Wheels for IceAge Rails

[mud99]

Which wheels and how many wheels should I run on an Apex Mountain with a Mountain Tamer Skid & IceAge Rails?

According to IceAge, I need 8" wheels. Can I get away with using the stock Yamaha wheels, or will I have problems?

Also, if I go to 8" wheels, can I run only 2? It seems to work for the Nytro, but the apex is a different beast.

Still waiting for the snow....
Mark

 

[mutley531]

I ran the Mtn Tamer with Ice Age rails last year using 2 8" Fabcraft composite wheels. I used them because they are much cheaper than billet wheels and they look fine (especially since there are only 2, inside the rails. I used the 2 wheel kit from Ice Age, no problems. The stock wheels are 7" which MAY be too small to get proper track tension (would probably be ok) and the smaller wheel MAY pull the track up too much at the rear of the rails causing more drag than using 8" wheels. You can get the Fabcraft wheels from any dealer that is a dealer for Western Power Sports. There may also be cheaper 8" wheels out there, but the Fabcraft ones are light and decent looking.

 

[scmurs]

If you're worried about only running two wheels because of durability, you can always run three with this set-up.

scmurs

 

[mud99]

Scott,
I love your three wheel setup, looks awesome, but i've already spent too much $$$$ and I don't need an offset axle.

I'm actually less concerned about the inner wheel as I am the outers - 16" is a wide track, and i'm not sure it's a good idea for it to fold over so much. I'm sure it'll work, but i'm wondering if my track will last as long.

I guess it doesn't matter though, next year i'll probably go to a challenger extreme or a power claw.

I think i'm going to try out the 2 wheel arctic cat axle from BDX ($20), along with 2 8" billet wheels from cecomponents ($89 pair)

Mark

 

[scmurs]

Scott,
I love your three wheel setup, looks awesome, but i've already spent too much $$$$ and I don't need an offset axle.

I'm actually less concerned about the inner wheel as I am the outers - 16" is a wide track, and i'm not sure it's a good idea for it to fold over so much. I'm sure it'll work, but i'm wondering if my track will last as long.

I guess it doesn't matter though, next year i'll probably go to a challenger extreme or a power claw.

I think i'm going to try out the 2 wheel arctic cat axle from BDX ($20), along with 2 8" billet wheels from cecomponents ($89 pair)

Mark

Hey Mark,

No worries. I thought you might have been worried about bearing longevity. The axle in the picture is not an offset axle. It is straight, with 8" wheels mounted to a set of Ige Age rails made with the Cat style adjusters.

Just a heads up for you. The BDX axle is made for the stock AC wheels which have a 12mm wide bearing and I believe that CE Components is using a 15mm wide bearing. You may have to modify the BDX axle and plastic adjuster blocks for a proper fit.

Scott

 

[niko]

Mark, I went with the two inner 9" billets and noticed a difference in sled being easyer to tip over in the pow as there's nothing on the out side of the rails to help stop the sled. Running just two inner two wheels I don't think you would have a problem.

Got some good trials for us to ride around tahoe too: )

 

[mud99]

Niko, good to hear you're running pretty much the same thing, i'm hoping the setup works well for me. Still have a lot of work to do on the Apex before the season starts.

Did you change the top wheels as well, or just the rear?

Let me know when and where you want to ride once the season starts, and we'll get something set up.

Mark

 

[niko]

Just the back wheels for now but I will buy a top set this winter once I save some coin. I've got a 05 rmk polaris picked up cheep from a mate so thats what I'm riding this winter. Will be weird without my apex 4 stroke. May have to work on it a little too. Let me know if you need help with the apex as I won't be working till late December.

 

[mud99]

I just got everything bolted together - the BDX axle works fine, the cecomponent wheels are ok, not the greatest milling job on those, but they look good from a few feet away.

I had to make some sleeves for the axle to hold the wheels onto the the rail, I used some 3/4" Schedule 40 aluminum pipe, and milled flats on three sides to allow a tight fit on the axle.

The ice age rails are nice but kind of odd - they use Torx screws in a few places, which is annoying and yet another tool I will have to remember to keep in the truck. I might switch them out for metric allen bolts.

The timbersled suspension went together fine, although the limiter strap is too close to the grease zerk on the upper arm, which i'm a bit worried about, I might remove and cap off the zerk.

The ice age rails don't seem to have a spot for the inner idler wheels, i'm assuming I should leave those out?

Mark

 

[MotoPsycho]

It's too bad the beautifully manufactured parts will be hidden under all of that plastic eh?!

 

[mud99]

Here's some pics of the original suspension and the new suspension:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dierolf.mar ... directlink

Yeah, all that money hiding under stock plastic....

I need to build more of my own parts but I don't have the time...

Mark

 

[WANN4STROKE]

Are you having any success with those ice scrathers? Not me.

David

 

[mud99]

The only issue i've had has been with them getting unscrewed, I put a lot of loctite on when assembling the skid and torqued them down as hard as possible with a split lock washer underneath.

What problem are you having with them?

Mark

 

[WANN4STROKE]

Not getting enough pressure out of them to scratch the snow.

 

[mud99]

I can't say i've had that problem, make sure the arms point straight out and downwards, that will put pressure on the ground.

I usually put a shovel or two of snow into the skid when I start out, for the first few miles of the day the scratchers won't be able to kick up enough snow to fill the skid.

Mark