Dupont slide owners, something to watch out for

[Irv]

Ya you would think for the price they are charging for the damn things that they wouldn't have cheaped out on the actual hyfax material by using cheap plastic!! They should have used graphite with the vespel inserts!!!
Just wish Yamaha would start fixing some of their boo-boos, like, why after "eight years" are the Apex's still burning the hyfax's anyway??? Fix the problem then we wouldn't have to spend 120 bucks on slides & bigger wheels at $$$, we could just buy the regular hyfax for $18 a pop!!

Always wondered that as well?

I replaced my 08 wheels with 10's mainly due to the fact they have replacable bearings, but I also thought (stupid me! ) that they would also be slightly bigger to help with the hyfax wear problem!

When I change the sliders on my 95 XLT with the original wheels, the skid will roll around my carpeted garage floor with ease but when I do the same with my Vector skid, the slides get hung up because they hang lower than the wheels do!

 

[Daranello]

heat kills tracks...the fact is these slidders DONT heat up the track clips and yes I tested it...

 

[CaptCaper]

Yamaha states in it's info of these DuPont sliders that the rest of the slider is regular material used for their sliders. Too thin after DuPonts strip's?
I get close to 2 k easily on a set of regular Yami sliders. I might try a set of Duponts and if I don't get a lot better then don't bother again.

 

[rayone02]

Just wasted money on dupont slides left rail front bend worn down to the rail. Only had 700 miles on slides.

 

[Blue Dave]

Just wasted money on dupont slides left rail front bend worn down to the rail. Only had 700 miles on slides.

Wow, I put 600 miles on mine in poor to decent conditions and they still look like new. I guess that I will just keep an eye on them. Like many others I have definitely noticed less rolling resistance especially on long hauls over ice and plowed roads that in the past would have caused my standard slides to stick badly to my track clips.

 

[VectorLTX2012]

I've put on +2k miles on my '12 Vector LTX so far with the original sliders without much wear. I bought a pair of DuPont's last year waiting for the factory's to burn up, but that hasn't happened yet. If I continue having good luck with the original sliders, I might be selling my DuPont's.

 

[buddah]

I have never in my 250000 miles on Yamaha 4 stokes worn a set of slides down to the rails in the area under the middle of the suspension. .

Not to pick too many nits but you sure you didn't accidentally slip an extra zero in there?

 

[Reverse]

What was the total mileage on them???? There is difference in significance if it was the last 150 miles on 4000 miles or the last 150 miles on 1000 miles. I understand that some guys are saying that they may outwear factory ones and that when they reach a certain point they wear like crazy; might be helpful to know about when that point was in this instance, although I imagine several factors determine each individual wear situation. By the way I've got about 2500 miles on mine on 2010 Apex LTX and no signs of wear yet. Factory were lasting 500 miles.

 

[Blue Dave]

I have never in my 250000 miles on Yamaha 4 stokes worn a set of slides down to the rails in the area under the middle of the suspension. .

Not to pick too many nits but you sure you didn't accidentally slip an extra zero in there?

I was thinking the same thing. I suppose if a guy has 25 years of sledding and averages 10,000 miles a year, or 50 years of sledding averaging 5,000 miles a year. Seems unlikely!

Edit: I missed the part about Yamaha 4 strokes. Now that is impossible!

 

[jaydaniels]

Geez I've had great luck with mine so far. I drove in conditions this year that were basically like driving on ice. Buddy with stock slides couldn't even go as the kept sticking. If he stopped the track actually stuck to the slides. Mine never missed a beat. I cant say they didn't wear at all but night and day over the stock ones and no sticking. Biggest problem with Apex's is they dont retain much snow in the rear skid when the snow is hard pack. Must be the exhaust.

 

[Rockmeister]

After watching suprfst's slides melt away in no time, am switching back to the Nytro T shaped slides.
I was able to get 4000 or so miles with the marginal snow wheel kits(Front and middle), Nytro T slides and VERY marginal snow.

Really don't want mine to melt away in one ride in one day also.

His looked perfect literally the day before.
Then melted away in ONE ride!

And the day they melted away, the snow was better than it had been.

They work great, right up until they disappear all at once!

 

[rayone02]

Lug track height plays a role in slide wear also. I run a cobra track.

 

[sheetwright]

I have Duponts and have gone through 75% of them in about 700-750 miles. with the added wheels they look like a snkae. Worn deep where there aren't any wheels and not to bad where there are wheels.

 

[Blue Dave]

With such differing results is it possible that there is a quality control issue with the Dupont slides?

 

[blueironranger]

Hmmm, kinda concerning as I just put a set on my phazer but I've been getting 1500 miles out of the graphites. I'm wondering if its a heat issue and am wondering if the vespel can take ALOT more heat BUT gets too warm and melts the surrounding plastic and come loose. Once 1 or 2 inserts pop out I could see the rest coming out in a hurry!