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2012 AK sled build

All new chassis, the tunnel will have angled corners. It's going to be a slow build. Going to try and do most of the chassis including the bulkhead and subframe a corrugated foam core with CF. I want under 400 lbs.
 

First, Good luck to you Caleb ... if anyone can do it, you can. ;)!

Second, If you decide to start a new build thread, please post a link here so we can follow your progress.
 
I haven't done anything sled related since the last post. I'll get back on it eventually but my focus has switched to building a 6x6 Suzuki Samurai to use next summer.
 
I bought clutches to replace the ones that blew up on me but that's it. I'm rearranging my garage to make room for the 6x6 buildup and then I'll get back to the sled.

moab11, I'll post pics once I get some more of the parts. I was suppose to get the differential/suspension assemblies last week but the shop is being sloooow. It will pretty much be a gutted Samurai with three M151 front diff assemblies, welded rears and the front locked, six 34x12 agricultural tires and hopefully a finished weight under 2,600 lbs.
 
Looking for input. Lets say you were going to build your own front suspension not based on any of the current manufacturer's sleds, just a blank canvas to start with. The only certainties would be the ski bolt ended up 3" forward of the factory Nytro ski bolt (unless there is a way to retain good handling and keep the sled shorter), and ski stance would be 36".

- What camber, castor, and trail would you try to achieve?

- How about shock angles? Shallower? Steeper? In the same line of travel as the a-arms or does it matter?

- Could you achieve the same ride comfort with shorter shocks, say 14.5" C to C (or even shorter) either moved further in on the a-arms in a more vertical position, or closer to the spindle but laid down at a shallower angle? Valving would probably take some trial and error to get it right.

- How much travel? 9", 10", 11", 12"?


I'm eventually going to need a new front suspension due to the a-arm mounting locations moving and some other things, so I figured I might as well just start fresh instead of basing it off the Nytro geometry. The shorter the shock (counting ounces here) I could get away with the better, some 14.5" C to C Fox Float II's or even shorter would be ideal.

Keep in mind there would be no jigging of the factory a-arm mounts, shocks mounts, a-arms, ect., everything would be new including the spindles so there are no limitations to deal with here. I don't care how sane or crazy your ideas are, I'm open to anything.
 
For a pure powder sled and as light as possible i would look at the set up on the Ski doo freestyle with a lower a-arm only.
The downside of a shorter shock moved in on the a-arm is that the a-arm needs to be beefier and shock spring too = Heavier.
 
A limitation of the current Yamaha suspension is the unnatural motion of the front suspension. Hitting a bump that angles up at around 45* with the back of the sled up in the air puts most of the force in a direction the suspension cannot absorb. Have the front a arm mounts higher than the rear to roughly match the caster angle instead of twisting the spindle relative to the arms as they currently do.
 
Sportsterdanne said:
For a pure powder sled and as light as possible i would look at the set up on the Ski doo freestyle with a lower a-arm only.
The downside of a shorter shock moved in on the a-arm is that the a-arm needs to be beefier and shock spring too = Heavier.

I checked out the Freestyle and it looks clean, but I don't like that the camber changes with travel since the a-arm is welded to the spindle. I want the camber to remain the same as the suspension cycles.

What I would like to do is build one really strong lower a-arm (1-1/4 .058 4130) that attaches to a fixed spindle similar to the M series, and then use a 7075 link with aluminum rod ends to control only the camber, the lower a-arm would take all the force. The forward lower a-arm mount would be moved back 2"-4", and the other would be tied into the engine mount. I could move the upper shock mount back so the a-arm and shock traveled in the same path and in a more neutral position to absorb bumps. This would also greatly simply the front tube work.
 


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