Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
Your sled has been done for a few years now, have you had any cracks develop around the welds?
kennyspec
Expert
I have probably about 500kms on it now. I mostly ditchbang with it so it has been through some good bumps. I havent rode it in the last year as i picked up a sidewinder. I really want to turbo the tubie I built. then it will be real fun. So far no cracks at all. Notch and weld some scrap .035 together and then beat on it with a hammer. You will be surprised what it can take. Switching to a thinner tungsten helps a LOT welding the .035
Good work!! id really like to do another tubie using the cat chassis. Also you should look into using Bendtech. Its awesome.
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
I tried .040 tungsten and ended going back to 1/16, I don’t know what you used but I have an easier time with the 1/16 and .045 filler.
Glad to hear your frame is holding up. If I can get some good testing in this next winter then I will do a version 2.0 and pickup bend tech for sure, especially since I have a frame to measure from. Bend tech would be nice for designing the tunnel and seeing weight comparisons between tube diameters and thicknesses.
First thing is to get this rideable for testing.
Glad to hear your frame is holding up. If I can get some good testing in this next winter then I will do a version 2.0 and pickup bend tech for sure, especially since I have a frame to measure from. Bend tech would be nice for designing the tunnel and seeing weight comparisons between tube diameters and thicknesses.
First thing is to get this rideable for testing.
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
Found an old pic of Ricks(rlcofmn)chassis. He was at 49 lbs with all the steering but no rear suspension mounts, cooling or tunnel skin. His frame was built very strong. Sadly it never got finished.
I’ll stand by what I said earlier, anything under 50 lbs with coolers is going to be really impressive. Would have been interesting to know the weight of @kennyspec chassis with the Pro front clip and cooler for comparison.
I’ll stand by what I said earlier, anything under 50 lbs with coolers is going to be really impressive. Would have been interesting to know the weight of @kennyspec chassis with the Pro front clip and cooler for comparison.
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
Got some tedious stuff done. Figured out where the new tubes need to be and installed hose clamps so there wouldn’t be any guess work once it was back in the jig.
Ground down the steering arm bracket some more so I would have ample tie rod clearance. I didn’t grind all the way thru but I welded the inside corners after just to be safe.
I realized I was getting complacent with my weight loss when every gram counts in this build. I ground out the gussets that my 1” pyramid tubes welded too. They didn’t need to be nearly as big as I originally made them but I wasn’t sure where the 1” tube was going to hit so I made them big to start with.
Drilled a hole in the longest of the chaincase tabs. It’s a small weight loss but between the other stuff it adds up, probably equals the weight of a bolt.
Did a big shop clean and got the frame back in the jig. Will get the 1” tubes done tomorrow. Feels good to have the tie rod issue resolved and moving forward again.
Ground down the steering arm bracket some more so I would have ample tie rod clearance. I didn’t grind all the way thru but I welded the inside corners after just to be safe.
I realized I was getting complacent with my weight loss when every gram counts in this build. I ground out the gussets that my 1” pyramid tubes welded too. They didn’t need to be nearly as big as I originally made them but I wasn’t sure where the 1” tube was going to hit so I made them big to start with.
Drilled a hole in the longest of the chaincase tabs. It’s a small weight loss but between the other stuff it adds up, probably equals the weight of a bolt.
Did a big shop clean and got the frame back in the jig. Will get the 1” tubes done tomorrow. Feels good to have the tie rod issue resolved and moving forward again.
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
1” tubes done and plugged the holes in the top of the lower tubes.
Going to weld in the upper a-arm gussets tonight and then it’s back into the jig for a frame flex test.
Going to weld in the upper a-arm gussets tonight and then it’s back into the jig for a frame flex test.
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
Went back and forth between using .090 plate or 1x1/2x.035 rectangle for the gusset. The rectangle gave 3” of weld vs 2” on the gusset and I figured rectangle would be less likely to tear away in tension. Weight was the same for both. I would do the front a little different next time so the tube work didn’t look funky.
Weight is 34.35 lbs subtracting the steering stops. I have it back in the jig now, there’s still a little bit of frame flex but I can’t tell where it’s coming from because I can’t lift and watch at the same time. Going to have my Dad come over and give me a hand.
I really thought I could get away with not having to use any removable frame members but that might not be the case.
Weight is 34.35 lbs subtracting the steering stops. I have it back in the jig now, there’s still a little bit of frame flex but I can’t tell where it’s coming from because I can’t lift and watch at the same time. Going to have my Dad come over and give me a hand.
I really thought I could get away with not having to use any removable frame members but that might not be the case.
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Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
Took a few minutes to figure out the flex but it was just the jig shock towers flexing forward a little, the frame itself has no flex, huge relief to not have to weld in any more tube.
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kinger
VIP Member
It sure looks rigid to me!
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
One last pic I took before going back in the jig.
kinger
VIP Member
I like the 50 lb weight goal for the chassis, I will shoot for this as well once I get mine running properly and sorted.
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
It’s possible for sure. I did some math last night and if I replaced all the 1” x .049 and .058 with .035 and made some of my brackets out of thinner material I think I could drop another 4 lbs but durability with the .035 in the motor mount and lower a-arm area would be unknown. Worth testing if I build another.
For the tunnel maybe a 1-piece carbon fiber tunnel with a little .035 chromoly just to tie the suspension mounts into the bulkhead.
Aluminum sheet is heavy, I don’t think I could substitute any of my tube for sheet metal and save weight but CF is another story.
For the tunnel maybe a 1-piece carbon fiber tunnel with a little .035 chromoly just to tie the suspension mounts into the bulkhead.
Aluminum sheet is heavy, I don’t think I could substitute any of my tube for sheet metal and save weight but CF is another story.
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
The shock bearings that come standard in the WE air shocks are some kind of plastic(UHMW maybe) spherical bearing with a steel inner ball and are retained with steel snap rings. I would have had to make 8 aluminum reducers/spacers for these and I didn’t want to add weight. I test fit a bushing setup from one of the rear suspension Fox shocks and they fit so I ordered a set of 4 off eBay. All 4 of the AC bushings are the same weight as the WE bearings.
Complete weight with bushings is only 2.21 lbs. Most of the reviews I’ve read on these shocks aren’t very good but they are light and hopefully my skis will be in the air all the time. At least they are easy to take apart to adjust the amount of shock oil or valving. If they end up being horrible then I’ll get other shocks, only way to know will be to ride it.
With the shocks done I got my final front suspension weight. Here’s how it breaks down.
5.39 lbs - lower arms w/ bj’s and collars
1.88 lbs - upper arms w/ rod ends & bushings
6.78 lbs - spindles w/ axles & spacers
4.42 lbs - shocks w/ bushings
1.33 lbs - all remaining bolts/nuts/washers
Total front suspension weight is 19.80 lbs
When I weighed my Nytro it had the Skinz front end with Ohlins shocks & Ti springs. That complete weight was 27.21 lbs.
So 7.41 lbs off the front end.
I’m going to leave all the 8mm bolts steel but I will eventually buy 10mm & 12mm Ti bolts for the lower a-arms.
Complete weight with bushings is only 2.21 lbs. Most of the reviews I’ve read on these shocks aren’t very good but they are light and hopefully my skis will be in the air all the time. At least they are easy to take apart to adjust the amount of shock oil or valving. If they end up being horrible then I’ll get other shocks, only way to know will be to ride it.
With the shocks done I got my final front suspension weight. Here’s how it breaks down.
5.39 lbs - lower arms w/ bj’s and collars
1.88 lbs - upper arms w/ rod ends & bushings
6.78 lbs - spindles w/ axles & spacers
4.42 lbs - shocks w/ bushings
1.33 lbs - all remaining bolts/nuts/washers
Total front suspension weight is 19.80 lbs
When I weighed my Nytro it had the Skinz front end with Ohlins shocks & Ti springs. That complete weight was 27.21 lbs.
So 7.41 lbs off the front end.
I’m going to leave all the 8mm bolts steel but I will eventually buy 10mm & 12mm Ti bolts for the lower a-arms.
