Myth or Fact

[ScottyD]

my ck skid wears the sliders bad from halfway to the back of the rails, 1500 miles and i had to change them, so i added the low snow wheel kit on the inside of the rails about 3/4 of the way back. the sled coasted better with the addition of the wheels

 

[GotJuice]

For sliders UHMWPE is extruded, not sintered. Annealing the material would only remove internal stresses induced during the extrusion process or subsequent machining but not change its mechanical characteristics. Molecular cross-linking with radiation is used in medical applications (hip sockets) to improve wear resistance, but would be an expensive and unnecessary process for slides.

Below is the process for annealing UHMWPE and it does not include heat cycles on a sled rail.

To anneal UHMWPE, the material should be heated to 135 °C to 138 °C in an oven or a liquid bath of silicone oil or glycerin. The material must then be cooled down at a rate of 5 °C/h to at least 65 °C. Finally, the material should be wrapped in an insulating blanket for 24 hours to bring to room temperature.

Drilling holes or dimples in the sliders is just as like to hold sand and rocks as snow. Plus, this practice reduces the surface area of the slider and since surface area is a factor affecting wear response, this is unlikely to provide any real benefit.

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I have two comments, I have seen both methods work well here in Alaska! I have tried the heat cycle version and they were noticeable harder once cycled for three heat spells!
I have been driling 3/8" holes every 3/4" down the middle of my Hyfax full length for years. I've seen on countless occations others hyfax melting and pulling track clips on long solid ice lake crossings when mine is fine....you can see the ice filled holes you've drilled every time you ride! I drill them as deep as I can without going through the other side...don't knock it unless you've actually tried it! I no longer heat cycle my hyfax, just drill them holes....only takes 5 minutes and there done.

 

[scott32]

After drilling all your holes in your slide fill them with the liquid grafite that farmers use to paint the insides of their gavity bins with. Allow it a day or so to dry. it will seem a bit sticky for the first couple miles until the grafite becomes polished from the track clips. I also paint the clips on the track at the same time to allow the grafite to fill any rust pits in the clips. Less friction equals.....

 

[ROCKERDAN]

I used to just dimple them too...but found drilling right thru was even better.

with same sleds side by side,you would see the one with holes drilled thru the alum rails were signif cooler...the snow was not melting on them,where the no drilled thru slider rails were hot,snow melted off.

this was always a speed trick for ICE RACERS,i dont know if it makes them last longer or not,but they seem to run cooler on ICE and lake runs.

I always like to get every little edge i can,this is why i am usually 1- 3mph faster on radar then stock apexs....lots of little tricks added together make MPH IMO.

Id like to hear more about this liquid graphite stuff,sounds interesting!

Dan

 

[Mikecam]

I smoked my brand new second set first time out on my 07 by mistake. I still have them on. Last summer I took a sharp blade to my old set I saved to put on my ice fishing sled and then to the set still on. The plastic is noticeably harder on the set I smoked. Don't know why but I will try to smoke the 3rd set, when I need to change them.

 

[tryanATTAK]

My 07'Attak is on it's second set of Hyfax and I have almost 6,000 miles on the sled. The first set wore fairly quickly but I then bought the Pioneer marginal snow kit and the front wheel kit and run my track real loose. Now with over 4,000 miles on the second set and 3 seasons you can't even tell they're used not new there is almost no wear to them. I also haven't had any track clip issues, they're all still there and my idler wheels are all still pretty good. I'm going to replace the idlers this season but only because some of them are starting to not roll so freely and I wanted the new spoked wheels anyway. My son's 07' Phazer is still on the original set of Hyfax and he has over 3,500 miles on them, also with a very loose track.

 

[grumpysanta]

I agree with the larger od. wheels and stock yam. wheels suck with the no bearing replacment and the price ( yam New and BAD idea ) suck up front strap and leave the track LOOSE , and you will get good wear,

 

[blueironranger]

people flat out change them TOO early. Ever since the pro-action came out in 96' people have complained of "Excessive Hyfax Wear". Everyone gets scared and changes them after 200-300 mile when they see them close to the wear line. My SX-R had 2100 miles on the original slides and they LOOKED shot after only 100 miles as they were wore very close to the wear lines. I changed them ONLY because I had the skid out swaping in a ripsaw track. Another 100 miles later (one ride) the new ones looked shot again but have since then put another 1500 miles on them and no aluminum showing yet. If your worried just dump the sled on its side to see if aluminum is showing every time you stop for gas.

 

[grumpysanta]

Yes i agree they wear fast and take a set to last quiet a while you just have to check them often , I ride at least a full season on mine, and just replaced them cause they were finito but i did cross a 10 mile lake on the last ride with NO snow at all , so i knew what i was getting into.

 

[Grimm]

When they wear down to the line after a few hundred kms, there is no way I'm not gonna change them.

Perhaps they stop wearing at a certain point with some folk, but that is not the case with me. I'm not gonna risk wearing a hole through my sliders down to the rails and risk damaging them. They cost $200 to replace one.

I upgraded the wheels this summer, we'll see how it works now.

 

[Sled Dog]

Mine have wore down close to the wear line fast as well and I must have at least 2000 miles on them with a mountain track yet on flat land. I am in the powder lots though hardly do any trail riding at all.

 

[Stu]

...they LOOKED shot after only 100 miles as they were wore very close to the wear lines. I changed them ONLY because I had the skid out swaping in a ripsaw track. Another 100 miles later (one ride) the new ones looked shot again but have since then put another 1500 miles on them and no aluminum showing yet...

Perhaps there is a corellation between the smaller wheels that Yamaha runs and the rapid wear of the sliders at first. Once the slider wears downs to a point, then the track sits heavier on the wheels? It makes sense considering the results people are seeing by putting 135mm wheels on...(simlar to what ROCKERDAN stated in a previous post)

 

[Blue Dave]

Yes, that is exactly what is happening. That is why after the slides wear quickly down to the wheels then the wear practicaly stops.

 

[Sled Dog]

Wrong I have no extra wheels on my 04 rx1 mountain. The slides heat and melt to the point where the heat is taken away from the slide by the rail causing the wear to stop and stay there for a very long time. Quit changing your slides so quickly and you will get the same results. Mine get to just above the wear line and virtually just stay there as the rail takes the heat from the slide keeping the slide cool. A cool slide does not wear very fast at all. Like I said my last pair have over 2000 miles on them. Ride it and keep an eye on them and you will see the same thing.

 

[Blue Dave]

Interesting, I hadn't thought of the "heat sink" explanation. It makes sense and I believe that it must be a factor to consider.

However the wheels do still obviously have an effect since you can always see that there is less wear in the areas that have wheels.