2006 apex freshen up

[snoprof6]

Picked up a 2006 Apex GT pretty cheap with 8000 miles on it. Decided I do a full tear down and add on a few things I feel it needs. First thing I did after I bought it was wrap the windshield haha

Not too shabby

Next I tore the sled down. My w arm (previously braced) cracked AGAIN in a few spots, so it's out getting welded and sent out for powder coating. The rest of the parts were sent out and powdered gloss black.

Lastly I swapped the track for a 136 cobra. Found my y pipes were destroyed. My track must have been loose slapping the pipes and denting them. So here it sits until I get a nice care package

 

[BigDogrx1]

Looks good, that's the way to do them.

 

[snoprof6]

Got the rest of my parts back from powder coating

I got my new to me skis from a local grass drag event and got the from end back together and my muffin works tunnel extension installed... She's a tight fit!

I picked up an excell pipe and plastics last winter and installed it. I wish I'd have dropped the skid to make sure it was on completely as I'm not entirely sure it was because when I yanked the skid at the start of this project I found this

So I needed a headlight as I saw the ears broke off in mine so I went to Hudons sled salvage and got some parts

So lastly, I tore the sled down completely replaced the y pipes and head lamp. So back to square 1 lol

 

[snoprof6]

Missing a few washers and pieces but the skid is almost ready to bolt in. Rear shock is out for a rebuild, has a hygear revalve and spring set up in it. For some reason, every year the plastic knob for the rebound adjustment always breaks. It just free spins now, not clicks like it should

 

[steiner]

With the Excel exhaust I have found that the angle of the rear pipe is to steep causing the pipes to hang lower in the tunnel.
On mine I heated the bend cherry red and decreased the angle. Then took out half the spacers for the muffler mount.
Last season I also added a rear hanger like the '10s have to help keep the pipes from bouncing around.

 

[snoprof6]

Interesting, I was messing with the spacers when I installed it as per excells instructions, but something didn't seem right.

 

[snoprof6]

In the process of piecing everything back together. Got my shock back from hygear and all my powdered pieces back. The skid has fresh bearings and fresh bushings.
Then I found I had a leaky cooler

So I cleaned it up a little and found the leak...... Starting I wish I'd just bought a new sled!

Should have that back in about a week from welding....

 

[snoprof6]

On the other hand my viper is coming along nicely!

Being as I retired this from the trails, I'm gonna try to get a few extra ponies outta this engine

 

[Bluebullet]

Nice work looking good!

 

[steiner]

Found the pic of the bracket I made to hold the exhaust pipe.
You can see where the bottom of the pipe had onto the bulkhead cross piece. With the combo of that extra down pressure bending that cross piece down and studs in the track It eventually ripped out the cross piece.
Now with using an extreme amount of heat I changed the angle of the pipe outlet allowing the pipe to sit flatter in the tunnel. With a lot of trail and error with spacers I got the muffler exit into the correct position with the plastics. Time will tell how well it will work.

 

[snoprof6]

Hmmm awesome. Thank you. My pipe had decent fit, it didn't seem to touch the plastics. The only problem I had as the studs actually destroyed my mid pipe and y pipes via contacting them for many miles. So needless to say I'm not running studs this year. This is turning out to be a bigger project than I had planned. The cooler is out for repairs so awaiting for that to return. I just want this sled back to one piece haha

 

[steiner]

With studs you need to block the tunnel protectors so they won't flex in when the track hits them. If you run the factory Ripsaw with studs you need to almost double the protectors. The fingers on the track fold over allowing the studs to reach further into the tunnel wreaking havoc on the exhaust. I've had both the mid clamps cut off by the studs.

 

[snoprof6]

Got the sled back in one piece over the weekend. Got all my new bushings installed, got the skid installed, decided to make a block off plate for the exhaust, hopefully I can avoid an extra 30-40 pounds of ice in my tunnel.

And here is the finished product. Just gonna re-adjust the toe in on the skis and she's ready to rock and roll.

My two pride and joys. I'm kinda partial to black, the 06 rides far better, but the 02 is faaaaarr faster.....

 

[Trailgroomer]

Awesome looking sleds.

Sent from my XT1526 using Tapatalk

 

[mcamzr]

Great looking sleds, and nice work on them. I really like the blacked out skid. Looks sweet.