Studs hitting heat exchanger/major suspension issues

[rangerapex]

Been riding a 2010 apex ltx gt for a while now. Ive had some issues with what I thought was the shock but I honestly dont know. It has a ohlins electronic shock and I had it rebuilt last year by a place in buckhorn who also installed a heavier spring. How do I actually tell if the electronic part of the shock works? My studs have hit the heat exchanger since ive bought the sled. Previous owner appears to have welded additional tunnel protectors to help it but its clearly not helping as yesterday the studs chewed right thru my exhaust and the additional protectors have chewed the lugs off my track. Im not really sure where to go from here. I will add some pictures

 

[MrSled]

Been riding a 2010 apex ltx gt for a while now. Ive had some issues with what I thought was the shock but I honestly dont know. It has a ohlins electronic shock and I had it rebuilt last year by a place in buckhorn who also installed a heavier spring. How do I actually tell if the electronic part of the shock works? My studs have hit the heat exchanger since ive bought the sled. Previous owner appears to have welded additional tunnel protectors to help it but its clearly not helping as yesterday the studs chewed right thru my exhaust and the additional protectors have chewed the lugs off my track. Im not really sure where to go from here. I will add some pictures

If the studs are more then 3/16 to 1/4 past the lug, thats part of your problem. Anything more then that on an Apex will destroy all kinds of #*$&@. If the Ohlins is working it should be give you a read out on the dash when you are in shock mode. If it was me, I would toss the studs and get a ripper track once everything is repaired. The rear heat exchanger damage is a known problem on a studded LTX.

 

[steiner]

You have the correct heat exchanger protection for 1.325" studs. As Mr Sled, if they are any longer they will hit the exchanger and exhaust. Been there done that.
When the Ripsaw 1 hits that extra protection those soft little fingers will rip off. Not a fan of that track. When my Ripsaw started losing clips and tossing studs I installed the Ice Ripper XT. It is a Ripsaw 2 with molded in studs.
This still gives you enough traction on ice to stop safely without tearing up the exchanger and exhaust. You can then scale back the amount of tunnel protection and allow the suspension to travel further before bottoming out.

 

[CaptCaper]

If you have 3.125 Woody Gold Diggers and 1 1/2 in of protection over the cooler you'll be fine.. done that to 3 Attaks and 1 Vector LTX total miles 30000 ..no issues hitting the cooler.. A few lugs missed on one machine but mostly great results.

 

[rangerapex]

Thanks for all the replies. I ended up measuring my studs and it look like they are 1.375" studs so that might explain why it ripped thru my exhaust pipe? Im going to abandon this track ; I looked up that ice ripper xt thats a awesome looking track I ended up ordering a new ice attack XT as I got a great deal on it.

Should I remove that extra protection on the heat exchanger so the lugs dont rip off my brand new track what do you guys think ?

 

[CaptCaper]

Thanks for all the replies. I ended up measuring my studs and it look like they are 1.375" studs so that might explain why it ripped thru my exhaust pipe? Im going to abandon this track ; I looked up that ice ripper xt thats a awesome looking track I ended up ordering a new ice attack XT as I got a great deal on it.

Should I remove that extra protection on the heat exchanger so the lugs dont rip off my brand new track what do you guys think ?

If I was you I'd replace those studs with Woody's Gold diggers 3.125's and check to see if the welded protection is 1 1/2 in. Can't tell by the pic.. if you do both of those spec's I gave you will never hit the cooler again and have great traction. And save a lot of money and time. I've got 30000 miles combined with these specs on Attaks and Vector LTX's with no issues.. at all.

 

[steiner]

You will still need protection on the rear exchanger but only one layer.

 

[Pete_man26]

I run 1.175 megabites with a 1" hacksaw and have had them rub through my exhaust like yours. I simply run my track a tighter now so it doesn't balloon so much.