approach angle. The cat rails lay down pretty flat so I don't want issues with the front of the rails and the track.
The rear mount is more trouble than the front. The skid has already moved forward and the front to rear arm mount is already less on the cat. So the stock drop brackets are not going to work. I am going to make some drop brackets for it out of aluminium. That way I can take a few more pounds off of it and hopefully get to the thirty pound mark for weight loss.
Remember that these measurements are for a 153 yamaha and a 162 cat.
Tip to axle Y=58.75 AC=64.25
Tip to Front arm Y=5.5 AC=5
Tip to Rear arm Y=37.5 AC=36.5
Front arm to Rear arm Y=32 AC=31.5
Front arm height Y=12.1 AC=12.9
So the rails are about 5.5 inches longer. The longer track will take up about four inches of that so I am going to mount the front arm about 1.5" further forward. The cat's front arm also sits higher so I am going to mount it a little over an inch higher in the tunnel. I will also move the mounting plate on the outside of the tunnel with it.
(edit) ended up moving the front arm an inch and a half forward and up. I moved it up a little more than necessary to help with the track approach angle. The cat rails lay down pretty flat so I don't want issues with the front of the rails and the track.
The rear mount is more trouble than the front. The skid has already moved forward and the front to rear arm mount is already less on the cat. So the stock drop brackets are not going to work. I am going to make some drop brackets for it out of aluminium. That way I can take a few more pounds off of it and hopefully get to the thirty pound mark for weight loss.
tapex_07
TY 4 Stroke Master
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- '10 Nytro MTX SE IMPULSE 174x3
'14 Viper XTX SE MPI 159x14x1.25
'07 Apex RTX SC2 MPI 128x1
Nice write up! Thanks for the measurements!! What year are both skids?? and I cant wait to see the pics 
hugger70mtnmax
Expert
Both skids are 09.
Yeah I have to figure out how to gets pics on. I have done it on snowest but it's different on here.
Yeah I have to figure out how to gets pics on. I have done it on snowest but it's different on here.
macnytro
Extreme
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2008
- Messages
- 72
great info. i wish someone would do this for a 153 cat skid. i was looking at this option for my nytro with 156 track
hugger70mtnmax
Expert
The skid in my Mountain Max is a 153. I can get you a measurement on the rail length. Everything else will be the same between the two cat skids. At that point I would just move the front mounting point up and the rear should be able to mount in the stock drop bracket. Probably an easier swap than mine. Good luck.
macnytro
Extreme
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- Nov 24, 2008
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- 72
thanks for the reply & info i will look
into this over the summer.i did not know they were the same measurements thanks
into this over the summer.i did not know they were the same measurements thanks
Mountaintech
TY 4 Stroke God
Skid mounting holes for a Yamaha are 31 1/2" center to center. For a Cat 31 1/4". A 153 Cat skid in a Nytro will work with a 156 track....just did it.
macnytro
Extreme
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2008
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- 72
thanks, do you have any pictures of it. would like to see where everything is mounted & how is your ski pressure with the cat skid in there less,more or same as Yamaha skid. thank for the information much appreciated
Mountaintech
TY 4 Stroke God
Got it mounted in the stock holes for now, will be going forward and up for next season. Ski pressure not too bad but track has no slack right now.
You can mount a cat 153 skid in the yamaha stock holes witha freedom axle from mountain machines and 9" wheels to make a 162" track.
macnytro
Extreme
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2008
- Messages
- 72
i have that axle in my sled now with 9" wheels for the 156 but good to now
4strokesmokextx
Extreme
ok i have a question. If the cat 153 skid mounted on the nytro makes a 156 work (3in diff). wound a cat 141" mounted work with a 144" yet since theres that 3in diff yet?
hugger70mtnmax
Expert
The mounting locations of the cat skid in relation to the rails is pushed forward compared to the yamaha this in essence makes the rails longer out the back side taking up more track.
hugger70mtnmax
Expert
One more thing on the cat skid that is different is the rear axle width. The cat is wider by about a half an inch. So I trimmed both sides just a little to make up for it.
