Been on ty4stroke now for years. Mostly lurking around, gathering information, new products etc. I figured with the next Cains Quest Endurance Race on the horizon I would share my sled builds with other members.
Some may be familiar with the CQ race, but for those that are not, it is a 3000+ km race in Labrador, Canada. Temperatures during the last race in 2014 dropped as low as -50C. Racers are riding for days at a time without rest, in the remote wilderness, with nobody else around most of the time except for your teammate. www.cainsquest.com
This will be my third attempt at this race. In 2012 I partnered up with a co-worker and we ran Arctic cat 1100 turbo XF's. We had some bad luck, and major electrical issues with one sled and ended up with a DNF.
Then, in 2014 I raced with a longtime friend of mine (who, by the way, bleeds blue more then anyone I know) on our already wore out Nytros. His sled started out as a 2008 Nytro MTX, and my sled a 2010 Nytro XTX. We completely disassembled the two sleds and rebuilt them to take on Cains Quest. They were built using many parts and ideas we found on this forum!
A short list of mods to our Nytros:
-Zbroz A-Arms
-Exit Shocks
-Ice Age rails
-Rear Tunnel Cooler and rad delete from Vanamburg
-Simmons Gen 2 skis
-Custom undertunnel exhausts
-Tunnels reinforced completely with custom made plates
-Clear Trailtanks
-XTX was extended to 159
-Aftermarket oil tanks
-Rollover Valves
-Front subframe gussets
-skinz seats
-Baja Designs LED lights
And the list goes on!
Again, we had some bad luck. My partner hooked a rock and ruined a track, which set us back 12 hours by the time we got a new track, and changed it. Slider issues in low snow areas, (more like no snow at times). And because of time, and being so far behind because of previous issues, we had to scratch and about halfway through the race. The 2014 race was so brutal, only 8 of 26 teams even finished!
So on to 2016!
For the next race starting on March 5, 2016, I will be racing with my younger brother. We have been very busy planning, researching, etc, to be as prepared as possible for the race. We will be running 2015 Viper MTXs as a base platform. The chassis is much more forgiving, and much easier to ride the long hours then my Nytro was. We decided to go with the base model MTXs, simple because there is no point in paying more for shocks that we are going to change anyway.
We have a long list of plans for these sleds, but for this race its going to be more of a keep it simple approach. Less overthinking the build and just try and stick with what works! Right now we are in the process of sourcing parts, finding the cheapest suppliers and such. We are going to try and do most of the things on our parts list, but depending on sponsors, racer discounts, etc, its possible some things may have to be prioritized and some left out.
This is a rough list of mods so far:
-154x15x1.6 ice cobra prestudded tracks Snow and terrain varies so much that I think this would be a good choice
- 2.86 pitch drivers
- Yamaha front bumpers
- Arctic M rear Bumpers
- Ice Age bomber rails and x-brace
- Shocks. Not quite sure which brand as of yet. But they will be exit/elka/fox/axis etc. All depends on price!
- Rollover Valves
- Skis from the new 2016 Arctic Cat Bearcat. Trying to get max flotation here. The Gen 2 simmons are just so heavy steering, it takes a toll on your arms after a few days.
- Hid headlights, as well as some LEDs from Baja Designs. Lighting is a must for the long, fast, night racing.
- 42" A-arms for stability when we are fatigued
- 4 wheel kits
- Dupont sliders
I am sure I'm missing a lot of parts, and ill touch on the smaller things during the build such as wiring, GPS units, windshields, etc. I know this was a long write up and intro, but hopefully you enjoy following the build and the race.
We are always looking for suggestions for build ideas, parts, and anything else that would help us in anyway possible! We have a facebook page which you can like and follow as well. https://www.facebook.com/CainsQuest2014Team82
Some may be familiar with the CQ race, but for those that are not, it is a 3000+ km race in Labrador, Canada. Temperatures during the last race in 2014 dropped as low as -50C. Racers are riding for days at a time without rest, in the remote wilderness, with nobody else around most of the time except for your teammate. www.cainsquest.com
This will be my third attempt at this race. In 2012 I partnered up with a co-worker and we ran Arctic cat 1100 turbo XF's. We had some bad luck, and major electrical issues with one sled and ended up with a DNF.
Then, in 2014 I raced with a longtime friend of mine (who, by the way, bleeds blue more then anyone I know) on our already wore out Nytros. His sled started out as a 2008 Nytro MTX, and my sled a 2010 Nytro XTX. We completely disassembled the two sleds and rebuilt them to take on Cains Quest. They were built using many parts and ideas we found on this forum!
A short list of mods to our Nytros:
-Zbroz A-Arms
-Exit Shocks
-Ice Age rails
-Rear Tunnel Cooler and rad delete from Vanamburg
-Simmons Gen 2 skis
-Custom undertunnel exhausts
-Tunnels reinforced completely with custom made plates
-Clear Trailtanks
-XTX was extended to 159
-Aftermarket oil tanks
-Rollover Valves
-Front subframe gussets
-skinz seats
-Baja Designs LED lights
And the list goes on!
Again, we had some bad luck. My partner hooked a rock and ruined a track, which set us back 12 hours by the time we got a new track, and changed it. Slider issues in low snow areas, (more like no snow at times). And because of time, and being so far behind because of previous issues, we had to scratch and about halfway through the race. The 2014 race was so brutal, only 8 of 26 teams even finished!
So on to 2016!
For the next race starting on March 5, 2016, I will be racing with my younger brother. We have been very busy planning, researching, etc, to be as prepared as possible for the race. We will be running 2015 Viper MTXs as a base platform. The chassis is much more forgiving, and much easier to ride the long hours then my Nytro was. We decided to go with the base model MTXs, simple because there is no point in paying more for shocks that we are going to change anyway.
We have a long list of plans for these sleds, but for this race its going to be more of a keep it simple approach. Less overthinking the build and just try and stick with what works! Right now we are in the process of sourcing parts, finding the cheapest suppliers and such. We are going to try and do most of the things on our parts list, but depending on sponsors, racer discounts, etc, its possible some things may have to be prioritized and some left out.
This is a rough list of mods so far:
-154x15x1.6 ice cobra prestudded tracks Snow and terrain varies so much that I think this would be a good choice
- 2.86 pitch drivers
- Yamaha front bumpers
- Arctic M rear Bumpers
- Ice Age bomber rails and x-brace
- Shocks. Not quite sure which brand as of yet. But they will be exit/elka/fox/axis etc. All depends on price!
- Rollover Valves
- Skis from the new 2016 Arctic Cat Bearcat. Trying to get max flotation here. The Gen 2 simmons are just so heavy steering, it takes a toll on your arms after a few days.
- Hid headlights, as well as some LEDs from Baja Designs. Lighting is a must for the long, fast, night racing.
- 42" A-arms for stability when we are fatigued
- 4 wheel kits
- Dupont sliders
I am sure I'm missing a lot of parts, and ill touch on the smaller things during the build such as wiring, GPS units, windshields, etc. I know this was a long write up and intro, but hopefully you enjoy following the build and the race.
We are always looking for suggestions for build ideas, parts, and anything else that would help us in anyway possible! We have a facebook page which you can like and follow as well. https://www.facebook.com/CainsQuest2014Team82
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