New Cat XF 7000 high country owner

[Joshua Smith]

Hello everyone I purchased a brand new 2016 Cat 7000 high country from a local dealer who somehow acquired it from a dealership going out of business. I paid 50% off the MSRP for a sled with 1 mile on it. My problem is I have not rode this model of sled I am coming off of a doo 08 xptnt 500ss. I am wondering what am I going to like and dislike in my new sled. my tnt had a 121" track with a 1.75 paddle, I did plenty off off trail with it and it went well because it doesn't weigh much. I was tired of rebuilding the engine and putting 2s oil in it. Any comments or advice would be great. I am not planning on putting a turbo on it either f.y.i.

 

[yamadoo]

Enjoy
I have ridden a few Winders all nice but set ups can be “night and day” I mean ride handling they are all unbelievably powerful
Set it up to your liking and smile all winter

 

[snowfever27]

I have a 2015 XF7000 (137). I’ve done quite a bit to it. No turbo, send me a PM, I can give you details on the bastard child viper (7000 cat).

 

[Vmax]

My buddy has a XF6000 High Country with the same 1.75 paddle track as yours and on packed trials his would over heat.
The deep lug paddle would not kick up the snow to the heat exchanger so he had to put on ice scratchers, that helped a lot

 

[cobrajet ltx dx]

My buddy has a XF6000 High Country with the same 1.75 paddle track as yours and on packed trials his would over heat.
The deep lug paddle would not kick up the snow to the heat exchanger so he had to put on ice scratchers, that helped a lot

One of the best things about a viper/7000,
No heat exchangers in tunnel. Rad/fan front cooler setup. This setup hardly ever overheats unless there is a mechanical issue.

 

[blueironranger]

XF HC, that model comes with the 141" 2.25 powerclaw and 40" mountain spindle front right? Not sure if AC puts that same weak 110# spring on the front skid shock but if so install a 160# spring (AKA Stingray spring) to help make the front end A LOT easier to get off the ground and more "playful" in powder. The stock cat mountain ski is too skinny also, I went with power pro's on my Viper XTX.

 

[Joshua Smith]

My HC cat does have the 141" skid with 2.25" lugs. I have the fox float shocks so I cant put different coils on the front. it is the mountain chassis with the nice cat powder skis. I hope it is somewhat playful in the powder even though it is a 4s. I did buy the rt-cool ski mounted scratchers to help with the hyfax wear.

 

[ccmviper]

Its a good playfull sled on and off trail,a really good deep snow crossover.I really like mine,there are times I wish it were lighter but thats a part of the trade off.

 

[PeeWee86]

JS-

I have the Yamaha version of your sled, a 2016 Viper MTX 141. While the sled has great potential, as it came from the factory the calibration it’s going to leave you very underwhelmed. I’m going to give you suggestions that will probably cost $1000-$1200 but will transform it. My sled, and I’m rather certain yours as well, was calibrated from the factory for deep snow and 10,000 feet of elevation. They are geared the same as a 162” x 3” MTX with theoretical top speed of less than 75 miles an hour. You will need to gear up. How far up depends on what type of riding you do. I went from the stock 21/49 gears to 22/48. This allowed the use of the original chain. I also changed from 7 tooth drivers to 8 tooth drivers. This gives me a theoretical top speed of about 103 miles an hour. The fastest I have seen is mid 90s running a 1.75 backcountry X track. Perfect for my 50-50 mix of on and off trail riding. If you do a lot off trail riding and want to continue to use the original 2.25 inch track maybe the 22/48 gears alone would be enough. The downside of changing the drive sprockets size is that the speedometer and odometer will never be accurate. My read 13% low and there is no cost effective way to recalibrate the gauge. The stock Yamaha clutch set up on mine will constantly bounce off the Rev limiter. Once again it was set up for 10,000 feet of elevation. Before I gave up on the original clutch arms I had added more than 10 grams of pin weight. I’m not sure where Arctic Cat have their initial calibrations but be prepared to do some clutch work. I would recommend getting the gearing situation addressed first, however.


Feel free to ask and I will be happy to give you insight. I have lost count but I have had at least eight different clutch setups that I have tried. The engine will continue to break in and your clutch setup will be a little bit of a moving target for the first 6-800 miles.


As for the suspension the stock Fox air shocks will always be a compromise. I ditched my rear skid shock and purchased a ZBroz X2 (about $600). They usually will go on sale the week of Haydays and again on Black Friday. I can’t say enough good things about this shock. When I ordered it ZBroz asked about my weight and driving style and they custom set up the valving for me.


As others have mentioned the spring in the front of the skid (Not the ski shocks) is too weak. Others have recommended 160 pound rate. I am running a 145 pound spring but I only weigh 155 pounds. Unless you’re a smaller guy like me, the 160 pound spring is probably the way to go. As for the front end, rather than replacing the ski shocks I elected to have them upgraded by installing EVOL kits (about $350). Probably not as good as replacing the shocks with a set of Fox QS3’s but a huge improvement from stock. I am running 62 PSI in the main chamber and 115 psi in the EVOL. For the money that I invested I am very pleased with the results.


I know this may seem like a lot of work but trust me the results of these tweaks will give you huge dividends in ride quality.


Your post questioned what others thought of how the sled rode and how it will compare to your old sled. You will be able to feel the engine weight coming into corners. It takes a little bit of a different riding style where you charge hard in to the corners and lightly get on the brakes through the apex of the corner. The torque of the four stroke on the backside of the corner is a blast! Unlike anything you will experience with any 600 class sled. A friend rode mine and remarked, “I’m not sure that I like it going in to the corners, but love it coming out of the corners”.


Enjoy the new sled. I love mine.

 

[Joshua Smith]

Thanks for the input peewee! I think I'm going to ride it for a season and see what I like and dont like as far as the suspension and clutching. I will probably do the airbox mod right off the bat just to let her breathe and a few extra ponies. I will consider doing the 160lb spring though because that seems to be a common upgrade for these machines. Are the fox floats really as bad as they are portrayed? I always though fox was suppose to be a quality product. I see some cheap coil over spring shocks on base sleds, are the floats better than those?

 

[PeeWee86]

“Are the fox floats really as bad as they are portrayed?”

You need to be a little more specific in your question. Bad at what? The Float 3’s are an decent mountain sled shock. They are lightweight and they have pretty simple basic adjustments. They are built to a price point for the OEM’s. But they are a terrible trail sled shock. And we are specifically talking about the OEM Fox Floats that you have. I believe Fox has four other grades of shocks in their float line that are above these shocks. Nothing below. The high end Fox float shocks with EVOL’s and adjustable dampening can be very good. The harder you ride them the better they feel. Many snowcross racers use them for that reason.

If you do all your riding out in the off-trail powder you may not feel the need to upgrade. However, if you use your sled as a crossover like I do, it won’t take much time going down the trail to feel where the Float 3’s are lacking.

Even if you intend to hold off and experience the poor trail suspension calibration for yourself I would still encourage you to address the gearing issue before winter. Once the snow is on the ground the season is so short. -PeeWee

 

[Vmax]

One of the best things about a viper/7000,
No heat exchangers in tunnel. Rad/fan front cooler setup. This setup hardly ever overheats unless there is a mechanical issue.

They do have a heat exchanger but it is located at the front of the tunnel instead of at the rear, plus the rad/fan in front of the chassis really helps. The only time mine starts to heat up even with the fan running is coming into town on hard packed snow and warm ambient temps

 

[cobrajet ltx dx]

They do have a heat exchanger but it is located at the front of the tunnel instead of at the rear, plus the rad/fan in front of the chassis really helps. The only time mine starts to heat up even with the fan running is coming into town on hard packed snow and warm ambient temps

Front cooler... meaning front of track, should of been more specific.

 

[Vmax]

How much does the air box modification cost and do you have to do anything else to the engine to get the performance or does the fuel mapping adjust to the added air volume.

 

[snowfever27]

How much does the air box modification cost and do you have to do anything else to the engine to get the performance or does the fuel mapping adjust to the added air volume.

The mod is free. All you need is some time and a little mechanical know how (minimal). At first people were worried about mapping but the vipers and AC7000’s were very rich from the factory so the added air actually makes them run better. My plugs went from a black color to a medium brown. I haven’t seen any negative comments about the mod from anyone on TY or elsewhere. I saw a big difference (this is a seat of the pants dyno, I don’t have any official proof) in midrange and my sled seemed to idle slightly smoother too.