Track clips again

[ReX]

Last season there were many posts about people loosing track clips on their Apex sleds.

I commented that I'd never lost a single clip ever, nor had any of my buddies. In total we had well over 50,000 kms worth of riding on Apex sleds.

Today I checked over my 2007 RTX and to my surprise I'm missing or have broken 11 clips.

On top of that there are at least another 10 that are loose and 1 that I was able to remove with my hand.

Its split about equally between flat and guide clips and about half of the guide clips are not actually missing, but they are missing just the guide.

Looking at the clips carefully I can see that it is the leading edge that has loosened off almost as if the clips were hitting something or dragging hard on the slides.

The only thing I can think of is I have run the track very loose at times and I wonder if the clips can get pushed into the rail caps in deep snow. The rail caps are in perfect shape and are both tight (I installed two nuts and bolts in each when the sled was new) so loose rail caps is definitely not the cause.

Another problem I had with my sled on the 2nd ride (when new) is in order to control ratcheting I had the track very tight and this caused the hyfax to wear rapidly at the curve of the rail. The left side hyfax actually overheated and this overheated the left side track clips (they slightly melted into the track at the ends away from the hyfax). I'd expect to see the left side clips only missing, but both left and right sides are missing about the same number of clips. The right side never overheated.

One final note is I am running Skidoo anti-ratchet drive sprockets. With the Yamaha setup I couldn't get the ratcheting under control without the track so tight it ate hyfax. I haven't heard of Skidoo's loosing track clips so I don't think that is the cause.

Its a mistery...

Are any of you still loosing track clips? Have any of you figured out the cause? My best guess is too loose a track combined with lots of hyfax drag (with the overtight track at the beginning).

I guess its time to invest in a track clip tool and a bunch of track clips. Because of this I also plan to change the track very soon.

 

[AttakDog]

I have done tons of these clips on both the Rx1 and Attak. New track (fully clipped) with wall drivers so no clips yet this year on the Attak

 

[sobfrogg]

Yamaha replaced my track at the end of the 06 season. They claimed that the clips were comming off due to my track being loose. When the dealer told them that my adjusters were 1 turn from spec. Or the track was loose by 1 turn of the adjusters. Yami wanted my track and they replaced under warranty.

So at the end of 07 season, all the clips were gone on the right side and 1/2 were missing from the left side. The track was not ratcheting so it was VERY tight. Clips were still gone. My end caps look great and are still tight w/ the bolts I installed.
All I can think is the track being tight and getting heated up by poor snow conditions are causing the clips to loosen and fall off. There are several dents in my bever tail from track clips. It kind of screws up the reflection comming off my shinny tail........

This year, Another new track. This time an 1.5" lug .. Wahl extro's. Fix's low snow wheels on the front curve of the slides. Pioneer bogie relocation kit(lowers bogies aound 1/8 below hyfaxes. 8" rear axle wheels.

Now I can run the track loose. I have removed the friction of the hyfaxes and my track WILL NOT ratchet. Lets see how many clips I have at the end of this season.

Frogg

 

[Randy J Beyer]

2000 miles on Apex GT 06 and no clip issue yet ! Checked them and they look like they are getting
a little thin from HY-Fax ware !

 

[ahicks]

You might have a look at the outside drivers. See if the inside of the cogs themselves are showing some wear/wierdness from catching the clips? That might only affect the guide clips though.

 

[sobfrogg]

The stock drivers I took off have 3000 miles and look brand new.

 

[Len Todd]

If the clips got really hot and you stopped, they could have "fastened" themselves to the hyfax. Then when you took off, they got loosened, if not pulled right off. Once they are loose, they will not last long. Could it be that you heated them up since you last looked at them? Usually if you overheat them, the Hyfax builds up on the leading edge of the clips. Been there, ... a couple times.

Also, as ahicks said, you may want to inspect the drivers for related wear.

These are snowmobiles, if your heating up the clips, it is an indicator that you are riding in poor conditions. Once they get thin, it does not take much heat or contact with drivers to pop them off.

And last but not least, the higher the track lugs, the more snow you need. If you go to a 1.5" lug and ride in the same poor conditions, it is even more likely that you will burn the clips and/or rip them off.

 

[sobfrogg]

Ok, I looked at last seasons track. The clips that are still there are in great shape. There is no sign of over heating on the track inbetween the clips. The windows that are not open show no sign of friction. I was only in low snow once last year and the clips were still there.

I noticed the missing clips after playing in deep snow and carving .

The hyfaxes I changed had plenty of meat left to them. Only worn about 1/2 way.

So, This leaves me to look at the steep aproach angle of the mono. Not sure what I can do about this. Changing out the rear skid is not an option.



Almost forgot. Yes I know that an 1.5 lug track can cause the hyfaxes to starve of lube(snow) Very seldomly am I on hard packed trails. Even w/ the 1.25 track I still ran it into loose snow for more lube..
Hehehehehehe i said lube hehehehe

 

[ReX]

I noticed the missing clips after playing in deep snow and carving .

I think mine went missing after playing in deep snow and carving also.

I'm sure there were all there at least a few 100 miles before we got the big dump of snow. I then rode a good 100 miles doing a lot of very deep trail breaking, a fair bit playing around in a field and playing in some big drifts.

It was after the deep snow riding that I discovered the clips missing.

I still wonder if the track is getting pushed into the rail tips a little and touching the tips. This would cause a fairly regular minor impact, which could open up the clip on the leading side (exactly as mine did).

I've checked the drive sprockets and everything very carefully. Everything except for the track clips, the broken limiter straps and the idler wheels that the broken limiter got sucked under is in great shape (actually there is also a small crack, a few mm long, starting in a slide rail where the optional 5th and 6th idler wheels mount - its another one of those unsupported idler mounting setups identical to the monoshock. Yamaha added reinforcements to the Monoshock to reduce the cracks, but the ProAcive doesn't have anything for these optional wheels. I'm not exactly surprised to see a crack starting there. The rails are still straight though).

With the limiter straps being broken, the front of the skid would droop down more than normal, allowing the rail tips to be more prone to being hit by the clips.

The two front, center idlers got shredded by the limiter straps. The straps broke a little more than 1/2 way up, leaving enough limiter strap to get sucked under the idlers. Those two idlers have pretty much no rubber left on them.

 

[Len Todd]

I've checked the drive sprockets and everything very carefully. Everything except for the track clips, the broken limiter straps and the idler wheels that the broken limiter got sucked under is in great shape (actually there is also a small crack, a few mm long, starting in a slide rail where the optional 5th and 6th idler wheels mount - its another one of those unsupported idler mounting setups identical to the monoshock. Yamaha added reinforcements to the Monoshock to reduce the cracks, but the ProAcive doesn't have anything for these optional wheels. I'm not exactly surprised to see a crack starting there. The rails are still straight though).

With the limiter straps being broken, the front of the skid would droop down more than normal, allowing the rail tips to be more prone to being hit by the clips.

The two front, center idlers got shredded by the limiter straps. The straps broke a little more than 1/2 way up, leaving enough limiter strap to get sucked under the idlers. Those two idlers have pretty much no rubber left on them.

And now we get the "rest of the story?"

 

[welterracer]

Rex..

I switched to Rx-1 slides like you did, and slydog wheels, I have over 1000 mile on the slides already this year and they have a ton of life left..

This cut my hyfax wear in half..

THanks


Brian..


P.S. i had worn out all of my track clips at 4323 miles and replaced them all.. I now have 5370 on the sled and all is good ..

 

[Kevin Garceau]

what do the slydog wheels offer? Are they a tad bit bigger?

 

[welterracer]

the front slydog wheels suck snow into the skid, and the rear wheels suck the remaining snow out.. not to mention they are lighter and the snow does not stick to them..

But they are pricy..

 

[Sled_Doctor]

Last year my '06 Attak lost a handful of clips everytime I went out. It didn't seem to matter what the snow conditions were. I tried everything: Bolting the caps solid, sucking up the limiter strap, track loose, track tight. I was very frustrated....This year I cut off all remaining clips and replaced all new. So far so good with 600 miles. This is on a stock 1.25 ripsaw.

 

[ReX]

I've checked the drive sprockets and everything very carefully. Everything except for the track clips, the broken limiter straps and the idler wheels that the broken limiter got sucked under is in great shape (actually there is also a small crack, a few mm long, starting in a slide rail where the optional 5th and 6th idler wheels mount - its another one of those unsupported idler mounting setups identical to the monoshock. Yamaha added reinforcements to the Monoshock to reduce the cracks, but the ProAcive doesn't have anything for these optional wheels. I'm not exactly surprised to see a crack starting there. The rails are still straight though).

With the limiter straps being broken, the front of the skid would droop down more than normal, allowing the rail tips to be more prone to being hit by the clips.

The two front, center idlers got shredded by the limiter straps. The straps broke a little more than 1/2 way up, leaving enough limiter strap to get sucked under the idlers. Those two idlers have pretty much no rubber left on them.

And now we get the "rest of the story?"

Yes, its very possible the broken limiter straps contributed to the problem - although I still don't think the geometry is such that the clips should be hitting the rail tips even with the limiter straps removed/broken.

With the broken straps, the rear of the suspension compressed and the front raised, the rail tips are still no where near the clips. I suspect it also takes deep snow, a loose track and specific conditions as well (perhaps a sudden decrease in throttle or something) to then push the track inwards at the front so the clips rattle against the rail tips (loosening them off at the leading end).

One thing I have noticed is the track clips seem to be mostly missing/loosed off in side by side pairs. If this theory is correct, its almost like if one clip hits the rail tip, the one beside it is likely to also hit.

The next question is why are the limiter straps all breaking on these 07 RTXs.