bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
Phazernut said:
I hope I still occasionally spend some time pulling it out of snow this year, and I hope I'm doing so closer to the Avalon than Western Brook Pond, Lewis Hills, The Bowl or Buchans ;-)
Phazernut
TY 4 Stroke Guru
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2007
- Messages
- 914
- Age
- 56
- Location
- Torbay Newfoundland
- Country
- Canada
- Snowmobile
- 04 Viper ER.
96 V-Max 4
I hear ya there. We should hook up for a ride.....going to Buchans next week to bring the sled out in hopes of snow
bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
Skid Assembly
So with everything cleaned up and refreshed, time to put it back together.
Bare Rails
Sanded and polished and ready to go back together. Torque wrenches and grease gun at the ready.
Wheels In New Extension
In got everything back together best it made sense. I added a fourth wheel and with the new extensions and their own spacers, I was playing a bit of jigsaw puzzle. I thought I had it right when I took this picture but I didn't take into account tightening the rear axle when I took this picture and I had to add two of the OEM steel washers just inside the rails, after this picture was taken.
Adjusters
I had a little trouble wrapping my head around how this was to go together at first but an email to Scott at OFT and a fast reply set me straight. This is the end result. So much easier to work with than the stock adjusters and less prone to breaking too I think (one of my stockers was bent).
All Buttoned Up
Ready to install.
6° of Tipperation
Installed Into Track
I always find this to be the hardest part of the process. I'm a sucker for punishment and I work alone usually. Took a while to get this in there.
Front Bolted In
Yoga for men. On my back, bench press it all into place, hold with one arm, insert bolt with the other. To do this you have to have faith in milk crates, chain hoist, rope and ceiling trusses.
Rear Bolted In
A Wee Avid Head Sticking Out
I was running a Cobra 121" before this. It was a ratcheting nightmare when run loose enough to get any life out of hyfax. I hope these solve it.
Lots of Clearance on 08 RTX
Still no weight on the skid but I don't think there is going to be any issues here.
MTX Exchanger Clearance
Lots of Clearance for new MTX Heat Exchanger Kit with 1.75" Back Country. I think you can run the track pretty loose here before worrying about hooking this unit. I hope it does its job as I had an awful time with overheating last year.
Loosey Goosey
I'm not sure on the deflection of the track, I've never run Avids before. This seems about right and doesn't seem as bad in person as it does in the picture. The track is touching where the rails bend at the front. There isn't a hell of a lot of room left to make it tighter but I'm going to start here and see what happens with a couple of hard starts and stops with checks up underneath to check for rubber marks.
Last year my hyfax wear was abysmal in this area. I'm one extra hole up on the front limiter strap so I've never had any wear issues on the bend. I put these extra wheels on here on the inside last year and the hyfax wear went away. I wasn't smart enough last year though to check suspension travel and I actually to wear and damage on the torsion spring adjusters which lined up perfectly with this wheel when it was inside. I put these back in the same place and depending on how the hyfax do, I might move them back more closer to the tip up. As you can see, they sit below brand new hyfax so they should help with wear.
The missing bumper is back on now as well, worry not.
Done
Hartman Tunnel extension, OFT Racing 121-144 Extensions & Camoplast Back Country 1.75" Track. I spent all of the last two winters off trail 85% of the time. While the Cobra that I put on last winter was MUCH better than the stock RipSaw the winter before, it still wasn't enough. I'm hoping this will let me get farther and stuck less.
So with everything cleaned up and refreshed, time to put it back together.
Bare Rails
Sanded and polished and ready to go back together. Torque wrenches and grease gun at the ready.
Wheels In New Extension
In got everything back together best it made sense. I added a fourth wheel and with the new extensions and their own spacers, I was playing a bit of jigsaw puzzle. I thought I had it right when I took this picture but I didn't take into account tightening the rear axle when I took this picture and I had to add two of the OEM steel washers just inside the rails, after this picture was taken.
Adjusters
I had a little trouble wrapping my head around how this was to go together at first but an email to Scott at OFT and a fast reply set me straight. This is the end result. So much easier to work with than the stock adjusters and less prone to breaking too I think (one of my stockers was bent).
All Buttoned Up
Ready to install.
6° of Tipperation
Installed Into Track
I always find this to be the hardest part of the process. I'm a sucker for punishment and I work alone usually. Took a while to get this in there.
Front Bolted In
Yoga for men. On my back, bench press it all into place, hold with one arm, insert bolt with the other. To do this you have to have faith in milk crates, chain hoist, rope and ceiling trusses.
Rear Bolted In
A Wee Avid Head Sticking Out
I was running a Cobra 121" before this. It was a ratcheting nightmare when run loose enough to get any life out of hyfax. I hope these solve it.
Lots of Clearance on 08 RTX
Still no weight on the skid but I don't think there is going to be any issues here.
MTX Exchanger Clearance
Lots of Clearance for new MTX Heat Exchanger Kit with 1.75" Back Country. I think you can run the track pretty loose here before worrying about hooking this unit. I hope it does its job as I had an awful time with overheating last year.
Loosey Goosey
I'm not sure on the deflection of the track, I've never run Avids before. This seems about right and doesn't seem as bad in person as it does in the picture. The track is touching where the rails bend at the front. There isn't a hell of a lot of room left to make it tighter but I'm going to start here and see what happens with a couple of hard starts and stops with checks up underneath to check for rubber marks.
Last year my hyfax wear was abysmal in this area. I'm one extra hole up on the front limiter strap so I've never had any wear issues on the bend. I put these extra wheels on here on the inside last year and the hyfax wear went away. I wasn't smart enough last year though to check suspension travel and I actually to wear and damage on the torsion spring adjusters which lined up perfectly with this wheel when it was inside. I put these back in the same place and depending on how the hyfax do, I might move them back more closer to the tip up. As you can see, they sit below brand new hyfax so they should help with wear.
The missing bumper is back on now as well, worry not.
Done
Hartman Tunnel extension, OFT Racing 121-144 Extensions & Camoplast Back Country 1.75" Track. I spent all of the last two winters off trail 85% of the time. While the Cobra that I put on last winter was MUCH better than the stock RipSaw the winter before, it still wasn't enough. I'm hoping this will let me get farther and stuck less.
bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
Trail Tank Redux
I installed a Trail Tank last year and with my luck, I got an old one. I honestly believe it was the tank that caused my overheating issues last year and this was the primary reason I decided to add the MTX heat exchanger. Of course once I did this the original tank no longer fit. Seth did right by me and while a replacement tank wasn't free, it was reasonable seeing as it was sold to me originally to fit an RTX, which it did, and it was my decision to add the extra heat exchanger and really I can't be certain the tank really caused the over heating. Anyways....
Old-n-New
Here is a side by side of the old and the new. You can really tell the difference. The old tank seems taller and wider. It did not fit in the box the new one came in when I was done.
MTX Exchanger Pipe
The first issue with the old tank is the fact that the top pipe coming through the bulk head for the new MTX Exchanger is actually angled up slightly. This can be seen in the picture below where it is visibly above the heat shield over the header.
The problem with that is the fact that the old tank came right in over this space. Without bending this, there was no way to get the tank in under the steering hoop. I didn't want to risk trying to bend that. Below you can see how the old tank sits right on the surface on that corner.
And the new tank has this solved by moulding space into the area as you can see below.
MTX Exchanger Hoses
The second issue is once the over tank turns up towards the front of the sled, running over the valve cover, on that side it runs too tight to allow for the new pipes from the exchanger to the rad and the lower exchanger. As can be seen in the next picture, these are out in that space.
As you can see in the next picture of the old tank, there simply isn't room here for these hoses.
Many people have gotten the old tank to work by forcing it in here but I didn't want to cut down the flow to that exchanger as I was adding it in to prevent overheating and I didn't see the point in squatting the hoses. All of those people had MTX and I don't think the stock exchanger in them is identical to the kit version due to the first issue of the pipe through the bulk head being tipped up because I just can't see how they could have forced their way around this.
The new tank addressed this by leaving space on that side as well for these hoses.
Installed
Here is the new tank installed. The new tank fell into place as compared to the old one. I had it full when I installed it and I didn't even drain it so I was able to put it in place and bolt it down with 35 liters in it with no issues. Very nice fit. There is no body work in place yet but I've had enough experience with the other once to know that this won't be an issue.
I wanted to get some markings on it so I bought it to the station and filled it placing a mark on it every 5 liters. I had some pin striping that I tried to put on at these marks but it just wouldn't stick as it was just cheap stuff from Crappy Tire. If anyone has any suggestion on something better for that purpose, I would love to hear it. If not I'm just going to make my marks a bit bigger along the edge of the seat. I adjusted the gauge to read a normal empty (I ran out last year once as the gauge was WAY off). I bent the arm such that the float was just above the bottom of the tank when it was at the end of its travel. I don't think this is an issue with the new tanks though and I had already bent my arm, I believe in the wrong direction, last year to try and fix this. I'm confident I have it now but seeing as I can see the gas anyways and have some marks, I'm not so worried.
I installed a Trail Tank last year and with my luck, I got an old one. I honestly believe it was the tank that caused my overheating issues last year and this was the primary reason I decided to add the MTX heat exchanger. Of course once I did this the original tank no longer fit. Seth did right by me and while a replacement tank wasn't free, it was reasonable seeing as it was sold to me originally to fit an RTX, which it did, and it was my decision to add the extra heat exchanger and really I can't be certain the tank really caused the over heating. Anyways....
Old-n-New
Here is a side by side of the old and the new. You can really tell the difference. The old tank seems taller and wider. It did not fit in the box the new one came in when I was done.
MTX Exchanger Pipe
The first issue with the old tank is the fact that the top pipe coming through the bulk head for the new MTX Exchanger is actually angled up slightly. This can be seen in the picture below where it is visibly above the heat shield over the header.
The problem with that is the fact that the old tank came right in over this space. Without bending this, there was no way to get the tank in under the steering hoop. I didn't want to risk trying to bend that. Below you can see how the old tank sits right on the surface on that corner.
And the new tank has this solved by moulding space into the area as you can see below.
MTX Exchanger Hoses
The second issue is once the over tank turns up towards the front of the sled, running over the valve cover, on that side it runs too tight to allow for the new pipes from the exchanger to the rad and the lower exchanger. As can be seen in the next picture, these are out in that space.
As you can see in the next picture of the old tank, there simply isn't room here for these hoses.
Many people have gotten the old tank to work by forcing it in here but I didn't want to cut down the flow to that exchanger as I was adding it in to prevent overheating and I didn't see the point in squatting the hoses. All of those people had MTX and I don't think the stock exchanger in them is identical to the kit version due to the first issue of the pipe through the bulk head being tipped up because I just can't see how they could have forced their way around this.
The new tank addressed this by leaving space on that side as well for these hoses.
Installed
Here is the new tank installed. The new tank fell into place as compared to the old one. I had it full when I installed it and I didn't even drain it so I was able to put it in place and bolt it down with 35 liters in it with no issues. Very nice fit. There is no body work in place yet but I've had enough experience with the other once to know that this won't be an issue.
I wanted to get some markings on it so I bought it to the station and filled it placing a mark on it every 5 liters. I had some pin striping that I tried to put on at these marks but it just wouldn't stick as it was just cheap stuff from Crappy Tire. If anyone has any suggestion on something better for that purpose, I would love to hear it. If not I'm just going to make my marks a bit bigger along the edge of the seat. I adjusted the gauge to read a normal empty (I ran out last year once as the gauge was WAY off). I bent the arm such that the float was just above the bottom of the tank when it was at the end of its travel. I don't think this is an issue with the new tanks though and I had already bent my arm, I believe in the wrong direction, last year to try and fix this. I'm confident I have it now but seeing as I can see the gas anyways and have some marks, I'm not so worried.
bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
Phazernut said:
I would definitely like to hook up for a ride with you out there. I really enjoyed that area and it would be great to ride it with someone more familiar. I'd love to explore the west side of Hinds Lake or any other fun areas. I will be looking to take you up on it this winter for sure.
Alatalo
TY 4 Stroke Master
scott32
TY 4 Stroke Guru
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2009
- Messages
- 758
- Location
- huron county, ontario
- Country
- Canada
- Snowmobile
- 07 Apex RTX se, 09 Nytro XTX
Lookin' good!! Tipping a sled on its side makes suspension installation and removal much easier. I tip mine onto a large piece of foam. However you do it though sometimes you just can't hold your tongue in the right postion. LOL. If I can help, I would suggest to add that wheel at the tip-up, as the xtx's do have one there. Yamaha is minimal with their wheels to begin with so I imagine where they do put them is strategic. You were already concerned about this and I think it is a good idea. Keep up the good work, and nice posts and pics!! Scott
bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
Alatalo said:
Good catch. I had that rail replaced under warranty the season before last @ the dealer. I'm guessing they didn't bother with a torque wrench on reassembly as I twisted off two bolts when reassembling it (yes I was using a torque wrench). That bolt (along with the other) has since been replaced.
Alatalo
TY 4 Stroke Master
OK, I see. I was worried that you just missed it. If you were to ride without this bolt I would be seriously concerned about the bracket between the rail and the swingarm, the load that goes through it (in both directions) is quite high...
Phazernut
TY 4 Stroke Guru
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2007
- Messages
- 914
- Age
- 56
- Location
- Torbay Newfoundland
- Country
- Canada
- Snowmobile
- 04 Viper ER.
96 V-Max 4
bagadonitz said:
I can show you some pretty cool spots in the Buchans area. You can sled out there for a month and not cover the same area twice.
My Apex will most likly get the 144 kit next year...unless I come across a MTX for a good deal or trade. I think a PCIII and Ignition module is next on my list.
bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
Alatalo said:
Yes I replaced it. Not with a genuine part but with a stainless bolt and nyloc nut from the hardware store. I tried to get genuine parts but the dealer didn't have any in stock.
Phazernut said:
A month without the same area twice sounds good. I got lots of vacation time. Bring on the snow.
Phazernut
TY 4 Stroke Guru
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2007
- Messages
- 914
- Age
- 56
- Location
- Torbay Newfoundland
- Country
- Canada
- Snowmobile
- 04 Viper ER.
96 V-Max 4
I here you. Bike is put away and the sled is calling my name.
bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
Krylon Fusion
My apologies for the lighting in some of these pictures. I don't know what was wrong with my camera tonight, it just didn't want to flash consistently.
After a couple of seasons of faithful service including portages over many a rock and stump I was debating retiring my Skinz Float plate and getting a new Yamaha one. I loved the added floatation of this plate however and didn't want to have to get a new bumper to use the Yamaha float plate. This one still has a lot of life left it it so I decided to give it a refresh. I heard good things about krylon fusion paint for plastics so I picked up a can.
Before:
After:
That only took a couple of coats and I still had lots left and then I started thinking. I bought with my sled back in the fall of 07 the mid height windshield with side deflectors. At that time there wasn't many options so what I got was plain Jane. When this one came out last season I really liked it:
So I decided to do my own black and white version. The mid height one I have has a great trim on it that I didn't want to have to try and pry off and then reapply. As well where it attaches to the front shroud makes contact. I decided to tape these areas out. I did the same with the side shields.
And about very light 4 coats later:
I then cleaned it up, untaped and installed it to see how it turned out. Of course I didn't realize that it would now be more difficult to install the shroud as you have to look at the back of the shield to make sure the tabs behind the speedo line up properly.
Side:
Front:
Behind:
I still have a little more polishing to do but so far I'm pleased with my mods this past few weeks.
My apologies for the lighting in some of these pictures. I don't know what was wrong with my camera tonight, it just didn't want to flash consistently.
After a couple of seasons of faithful service including portages over many a rock and stump I was debating retiring my Skinz Float plate and getting a new Yamaha one. I loved the added floatation of this plate however and didn't want to have to get a new bumper to use the Yamaha float plate. This one still has a lot of life left it it so I decided to give it a refresh. I heard good things about krylon fusion paint for plastics so I picked up a can.
Before:
After:
That only took a couple of coats and I still had lots left and then I started thinking. I bought with my sled back in the fall of 07 the mid height windshield with side deflectors. At that time there wasn't many options so what I got was plain Jane. When this one came out last season I really liked it:
So I decided to do my own black and white version. The mid height one I have has a great trim on it that I didn't want to have to try and pry off and then reapply. As well where it attaches to the front shroud makes contact. I decided to tape these areas out. I did the same with the side shields.
And about very light 4 coats later:
I then cleaned it up, untaped and installed it to see how it turned out. Of course I didn't realize that it would now be more difficult to install the shroud as you have to look at the back of the shield to make sure the tabs behind the speedo line up properly.
Side:
Front:
Behind:
I still have a little more polishing to do but so far I'm pleased with my mods this past few weeks.
KINS
Pro
Great Job.
bagadonitz
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
KINS said:Great Job.
Yes. I just need some skis and then I can't wait to get to the LH to try it out.
