Rail tips hitting drivers

[customnytromtx69]

hey guys

Anyone else having issues with the rail tips hitting the driver mine has done it multiple times now thought it was track ratcheting , tightened track , then today it happened again and ripped the rail cap off and spit the slide out the back.
I know the m series had a problem years ago with it , sled goin back to dealer with it but what's the fixes ?

 

[customnytromtx69]

Anyone ?? I finally got sled back from the dealer , Yamaha won't cover it under warrenty and says it's impossible for it to happen but the rail tips were wore completely through and the slides were worn really really bad In the bolt area .
I kept getting a vibration whenever the sled had the nose up that felt like track skipping but you can see evidence of the rail tips hitting the drivers and the wear proves it . I tightened the track multiple times as I thought it was ratcheting but kept getting worse . I've talked to Yamaha Canada multiple times and to no avail . Parts are only cheap but I don't want this to be a continuing issue. I'm a lifelong Yamaha customer legit bleed blue sorta guy and a mechanic by trade that used to work at the dealer . The dealer itself is being great but Yamaha Canada won't budge . Any suggestions

 

[DGZRT]

Don't they make Anti Stab kits to solve this problem?? I would look into that and get everyone's experience . I'm a trail rider but I think they are a must on a mountain sled.

 

[customnytromtx69]

She has anti stab kit from factory , just to clarify the rails didn't stab the track

 

[Dealerjohn]

Hey man, John Murphy here.

That sucks that they won't help you. I'd take the shocks out and articulate the skid to verify if it is possible to make the rail tips hit the driver. If it hitting, bring it to the dealer and show them and make them take pictures. Also, is there abnormal wear on the drivers? If so I'd want an explanation about that as well.

If you can't get the rail tips to hit then you obviously have other issues.

When I bought my Viper mtx, the rail tips were worn really bad. So bad that I replaced them. I believe it was from excessive heat in the track from not using scratchers.. sounds bizarre I know.. but the previous owner also wore out the rails in under 600km and then installed Ice Age rails and extra wheels. He thought it was Yamaha's issue that he didn't use his scratchers.. lol.

On the last ride of the year my track stuck on to the slide and cracked the screw off that holds the slide in, and spit the slide out the back.. I'm just saying, its a possibility that the 3 inch track isn't getting the proper lubrication/cooling it needs. I could be completely wrong but installing extra wheels would probably be a good idea anyways, as well as a set of ski scratchers to use in conjunction with your stock scratchers.

These cat skids produce a lot of transfer and in turn a lot of slide friction. Dupont slides help there as well. Fully clipping the track would be helpful too. Not sure if the 3 inch powerclaw is fully clipped or not..

Something else you may want to consider is a set of aftermarket drivers, like avid.

Check the chaincase as well, the chain stretching/breaking in could be enough to cause it to skip.. highly unlikely, but you never know.

I've found the track rubs a lot of places through out the skid too. might want to check for evidence of the track hooking up somewhere, under extreme conditions it could be possible.. I've got paint rubbed from some very unusual places on mine.

I'd go over to snowest and post up the same info as well. Someone else may have had an issue like yours and resolved it..

Yamaha needs to build their own chassis again. I love these new Vipers and Sidewinders, but they are Cat built and Cat quality. There are a lot of things to consider when troubleshooting a Cat that wouldn't even cross the mind of a normal Yamaha guy.

Best of luck.

 

[customnytromtx69]

Hey man, John Murphy here.

That sucks that they won't help you. I'd take the shocks out and articulate the skid to verify if it is possible to make the rail tips hit the driver. If it hitting, bring it to the dealer and show them and make them take pictures. Also, is there abnormal wear on the drivers? If so I'd want an explanation about that as well.

If you can't get the rail tips to hit then you obviously have other issues.

When I bought my Viper mtx, the rail tips were worn really bad. So bad that I replaced them. I believe it was from excessive heat in the track from not using scratchers.. sounds bizarre I know.. but the previous owner also wore out the rails in under 600km and then installed Ice Age rails and extra wheels. He thought it was Yamaha's issue that he didn't use his scratchers.. lol.

On the last ride of the year my track stuck on to the slide and cracked the screw off that holds the slide in, and spit the slide out the back.. I'm just saying, its a possibility that the 3 inch track isn't getting the proper lubrication/cooling it needs. I could be completely wrong but installing extra wheels would probably be a good idea anyways, as well as a set of ski scratchers to use in conjunction with your stock scratchers.

These cat skids produce a lot of transfer and in turn a lot of slide friction. Dupont slides help there as well. Fully clipping the track would be helpful too. Not sure if the 3 inch powerclaw is fully clipped or not..

Something else you may want to consider is a set of aftermarket drivers, like avid.

Check the chaincase as well, the chain stretching/breaking in could be enough to cause it to skip.. highly unlikely, but you never know.

I've found the track rubs a lot of places through out the skid too. might want to check for evidence of the track hooking up somewhere, under extreme conditions it could be possible.. I've got paint rubbed from some very unusual places on mine.

I'd go over to snowest and post up the same info as well. Someone else may have had an issue like yours and resolved it..

Yamaha needs to build their own chassis again. I love these new Vipers and Sidewinders, but they are Cat built and Cat quality. There are a lot of things to consider when troubleshooting a Cat that wouldn't even cross the mind of a normal Yamaha guy.

Best of luck.

Hey man , thanks for the excellent reply. Ya I currently have the skid out to install the new tips and slides anyway, my thoughts on the situation are the stock centre spring on the mtx came from the factory tight as possible , my thoughts is that the spring is too weak and knowing that with it tightened to its max it isn't working properly as the problem got worse and worse as the season progressed and the spring got used more sorta thing. I purchased the 160lb spring from cat and have that on her now for next season . I will be doing what you suggestions and cycling the skid through and trying to get it to hit the drivers without the shocks,
Funny your mention the fully clipped the dealer gave me a bag of clips and told me to fully clip it as well .
Regards to the scratchers I religiously run mine due to the 3 inch in the first place but I will get another set and run both and see how it goes. My slides were not showing any amount of excessive wear or more so in one spot than another ( minus the area of the tips and slide bolts). Which actually surprised me because really I was expecting and fully prepared to be changing slides a lot which didn't bother me in the least.
In regards to the chassis itself , I'm pretty pleased with it overall the motor and power far exceeds any flaws in my opinion . Being a lifelong Yamaha guy you can def see where Yamaha had some input and had their hands on it and where they let cat just take care of some areas!! I'd love to see Yamaha do another in house chassis but honestly after my nytro (bought new first year) the amount of time and $$ I spent on that thing to get it where it could have been from the factory was but much. Now don't get me wrong loved the sled and it had amazing potential but it could have came a lot better from factory BUT it was tough she took a beating everyday of her life and just kept going which is why I buy Yamaha in the first place .
Chain case and chain tension has been checked and will be again when I do some gearing changes in the pre season .
I will most def be checking into the drivers if this is a continuing issue next season and that you for the suggestions that is what I was looking for in case I hadn't of thought of something!
So once again thank you for the insightful and well written reply

 

[cannondale27]

Check hole position the skid is mounted. This wouldn't be the first that the factory hole position just did not work.

 

[cannondale27]

Here
https://ty4stroke.com/threads/rubbing-sound-at-front-of-skid.138452/page-6

 

[Stray-bear]

I'm having the same problem on my MTX, I just ordered a new front track spring from zbroz part # 101-yam-cntr. Takes your front track spring rate from 120 to 165/170. first thing i am doing to this sled, i bottom the skid out every time i go over a ditch or get it any higher than 2' off the ground. should help out with your bottoming out issue as well.

 

[customnytromtx69]

Ya I have mine changed to the cat 180 spring and it’s resolved a lot of the issue , still happens every blue moon but def a lot better . I think I might even go heavier later this season. Only reason I didn’t the first time is I am worried about her being to light on the nose in the snow ! But thank you for the information!

 

[Roughriders]

Ya I have mine changed to the cat 180 spring and it’s resolved a lot of the issue , still happens every blue moon but def a lot better . I think I might even go heavier later this season. Only reason I didn’t the first time is I am worried about her being to light on the nose in the snow ! But thank you for the information!

the 2017 demo I rode also did this, rail tips hitting drivers. the 2018 I purchased has not done it so far. hopefully you have it figured

 

[errol]

Mine has a slight vibration if I exceed a certain speed and if I'm riding in powder with the front slighly in the air...
I already have the 160lbs center spring. So should I tighten it more ?

 

[customnytromtx69]

I have the 180lb roughly 3/4 wrapped , anything after that I believe the spring won’t correctly work , I’m going to try a heavier one before end of the season I think