Anybody having trouble with studs crushing exhaust system?

[ReX]

Is the turbo exhaust lower than stock in the back?

How tall are the studs that you are running?

If you are bottoming out hard, extra tunnel protectors still are not enough. The track will flex at the tunnel protectors and the studs will still penatrate upwards.

If I were you, after making sure the tunnel protectors are tall enough that the studs should stay about 3/8" away (when the track touches the protectors), I'd then start working on the suspension.

Install the big boy spring and get the shock revalved so it doesn't bottom out so hard. You could also add 1/2 an inch to the rubber bottoming blocks on the rails. I wouldn't add to the rubber on top, but instead remove them and rig up something to raise them up a little. You could also look at different sleds to see if you can find taller blocks that you could install.

 

[mooney26]

Yeah I have since updated the exhaust with an expansion adapter from Justin at Full Power Performance (the turbo guy from Bender) that connects to 2 types of pipes together with a splicing pipe that is able to absorb the expansion and contraction of the pipes. The 2 types of metal expand and contract at different temperatures and sometimes causes exhaust leak. This expansion pipe is supposed to take care of it.

 

[ROCKERDAN]

the ripsaw is too soft....the lugs bend over when hitting the protectors....and not installing studs in certain areas will hurt your pattern,and allow less scratch lines.

best bet with these sleds IMO is run a HARD track,Predator IMO is best track for sleds with this much HP....

I run 1.175s on 1 inch predator and never had one touch or tear......

ofcourse the turbos power you need to run track tighter then most of us...

Dan

 

[mbarryracing]

I have 1.450 woodys in a stock 1.25 ripsaw and they never touch anything under the tunnel at 130+ mph with a FPP rear mount.
Were you experiencing track driver ratcheting?
I think you are running your track too loose and it is ballooning in the middle and gets a hump in the center allowing contact.
i've even seen the studs in track outer bands rip up the charge tubes when the track was too loose but very obvious because the track will ratchet hard when they are this loose. That is a tell tale sign.

 

[ZR800EFI]

I'm not running mbarry's power, but I also have 1.450s in my stock Ripsaw and they have only scraped the little cover over the exhaust at the rear of the tunnel. No extra added to the protectors. Fastest I'm able to go is about 109MPH GPS.

 

[mooney26]

ReX if you read previous posts I state what studs I am running and also state I have gone to an M10 suspension. Now with the M10 bottoming out is at a minimum. Boughtand installed a brand new track with all new studs a week ago so switching to a predator traick is not an option at this point financially. I'm going to try the riveted hyfax suggestion and see how that works. I've never had an issue with the outside studs digging into the coolers, just the pipes down the middle. Have geared up and running 149 on the speedo with the 260HP pretty hard on tracks. After this one blows at another 3000miles will try the predator. thanks guys!

 

[mooney26]

mbarry no ratcheting whatsoever. Usually run my track tight otherwise it will ratchet. I don't see how your not having the same problems I am with longer studs??? Did you change suspensions?

 

[mbarryracing]

mbarry no ratcheting whatsoever. Usually run my track tight otherwise it will ratchet. I don't see how your not having the same problems I am with longer studs??? Did you change suspensions?

mooney26,
No I have the stock EC mono skid in my GT. I only caught that rear cast aluminum cross brace once when the track was looser than desired on a huge washout bump at a "too fast" pace...
Justin has riveted hyfax onto the OEM protectors on customers sleds that got the long track (Attack) upgrades and had more power / speed.
It might be a combination of the track angle at the rear on the M-10 and your HP / higher speeds. The track is going to rub hard on that hyfax, you'll notice that it will get thinner in the middle after a while.

 

[ReX]

ReX if you read previous posts I state what studs I am running and also state I have gone to an M10 suspension. Now with the M10 bottoming out is at a minimum. Boughtand installed a brand new track with all new studs a week ago so switching to a predator traick is not an option at this point financially. I'm going to try the riveted hyfax suggestion and see how that works. I've never had an issue with the outside studs digging into the coolers, just the pipes down the middle. Have geared up and running 149 on the speedo with the 260HP pretty hard on tracks. After this one blows at another 3000miles will try the predator. thanks guys!

Sorry, I missed you were running 1.325" studs.

I re-read you posts and don't think it is due to bottoming out. When bottoming out hard, the "normal" place (that I've seen) where the exhaust sometimes can get shredded is at the very back and it is the muffler that takes the beating.

In your case, with the y-pipes themselves getting shredded I'm thinking that KnappAttak sounds like he is closer to the problem than the rest of us (last post on the 1st page of this thread).

Since you've already installed the expansion adapter, the pipes getting longer when hot and flexing down doesn't sound like it can be the problem (anymore), but maybe that is only part of the problem with these kits.

Is there any other way that the y-pipes could be somehow lowering while riding? Heat? Bouncing/flexing downwards? I wonder how much they are moving?

Most of us don't have any experience with your particular custom setup so we haven't seen this before...

I guess I'd probably take a really good look at the y-pipes, try to flex them downwards with a prybar and take a look at the stud clearance. Also push the track upwards and make sure that at the same time as prying downwards that there is a reasonable amount of clearance.

Adding taller tunnel protectors might work, but you might also loose some top end if the track ends up rubbing.

Another thought I just had is how much freedom do the header flex pipes have to handle the engine tilting back from all of the torque. Maybe under heavy power the engine is able to load up enough to flex the mounts (or something), use up all of the header flexure "freedom" and then push the y-pipes down towards the track. These sleds have very solid motor mounts, but the engine does still move a little (more so with a turbo I'd expect). The chassis itself will also flex a little and help move the y-pipes down under power.

That's about all I can think of at the moment.

Let us know how much nominal clearance there is (when pushing the track up against the protectors).

 

[mbarryracing]

Another thought I just had is how much freedom do the header flex pipes have to handle the engine tilting back from all of the torque. Maybe under heavy power the engine is able to load up enough to flex the mounts (or something), use up all of the header flexure "freedom" and then push the y-pipes down towards the track. These sleds have very solid motor mounts, but the engine does still move a little (more so with a turbo I'd expect). The chassis itself will also flex a little and help move the y-pipes down under power.

Do you still have the OEM motor mounts? Or solid aluminum?

 

[SledFreak]

I'm not running mbarry's power, but I also have 1.450s in my stock Ripsaw and they have only scraped the little cover over the exhaust at the rear of the tunnel. No extra added to the protectors. Fastest I'm able to go is about 109MPH GPS.

How many studs you running?