2011 Apex SE slider wear vs 2009 Vecter GT

[ApexSE/Vector]

Wife and I just completed a 820 km 3 day trip from New Liskeard to Cochrane, On. This is the area "pat the rat" hails from and has said in an earlier post that he gets 8000kms out of a pair of sliders on his 2009 Vector. I put brand new Yamaha regular sliders on both sleds before leaving, both track tensions at 3.5cm at 10 kg force (high end of factory spec) and the limiter strap up one notch on my Apex and std. position on Vector.Conditions were perfect. Almost too much snow due to a 30 cm dump the day before arrival. One trail into New Liskeard (L189 I believe) was impassable due to a drifted in 8-10 foot wall of snow (too big for groomer?). A few kms of hard packed road running and the obligatory handfull of Hwy 11 crossings. About the best 800+ km stretch you could get for slider lubrication without going up and down a lake with a fresh snowfall. I couldn't believe the slider wear. Wife's Vector had almost Zero wear, no discernable wear even at the trouble spots (front of wheel and middle). My Apex sliders were worn down to the limit at both trouble spots to under 11mm (11mm wrench slips on and 10 mm wrench won't). Needless to say, quite disappointing. I assumed that they would both be worn approx. the same (say in the 15 mm range) under ideal conditions but minimal on Vector to shot on Apex? I get the same life out of a set of sliders on the Apex under crappy conditions vs great. I've owned somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30 sleds and never experienced a slider appetite like this. I believe Pat's claim of 8000 kms on a 2009 Vector after last week's findings but am frustrated with the Apex wear. I've been changing the sliders often the last 3 seasons but attributed that to low snow conditions. Dealer was out of Duponts. Glad we didn't go for another 275 km day. I remember asking how many extra sets of wheels Weidinger had on his 2011 Apex 24 Hr run but didn't get an answer. You can see at least one set in the front in the promo pic but there must have been more or they had the quickest slider changers in the biz. There was no mention of proto Duponts being on his record run.

 

[Daranello]

I've got the same sled, added a extra set of big wheels near the rear and added Dupont Sliders....zero...I mean worst area i can squeeze on a 17mm the rest 19mm,,, in 3000km's....get a set of duponts and forget about it again...

 

[ApexSE/Vector]

I tried to get Duponts but all dealers in area sold out. I asumed that under ideal conditions the results would have been much better. Daranello, you put a set mid way but not in front and have no slider wear in front? What position is your limiter strap?

 

[Daranello]

Nothing in the mid or front, just this set as in the pic, limited strap at stock setting all the way out. front slidders look great and I run in the same conditions as you..
BTW, my skid is always full of snow now when others are bear...I think the duponts create no heat