Changing the slides/hyfax on 06 Apex

[thunder lips]

I have to change my slides this weekend. Do I need to drop the suspension and take the track off, or can I sneak the slides through the holes in the track? What are you all thinking on this one.

 

[Tork]

I have a soldering iron that holds an exacto blade. I carefully widen a pair of windows (by where Camoplast is molded in so I can easily find them later)

I drill little holes in the end and screw in my slide hammer tool, then sled hammer them thru the larger windows.

Note, the screws are tight, loctited in.
I use an impact screwdriver to get them out the first time.

 

[SRSchang]

I just put in my 4th set of slides on my Attak at 1800 miles. Take a long razor blade, the kind that you can snap off 1/4" at a time, and widen the track windows about 1/16" on each side. Remove the the phillips screws at the front of the slides. Use a screwdriver (I use an air chisel) to drive the slides from the front until they hit the track windows. Grab on through thru the track windows with some vice grips, and pull with all you've got!. You'll have to put your feet on the track for leverage. The slides will come out. Spray the inside of the new slides with WD-40. Put the new slides thru the windows (put them thru the windows vertically, then twist them 90 degrees). Tap them in with a hammer or piece of wood, tap them in the last little bit with a hammer & screwdriver or punch. The hard part is getting the holes for the phillips screws lined back up. If you're worried about the threads fraying around the cuts in the windows, heat them quickly with a torch, it will melt the thread and seal them.

Scott

 

[greenmntpass]

Agreed Scott, those holes are a pain to line up. I did a set last night and one hole in the slider was off about 3/32 to the side. Damn that garage floor was cold!

 

[Sled Dog]

Agreed Scott, those holes are a pain to line up. I did a set last night and one hole in the slider was off about 3/32 to the side. Damn that garage floor was cold!

You need to pick yourself up some of those interlocking fatigue matting they are selling at Wally Mart. Each set has 4 2 foot by 2 foot squares and they interlock to make a pad as big or as small as you so wish. Makes a good mat to kneel on also. Nothing worse than kneeling or laying on a cold cement floor. They are the cats meow! Dont tell Bounty I said that last part. lol

 

[impalapower]

Has anyone put the sled on its side and pulled the front of the fax out the window like a bananna peel and pulled it towards the back of the sled? I've done that with all other sleds, why not this one?

 

[Tork]

Agreed Scott, those holes are a pain to line up. I did a set last night and one hole in the slider was off about 3/32 to the side. Damn that garage floor was cold!

When you do this it is a must IMHO to have some spare flat head screws, and then get that metric tap. If the screw is misaligned at all it is easy to cross thread. Having that tap handy makes it easy to chase the threads if need be.
I just use some big carpet remnants from the store in town every year

 

[Grimm]

You do not need to cut the track windows any larger. You can force them through. Here's how I did mine:
- raise rear of sled off ground
- loosen rear axle bolts
- loosen track tension a few turns each side
- remove retaining screw at front of slider
- line up track window with back of slider
- jam a flat head screwdriver through track window between slider and rail and leave handle of screwdriver sticking out
- force the track backwards putting pressure on screwdriver. This will start to peel the slider off the rail
- keep forcing track backwards and slider will force it's way through the track window. Keep turning track backwards and pull on slider as you go and the slider will soon be off.

I've also heard that once you get the slider to start coming out of the track window, that you could start the sled up and run it in reverse and the sliders will easily come off. I wasn't brave enough to do this though.

 

[ski]

I just put in my 4th set of slides on my Attak at 1800 miles. Take a long razor blade, the kind that you can snap off 1/4" at a time, and widen the track windows about 1/16" on each side. Remove the the phillips screws at the front of the slides. Use a screwdriver (I use an air chisel) to drive the slides from the front until they hit the track windows. Grab on through thru the track windows with some vice grips, and pull with all you've got!. You'll have to put your feet on the track for leverage. The slides will come out. Spray the inside of the new slides with WD-40. Put the new slides thru the windows (put them thru the windows vertically, then twist them 90 degrees). Tap them in with a hammer or piece of wood, tap them in the last little bit with a hammer & screwdriver or punch. The hard part is getting the holes for the phillips screws lined back up. If you're worried about the threads fraying around the cuts in the windows, heat them quickly with a torch, it will melt the thread and seal them.

Scott

4th set of sliders at 1800 miles? What are you doing with this sled? I have more more than that on a single set that still look new.

 

[Tork]

Yep I have done all the ways so far including just getting them into the back window, putting the sled in reverse which peels them off like a banana.

I have also had a time or 2, where they just wouldnt budge at all.
So I took a propane torch and softened them up and just peeled them off on the sides a couple inches at a time.

I put grease on them when I reinstall.

this is the tool I like using

http://www.blizzardproducts.com/

 

[Sled Dog]

You do not need to cut the track windows any larger. You can force them through. Here's how I did mine:
- raise rear of sled off ground
- loosen rear axle bolts
- loosen track tension a few turns each side
- remove retaining screw at front of slider
- line up track window with back of slider
- jam a flat head screwdriver through track window between slider and rail and leave handle of screwdriver sticking out
- force the track backwards putting pressure on screwdriver. This will start to peel the slider off the rail
- keep forcing track backwards and slider will force it's way through the track window. Keep turning track backwards and pull on slider as you go and the slider will soon be off.

I've also heard that once you get the slider to start coming out of the track window, that you could start the sled up and run it in reverse and the sliders will easily come off. I wasn't brave enough to do this though.

I do it the same as you do only I take a chisel to the side of the hyfax and tap it back to get it moving. Then I use a long pry bar going through one of the track windows using the window as a fulcrom point and pry the fax out until about 1 inch is sticking out of the track at the back. I then use a vise grip attached to hyfax sticking out and tap back again with a rubber mallet a few good taps and she pulls right through by hand. I also WD40 a couple hrs before even starting the job. I also heat the rail where the screw is before taking it out and it breaks the loctite a lot easier. I use white lithium grease to put the new ones on by just tapping them through the greased rear window onto the greased rail. Also before even starting take note of the tightness of your track so you can put it back to the same tightness as before. With the rear of the sled lifted up I do this by placing a weight on the same spot on each side of the track doesnt matter what weight really as long as it forces the track down and measure how far the track is down from the bottom of the hyfax. Once you have the new hyfax in place put this same weight on the same spot and tighten your track to the same measurement you had before. As you all know each track likes a certain tension where it runs good without heating & wearing the hyfax out. Well this sweet spot is usually set by where it hardly wears any more just prior to changing your hyfax. This method sets the tension as near as possible to that same tension with a new hyfax on. Count your threads on each side to verify that your back wheels and track is running square with the world.

 

[BOUNTYHUNTER]

they are the cats meow! Dont tell Bounty I said that last part. lol

GRRRRRRRRRRR



I like too take things apart.....Sorry, but I always like too Remove the skid as this allows me to check out everything. As well as remove everything inspect everything and work on the Bench.


..But that's Me For Ya

 

[Tork]

Nice thread A lot of different ways to skin a rail
Sled Dogs idea with the weights to set even track tension, very clever!

 

[SRSchang]

4th set of sliders at 1800 miles? What are you doing with this sled? I have more more than that on a single set that still look new.

First set lasted 1400 miles. Were real thin in front of the rear wheel & I was heading to Quebec, so I changed them. Set the track tension according to the manual (1 1/8" gap with 22# force) Seemed tight, but it's what the manual said. Got to Real Masse, 36F and hard packed wet snow. As soon as I took it off the trailer, I heard something squeaking in the skid. Checked eveything out, looked OK. The squeak was the track rubber against the sliders with 0 lubrication. Rode a mile down the trail, the sled started slowing down. Stopped & the window clips were sizzling, the track was stuck to the sliders. Popped it loose, tried to ride in deeper snow. The sled came to a stop a couple miles down the trail. Clips sizzling, plastic melted to the clips, track melted to the sliders. Broke it loose again, loosened the track a full turn on each side. Finally turned around and loaded it back on the trailer. Sliders were shot (to wear lines) after 16 miles.
Had a dealer put on a new set, hit the trail again. Could smell them burning ocassionally, they lasted the rest of the trip and a little more. Lot of lake racing weekend before last, worn to within 1/16" of the wear mark, heading back to Quebec, so I changed them again and installed the SLP slides in the track. We'll see how it goes. Also left the track way loose this time.

My observations
- The adjustment according to the manual is way tight. Set to the manual, you have about 1/4" of gap when the track is hanging free. I think it should be more like 1 - 1 1/2". Just tight enough so it doesn't ratchet under load.
- The sliders wear fast in front of the rear wheels, then seem to stop wearing & last a long time just before the wear marks. This doesn't help me much as I'm a pretty anal guy and like to have lots of margin before I leave on a 600 mile trip. We'll see if the SLP wear pads help.

 

[impalapower]

Nice thread A lot of different ways to skin a rail

Suprisingly nobody said "I take mine to the dealer for that stuff."