Shock Islet damage from studs

[Murse]

Any one else notice this just had to get my islet replaced 70$ from hygear on my shock where it bolts to the skid the studs rub against it was pretty worn. Ulmer sells a track saver kit. anyone have it? does it work? is it worth it?

 

[viperguy]

Yes it works and worth it. I have no wear on my shock.

 

[02ViperMody44]

Yes it happened on my '13 Apex XTX's front skid shock, with just shy of 3400 miles last year. Having my shocks revalved at Hygear and they didn't have one, so I had to locate a "good" used XTX shock for them. I subsequently spoke to hibshman25, makers of the front end saver kit, and I guess he can repair them/reweld them. So when I get my shock back, I may have him weld it for me as a spare. I did pick up the saver kit from Pioneer, but he was unsure if it would work on the newer XTX's shock, Looks like I may need a longer bolt that what comes with his kit, and I'll give it a try once my shocks come in which may be tomorrow.

 

[Murse]

Nice thanks.

 

[sgauthier]

02vipermody, check the bottom of the front shock on your XTX skid. the studs hit the shock there as well if the studs are too close to the centre of the track. i added ulmers fix for the top of the rear shock but there is nothing for the bottom of the front shock. i restudded last year and i removed the studs that were to close to the centre so hopefully that helped in that area

 

[Blue Dave]

Ulmer's kit works. I ran the kit for several years after noticing the mono shock top mounting area wear shortly after studding my track. The wear on the shock completely stopped after installing the kit.

I went to an ice ripper xt track last year after having a stud tear out and the Ulmer kit was still working fine with the original bearings still spinning and in good shape after several thousands of miles.

Anyone with studs in the very center of their track should have Ulmer's kit.

 

[02ViperMody44]

02vipermody, check the bottom of the front shock on your XTX skid. the studs hit the shock there as well if the studs are too close to the centre of the track. i added ulmers fix for the top of the rear shock but there is nothing for the bottom of the front shock. i restudded last year and i removed the studs that were to close to the centre so hopefully that helped in that area

Yeah that's what's happening. I may have to break down and change some studs around, but I'd figure I'd give Pioneers' shock saver kit a try first.

 

[Yamadog]

I ran them on both an RX and an Apex both sets failed due to siezures of the bearings at a little over 3000 miles.

 

[Yamadog]

I forgot to mention I went another direction I milled down a piece of old hyfax to 1/2" used a heat gun to form it to the outer casing of the shock mount and then J B welded it to the shock top and had a lot better luck.

 

[Blue Dave]

I ran them on both an RX and an Apex both sets failed due to siezures of the bearings at a little over 3000 miles.

Were you using the Ulmer kit or Pioneer kit? The bearings on my Ulmer kit are still good after several thousand miles.

 

[Yamadog]

pioneer

 

[sgauthier]

bearing is a bearing, like the idlers they need to be checked yearly and greased. when i do my preseason i will be checking those along with the rest of the skid. i had thought of making something like you did Yamadog but didn't have the time, went this route instead. not sure if Ulmer has anything for the lower front yet for the XTX. he mentioend he might have something soon but that was last year.

 

[Yamadog]

yes I wasn't blaming it on pioneer they didn't make the bearing it is a maintenance issue but they are sealed bearing and short of removing them and tearing off the dirt shield there is not much. You can do

 

[Blue Dave]

Not all bearings are equal in quality. I have no idea what brand Ulmer or Pioneer uses but it is possible that Ulmer uses a higher quality bearing in his kit.

Or maybe I was just lucky to get about 7000 miles so far out of my Ulmer kit with zero maintenance on the two bearings which still spin fine.