Weight transfer with snow trackers

[HUS457]

Hey all, I just picked up some aggressive snow trackers for my Stryke skis. I read over the instructions before I headed to work tonight & noticed Snow Tracker recommends 3 things;

1. 0 Toe.
2. Set the centre shock to 70% weight off the skis
3. Set weight transfer to transfer weight to the skid

0 toe is easy. 70% weight is vague, not sure how one would measure that. Plus the EPS would make that hard to assess? But I'll tighten the centre shock spring a turn and see it that makes a difference & go from there. But I'm not clear on the weight transfer. I've heard it mentioned before, and I guess I understand the general concept of shifting weight to the track on acceleration. But I'm not clear on how to make those adjustments. Or how much of an adjustment to make and where? I don't need wheelies, especially if they come at a cost of pushing in corners. My overall preference would be for the sled to ride it's on rails. But I also don't want inside ski lift due to ski weight & trackers digging trenches.

So I guess my question is; for those with Snow Trackers, especially those with Trackers & eps, what changes did you make for weight transfer & what were the results?

I understand every sled & rider will be different depending on riding style, rider weight & conditions, but I'd like to have a starting point. I feel suspension changes can be a bit of a rabbit hole. Everything is on stock settings now on my 23 GT. Snow trackers are not yet installed.

Tx

 

[KnappAttack]

I can tell you this, I have been running Aggressive SnowTrackers since they came out on Doo skis, setting zero toe is easy and should be done. Cranking up the front arm spring is not needed when I run them on my Doo skis on the ProCross. I in fact go the other way, and loosen the front arm spring, I did the same on my Ski-Doos and I also tightened the limiter straps on my Ski-Doos. The SnowTrackers are the easiest steering carbide on the market, which I had to have on the Doos because the Doos steer much harder.

Now how they work on a Strike ski I have no idea. I do know the Strike is like the Cat ski, and I found the SnowTrackers on my old 2012 and my buddies 2017 Cat to be unstable and I needed a death grip on the bars on both of those machines. I wouldn't run them on my old 2012 and took them off of there, my buddy also took them off his 2017 Cat and went to the Doo ski with SnowTrackers. They work great on the Doo skis for certain.

I believe they sit to far forward on the Cat ski and that is what makes them unstable. There should be 55% or more on the rearward side of the spindle centerline for carbides, and I believe that not to be the case on the Cat skis and trackers. So is it the same as the Strike, I don't know, maybe this is their fix is to take the pressure off the front end? If so, I think its crap and just a band aid. I love SnowTrackers on the Doo and old Yamaha skis, they are simply the best. Haven't run them yet on my EPS sled but when I doo they will be on the Doo skis and not the Strike skis.

 

[Simplespeed]

First and foremost spending time on suspension adjustmments to achieve the balance your looking for is time well spent.. Taking weight off ski’s by adjusting spring down can be controlled using limiter straps and lighter spring settings on front end so your letting the ski’s float so to speak and not shoveing them into the ground… Transfer on the rear sissor ( moving forward ) can be adjusted with blocks or removing blocks and running just the bar .. Then set rear shock to the number two (2) position and it will tranfer…

 

[HUS457]

I can tell you this, I have been running Aggressive SnowTrackers since they came out on Doo skis, setting zero toe is easy and should be done. Cranking up the front arm spring is not needed when I run them on my Doo skis on the ProCross. I in fact go the other way, and loosen the front arm spring, I did the same on my Ski-Doos and I also tightened the limiter straps on my Ski-Doos. The SnowTrackers are the easiest steering carbide on the market, which I had to have on the Doos because the Doos steer much harder.

Now how they work on a Strike ski I have no idea. I do know the Strike is like the Cat ski, and I found the SnowTrackers on my old 2012 and my buddies 2017 Cat to be unstable and I needed a death grip on the bars on both of those machines. I wouldn't run them on my old 2012 and took them off of there, my buddy also took them off his 2017 Cat and went to the Doo ski with SnowTrackers. They work great on the Doo skis for certain.

I believe they sit to far forward on the Cat ski and that is what makes them unstable. There should be 55% or more on the rearward side of the spindle centerline for carbides, and I believe that not to be the case on the Cat skis and trackers. So is it the same as the Strike, I don't know, maybe this is their fix is to take the pressure off the front end? If so, I think its crap and just a band aid. I love SnowTrackers on the Doo and old Yamaha skis, they are simply the best. Haven't run them yet on my EPS sled but when I doo they will be on the Doo skis and not the Strike skis.

Thanks Knapp Attack. I know from previous threads you like the doo skis. I thought of going to the 6.7's too but rolled the dice on the Tracker/Stryke set up as it'd be simpler and less costly. Some fellas gave positive feedback using Trackers on Stryke so fingers crossed it works out. I'll post my results once I log some miles on them. I'll check the % rearward on the Stryke too. Thanks for the quick response!

 

[HUS457]

First and foremost spending time on suspension adjustmments to achieve the balance your looking for is time well spent.. Taking weight off ski’s by adjusting spring down can be controlled using limiter straps and lighter spring settings on front end so your letting the ski’s float so to speak and not shoveing them into the ground… Transfer on the rear sissor ( moving forward ) can be adjusted with blocks or removing blocks and running just the bar .. Then set rear shock to the number two (2) position and it will tranfer…

Simplespeed, I'm green to the suspension dynamics. Can you tell me what you mean by "spring down"?

 

[Simplespeed]

Front track shock spring down meaning your tightening the spring which produces lift. ( wheelies ) in extreme cases. Typically to get weight off front ski’s you tighten this spring.. When you run aggressive carbide, you may need to reduce ski pressure ( spring down tighten )

 

[HUS457]

kk, gottcha. Tx!

 

[earthling]

Hey all, I just picked up some aggressive snow trackers for my Stryke skis. I read over the instructions before I headed to work tonight & noticed Snow Tracker recommends 3 things;

1. 0 Toe.
2. Set the centre shock to 70% weight off the skis
3. Set weight transfer to transfer weight to the skid

0 toe is easy. 70% weight is vague, not sure how one would measure that. Plus the EPS would make that hard to assess? But I'll tighten the centre shock spring a turn and see it that makes a difference & go from there. But I'm not clear on the weight transfer. I've heard it mentioned before, and I guess I understand the general concept of shifting weight to the track on acceleration. But I'm not clear on how to make those adjustments. Or how much of an adjustment to make and where? I don't need wheelies, especially if they come at a cost of pushing in corners. My overall preference would be for the sled to ride it's on rails. But I also don't want inside ski lift due to ski weight & trackers digging trenches.

So I guess my question is; for those with Snow Trackers, especially those with Trackers & eps, what changes did you make for weight transfer & what were the results?

I understand every sled & rider will be different depending on riding style, rider weight & conditions, but I'd like to have a starting point. I feel suspension changes can be a bit of a rabbit hole. Everything is on stock settings now on my 23 GT. Snow trackers are not yet installed.

Tx

With a scale. Either a bathroom scale (protected by something so the carbides don't bite in, or some kind of hanging scale which you can then measure off of the a-arm. The 70% doesn't come from the center shock, it comes from the front ski shocks. Loosen the front ski shocks so the arms are level. If you do this without changing the center shock, it will remove weight from the front skis. To create transfer, you make sure the limiter straps are loose and dial back preload on the rear torsion springs. Again, without changing the center shock much. This will create a bit of a pivot point around the center shock as it will now have the most preload on the sled. Are these the 19411 model?

 

[HUS457]

With a scale. Either a bathroom scale (protected by something so the carbides don't bite in, or some kind of hanging scale which you can then measure off of the a-arm. The 70% doesn't come from the center shock, it comes from the front ski shocks. Loosen the front ski shocks so the arms are level. If you do this without changing the center shock, it will remove weight from the front skis. To create transfer, you make sure the limiter straps are loose and dial back preload on the rear torsion springs. Again, without changing the center shock much. This will create a bit of a pivot point around the center shock as it will now have the most preload on the sled. Are these the 19411 model?

Yes 19411. Earthling, this is my 2nd sled, my 1st being a X-TX skid without torsion springs. When you say dial back preload on the torsion springs, do you mean to set that cam to the "1" position?

 

[earthling]

Yes 19411. Earthling, this is my 2nd sled, my 1st being a X-TX skid without torsion springs. When you say dial back preload on the torsion springs, do you mean to set that cam to the "1" position?

Yes. The torsion springs are holding up the back, removing some preload will allow more transfer although I am not sure why this is their recommendation. On the apex I just set 0 toe, loosened the front shocks and set the center shock so the track was flat when it was lowered to the ground. It was on rails, literally.

 

[HUS457]

Yes. The torsion springs are holding up the back, removing some preload will allow more transfer although I am not sure why this is their recommendation. On the apex I just set 0 toe, loosened the front shocks and set the center shock so the track was flat when it was lowered to the ground. It was on rails, literally.

Gottcha. Not sure if they'll be enough riding time left to sort this one out this year. I'll try to limit my changes to 1 per ride. Hope to get the Snow trackers on before this weekend. What did you do with the SRX? Did you go with snow trackers on that?

 

[earthling]

Gottcha. Not sure if they'll be enough riding time left to sort this one out this year. I'll try to limit my changes to 1 per ride. Hope to get the Snow trackers on before this weekend. What did you do with the SRX? Did you go with snow trackers on that?

No snow trackers on SRX, I find the front end to be pretty good already. The apex had a lot bigger problem with the tuner skis, trackers on it were almost mandatory. On the SRX I find the front end has a bit of predictable push which I was going to work on this year but not enough snow or consistent enough conditions to do anything other than ride when the opportunity arose. The plan is likely mission offset carbides first and if they don't work out then semi-aggressive trackers.

 

[Turboflash]

I can tell you this, I have been running Aggressive SnowTrackers since they came out on Doo skis, setting zero toe is easy and should be done. Cranking up the front arm spring is not needed when I run them on my Doo skis on the ProCross. I in fact go the other way, and loosen the front arm spring, I did the same on my Ski-Doos and I also tightened the limiter straps on my Ski-Doos. The SnowTrackers are the easiest steering carbide on the market, which I had to have on the Doos because the Doos steer much harder.

Now how they work on a Strike ski I have no idea. I do know the Strike is like the Cat ski, and I found the SnowTrackers on my old 2012 and my buddies 2017 Cat to be unstable and I needed a death grip on the bars on both of those machines. I wouldn't run them on my old 2012 and took them off of there, my buddy also took them off his 2017 Cat and went to the Doo ski with SnowTrackers. They work great on the Doo skis for certain.

I believe they sit to far forward on the Cat ski and that is what makes them unstable. There should be 55% or more on the rearward side of the spindle centerline for carbides, and I believe that not to be the case on the Cat skis and trackers. So is it the same as the Strike, I don't know, maybe this is their fix is to take the pressure off the front end? If so, I think its crap and just a band aid. I love SnowTrackers on the Doo and old Yamaha skis, they are simply the best. Haven't run them yet on my EPS sled but when I doo they will be on the Doo skis and not the Strike

For the short season here in Midwest this year I was running semi-agressive SnoTrackers on Cat skis. I decided on semi based on this site saying agressive is too much on Cat skis. Without allot of time to try to dial them in, what I can say is the semis are not aggressive enough. I had my toe at zero. Even had my center shock at pretty light. Front shocks preloaded very light. Still not enough ski pressure to negate push even on good hardpack snow. Coming into corners they just would not turn. My comparison is Stud Boy 9" Shapers which would go exactly where I pointed them.
So my dilemma now is to see if the changes I made in suspension will solve this or to try aggressive SnoTrackers or go back to 9" Shapers?

 

[HUS457]

Well, I installed the Snow Trackers today. First thing I noticed, and to anyone installing Snow Trackers on Stryke skis, the instructions say drill a 1/2” hole on a 60 degree angle toward the front of the ski 4&1/4” forward of the first hole. This isn’t correct. The first hole in a Stryke ski from the tip of the ski is a hole for the tang in the stock Yamaha carbide. There’s 5 holes in a Stryke ski, well there is in mine anyway. There’s 4 carbide studs. So the first hole is for the carbide tang & the following 4 holes are for carbide studs. The instructions should read “ Drill a hole 4&1/4” forward of the first carbide stud hole”. This is actually the second hole back from the tip of the ski. If you drill from the first hole that will put your Snow Tracker tang in the ski itself, not the keel. Also, carbide studs won’t line up with the holes. I confirmed this with Snow Tracker. They were fantastic. I called, they put me on the phone with a tech ( Sounded like at the factory with the background noise) and he texted me pics of a Stryke with Snow Trackers on properly. Cleared it up quickly.

Second, can confirm a .5 shim from the factory in the rear of the ski saddle. 0 shim in the front.

Third, possibly related to the second thing I noticed, is after 1,250 klms the rear carbide is shot. I’m assuming that that was a carbide. Looks like a thick weld forward on the host bar to the outside, then 2 carbides back to back about 3&1/4” long. The rear carbide was worn down to the bar.

I loosened the ski shocks completely & then tightened them finger tight followed by 1 full rotation with the wrench. This put my control arms at about 4 degrees. I then put the torsion springs at the softest setting.

Then I aligned the skis. Ffs. I used a 6ft level (longest straight edge I had) running from the track up to the skis and measured from there. Hard to say if theres a true edge on the ski so I used a deep socket on the carbide nuts. A lot of room for error there but didn’t see many more options. A chalk line may line the skis up but not necessarily keep them true to the bars. So this was the best option I could come up with. I’m sure theres a better way. Depending where I measured from I’m either dead on or 1/4” toe out. Let’s hope it’s the first one lol. Better then factory, looked like almost 1” toe out from factory. Miserable job getting under the sled with a stubby wrench to loosen the inside lock nuts on the tie rods. But if anyone bought a sled and didn’t check your alignment, I suggest checking it. Also, left tie rod had what seemed to be a lot of thread locker on the inside which was a pia for this job, right tie rod didn’t seem to have much at all.

I’ll try it out Sunday or Monday and see how it goes.

 

[HUS457]

Heres what the stock ones looked like after 1,250klm