REDLINE 1
Expert
Ya WFO is a good speed limit on the big lakes lolWith 300+ HP I can hardly can get the muffler hot @50 LOL. But fish cops do enforcement often. I ride in WI allot because there is only a speed limit at night. Daytime in WI speed limit is 150 MPH LOL!!
REDLINE 1
Expert
I didnt know there were neighbors like that in Wisc . Sounds more like here in the shithole of Illinois. I bet the guy is a FIB lol
Viper_Dean
Extreme
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2019
- Messages
- 51
- Age
- 29
- Location
- Twin Cities
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2014 Viper RTX SE
I didn't believe that the speed limit existed until I got pinched a couple years ago. Now granted this was on a flat grade in a rather populated area just outside of the cities. Consequently they checked for studs on this portion too and my buddy had them. A few miles of ditch riding was the result. Usually popular lakes also have a watchful eye. When I am up north of mille lacs I have never seen a DNR person, and hardly run into traffic. Don't let that scare you from coming to ride over here. Last few seasons have been fantastic riding December-April.
Snowbound98
Expert
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2019
- Messages
- 268
- Age
- 47
- Location
- Chicagoland
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2015 SR Viper M-TX 153
As we get closer to season it’s time to get in gear so I’m ready before the first snowflake hits the ground.
I figured out how to link my phone with the Gap Flasher and it turns out the previous owner never connected to it or registered if so that worked out in my favor. I never put my AFR gauge on last year so I just decided to go with the closed loop tune and AFR from Hurricane so the AFR will read on the dash.
I was able to remove the factory joint from new arm and drilled the hole out slightly and tapped for the 1/2-20 joint from Alternative Impact.
I also decided as an insurance policy and piece of mind to pull the water pump impeller and replace it with the one from Hurricane. I don’t know if my impeller is bad, pin sheared or not but I have a hard time believing this sled overheating and going into limp mode just from the short time I pull up to a road crossing and wait for traffic to clear is normal. So I’m gonna take steps to help this issue.
I’m also thinking I want to add a radiator and fan. Torn between Travis’ kit or this one from MCXpress. From the pictures it looks like Travis’ kit would need some hood mods in the way of cutting holes to get hood air flow across the radiator.
Where the MCXpress radiator is smaller but seems like it would be in line with air flow coming thru the intercooler. Thoughts/comments?
I figured out how to link my phone with the Gap Flasher and it turns out the previous owner never connected to it or registered if so that worked out in my favor. I never put my AFR gauge on last year so I just decided to go with the closed loop tune and AFR from Hurricane so the AFR will read on the dash.
I was able to remove the factory joint from new arm and drilled the hole out slightly and tapped for the 1/2-20 joint from Alternative Impact.
I also decided as an insurance policy and piece of mind to pull the water pump impeller and replace it with the one from Hurricane. I don’t know if my impeller is bad, pin sheared or not but I have a hard time believing this sled overheating and going into limp mode just from the short time I pull up to a road crossing and wait for traffic to clear is normal. So I’m gonna take steps to help this issue.
I’m also thinking I want to add a radiator and fan. Torn between Travis’ kit or this one from MCXpress. From the pictures it looks like Travis’ kit would need some hood mods in the way of cutting holes to get hood air flow across the radiator.
Where the MCXpress radiator is smaller but seems like it would be in line with air flow coming thru the intercooler. Thoughts/comments?
Snowbound98
Expert
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2019
- Messages
- 268
- Age
- 47
- Location
- Chicagoland
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2015 SR Viper M-TX 153
I got a new helix and also Hurricane rollers for secondary. This is a reverse cut multi angle, not sure what the angles are, I talked to Bill from Sting Ray Mods and decided to grab the one he sells after some chatting and seeing some videos.
Cleaned my secondary for reassembly but I’m still waiting for rollers. Should be here this week.
I run Pilot 6.9 skis on this thing and this season I’m gonna try to add the second carbide to the outside of the ski. Any input on that. I like my 6” 60° rods so j picked up a new set of them for the center and the outside I’m gonna run 4”. If this doesn’t seem to help any I may just get some snowtrackers and see how I like them. Never ran them before.
So more parts will be showing up this week, I ordered another pickle protector for this Winder. I have one on my Viper and it’s a stout piece. Still need to decide if I wanna make a belly pan protector for belt or if I’m just gonna order one. I like making my own stuff when I can.
I also threw together a boost leak tester and that will tell me if I need to modify my intake clamp spacers or not. They may already be done.
DuPont slides are pretty much non existent. I have them on order from 2 places and they kept changing the shipping date and now neither can even give me a date. That sucks.
Cleaned my secondary for reassembly but I’m still waiting for rollers. Should be here this week.
I run Pilot 6.9 skis on this thing and this season I’m gonna try to add the second carbide to the outside of the ski. Any input on that. I like my 6” 60° rods so j picked up a new set of them for the center and the outside I’m gonna run 4”. If this doesn’t seem to help any I may just get some snowtrackers and see how I like them. Never ran them before.
So more parts will be showing up this week, I ordered another pickle protector for this Winder. I have one on my Viper and it’s a stout piece. Still need to decide if I wanna make a belly pan protector for belt or if I’m just gonna order one. I like making my own stuff when I can.
I also threw together a boost leak tester and that will tell me if I need to modify my intake clamp spacers or not. They may already be done.
DuPont slides are pretty much non existent. I have them on order from 2 places and they kept changing the shipping date and now neither can even give me a date. That sucks.
Snowbound98
Expert
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2019
- Messages
- 268
- Age
- 47
- Location
- Chicagoland
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2015 SR Viper M-TX 153
I did get up north and get the yard cleaned up in front of the garage. Cleared a spot to park trailers and also widened the driveway.
Gravel has been delivered but not spread out. They just dumped as they drove out. I’ll get up there again this month and smooth it out and get started on my sleds at the same time.
Gravel has been delivered but not spread out. They just dumped as they drove out. I’ll get up there again this month and smooth it out and get started on my sleds at the same time.
sxr70001
Lifetime Member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2010
- Messages
- 1,120
- Location
- Michigan
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- Sidewinder LTX SE
SR Viper RTX SE
Looks like some good upgrades. I will be curious to see how your cooling system upgrades work out.
Upstater57
Lifetime Member
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2021
- Messages
- 550
- Age
- 67
- Location
- New York
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2022 Tcat EPS,
2014 ZR9000 (sold)
1978,1979,1980 SRX (sold)
Love all your upgrades!
Snowbound98
Expert
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2019
- Messages
- 268
- Age
- 47
- Location
- Chicagoland
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2015 SR Viper M-TX 153
Almost all my parts have finally arrived. I did find a set of DuPonts too. Thought I was gonna start the year on graphite slides.
Decided to run 4” carbides on outside of my Pilot 6.9 skis this coming season. Not that I’m pushing really bad but the more bite the better. My buddy with his Ace turbo said he was gonna do it too. He has Pilot X on his. Then he tells me that he had to buy new skis. His sled is a 23 with one season and 2100 miles roughly! He sent me these pictures of the new compared to his worn out ones.
Said he couldn’t even put outside wear bars on because they stuck out so far, like almost the entire bar was showing. These Pilots must be some soft material that wear out quickly. I rode some rougher stuff in past years with my Viper and the skis didn’t wear like that. So now he has me worried about my skis but I can’t inspect them until I get back up north. (Maybe next weekend)
Started getting the skid done and ready to go back up north. I pulled the upper idlers off and changed the bearings. They weren’t horrible, probably could have just packed them with new grease but I’m this far, why not.
People think I’m crazy but I always clean out new bearings and pack them with the grease I like to run. And before anyone says anything, that’s not how they were when I put seals back in. I cleaned them out with a fresh rag until I could see the bearing cages and then put seals back in. This would have been an overpacked bearing failure for sure if they went in like this.
Decided to run 4” carbides on outside of my Pilot 6.9 skis this coming season. Not that I’m pushing really bad but the more bite the better. My buddy with his Ace turbo said he was gonna do it too. He has Pilot X on his. Then he tells me that he had to buy new skis. His sled is a 23 with one season and 2100 miles roughly! He sent me these pictures of the new compared to his worn out ones.
Said he couldn’t even put outside wear bars on because they stuck out so far, like almost the entire bar was showing. These Pilots must be some soft material that wear out quickly. I rode some rougher stuff in past years with my Viper and the skis didn’t wear like that. So now he has me worried about my skis but I can’t inspect them until I get back up north. (Maybe next weekend)
Started getting the skid done and ready to go back up north. I pulled the upper idlers off and changed the bearings. They weren’t horrible, probably could have just packed them with new grease but I’m this far, why not.
People think I’m crazy but I always clean out new bearings and pack them with the grease I like to run. And before anyone says anything, that’s not how they were when I put seals back in. I cleaned them out with a fresh rag until I could see the bearing cages and then put seals back in. This would have been an overpacked bearing failure for sure if they went in like this.
Snowbound98
Expert
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2019
- Messages
- 268
- Age
- 47
- Location
- Chicagoland
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2015 SR Viper M-TX 153
I’m changing things up a little this year color wise. I’m getting rid of the hi-viz and going with more of the gray. I bought a new wrap too but I’ll share that later when I get that far.
The rear suspension and rails are getting color. I was going to drop it all off at powder coat but then I decided, I did the skid on my Viper in POR15 with the thought process of if it ever gets scratched or chipped it’ll be easier to touch up. So that’s what I’m doing this time too.
I’m fighting with my blast cabinet, taking me forever to get things blasted completely and I couldn’t see anything when blasting so it changed the window which didn’t help and then realized the media is spent. Just creating more dust than anything and not abrasive enough to strip the powder off these parts. Getting new media in morning so it should speed things up. But here’s what I did manage to get done.
This is cleaned and blasted.
Then I threw together a jig to hold the part so it’s suspended while it cures. This POR takes a good 4-6 hours before you can even touch it without it being tacky so I was able to flip it one way pivoting on that threaded rod and then flipped it back and put a bolt thru the shock hole supported by an angle piece I made real quick. Made it nice for this part and also used same jig for the other parts as well.
This is after I washed it, metal etched it and then wiped it down with a water based panel cleaner for painting. At this point you can’t touch it without latex gloves or the oil from your hand will make the paint not stick.
Here’s what it looked like when done but still wet.
And the other 2 parts that got the same treatment.
They are the same color, different lighting. The color actually matches pretty good for what I was going for. Rails, spindles and arms are next. I’ll show them when finished.
The rear suspension and rails are getting color. I was going to drop it all off at powder coat but then I decided, I did the skid on my Viper in POR15 with the thought process of if it ever gets scratched or chipped it’ll be easier to touch up. So that’s what I’m doing this time too.
I’m fighting with my blast cabinet, taking me forever to get things blasted completely and I couldn’t see anything when blasting so it changed the window which didn’t help and then realized the media is spent. Just creating more dust than anything and not abrasive enough to strip the powder off these parts. Getting new media in morning so it should speed things up. But here’s what I did manage to get done.
This is cleaned and blasted.
Then I threw together a jig to hold the part so it’s suspended while it cures. This POR takes a good 4-6 hours before you can even touch it without it being tacky so I was able to flip it one way pivoting on that threaded rod and then flipped it back and put a bolt thru the shock hole supported by an angle piece I made real quick. Made it nice for this part and also used same jig for the other parts as well.
This is after I washed it, metal etched it and then wiped it down with a water based panel cleaner for painting. At this point you can’t touch it without latex gloves or the oil from your hand will make the paint not stick.
Here’s what it looked like when done but still wet.
And the other 2 parts that got the same treatment.
They are the same color, different lighting. The color actually matches pretty good for what I was going for. Rails, spindles and arms are next. I’ll show them when finished.
Snowbound98
Expert
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2019
- Messages
- 268
- Age
- 47
- Location
- Chicagoland
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2015 SR Viper M-TX 153
Ordered a set of dual rate springs for the front shocks from HyGear. I wanted triple rate but they said their tech said I can only get dual rate for this application. Contemplating ordering rear torsion springs as well that are custom made for my weight. Factory seem a little soft so I was thinking getting a 4 way adjuster, getting the heavier springs that the factory offers but those were $135/each where I can have HyGear make me a set for $200. And I can still get the 4 way adjuster. That might be what I do. Springs are off right now so why not. Another “while I’m here” kinda thing always bites me.
Don’t really have anything special for pictures at the moment. Picked up some secondary rollers from Thunder Products when they sent me the closed loop/AFR module and O2. Have my 6” 60° carbides along with my 4” for the outside of skis. Have my fitting for bottom of oil tank so I can install my oil drain hose. Grabbed 2 cases of Amsoil 0W40, case of their chaincase lube and 2 more tubes of grease. My new handguards showed up. New plugs are in bin ready to go up. Got a headed windshield plug to install on the panel instead of having a cord dangling. No, it’s not the magnetic one, I should have sprung for that one. I still might. Picked up some tunnel mounted scratchers and also new ski mounted cable scratchers that are stainless. Haven’t heard back from MCXpress about their radiator kit yet so I’m doubling down on scratchers if need be. I’m sure there’s a few things I left out because it seems like I was getting 2-3 deliveries at least 3 times a week for the last couple weeks here. Oh well, you’ll see everything as it goes on the sled. Skid will be going together here soon and I’m heading back up north to spread gravel and start putting parts on sled so check back.
Thanks for following along with my insanity.
Don’t really have anything special for pictures at the moment. Picked up some secondary rollers from Thunder Products when they sent me the closed loop/AFR module and O2. Have my 6” 60° carbides along with my 4” for the outside of skis. Have my fitting for bottom of oil tank so I can install my oil drain hose. Grabbed 2 cases of Amsoil 0W40, case of their chaincase lube and 2 more tubes of grease. My new handguards showed up. New plugs are in bin ready to go up. Got a headed windshield plug to install on the panel instead of having a cord dangling. No, it’s not the magnetic one, I should have sprung for that one. I still might. Picked up some tunnel mounted scratchers and also new ski mounted cable scratchers that are stainless. Haven’t heard back from MCXpress about their radiator kit yet so I’m doubling down on scratchers if need be. I’m sure there’s a few things I left out because it seems like I was getting 2-3 deliveries at least 3 times a week for the last couple weeks here. Oh well, you’ll see everything as it goes on the sled. Skid will be going together here soon and I’m heading back up north to spread gravel and start putting parts on sled so check back.
Thanks for following along with my insanity.
Upstater57
Lifetime Member
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2021
- Messages
- 550
- Age
- 67
- Location
- New York
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2022 Tcat EPS,
2014 ZR9000 (sold)
1978,1979,1980 SRX (sold)
Thanks for sharing. That Amsoil grease is a product I started using in the 1970's and has never failed. I also used the hygear set up on my 2014 ZR9 and it made a big difference. Same goes for the heavier rear springs.
Snowbound98
Expert
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2019
- Messages
- 268
- Age
- 47
- Location
- Chicagoland
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2015 SR Viper M-TX 153
Appreciate the feedback. I switched to Amsoil on everything I own about 7 years ago and haven’t looked back. Oil samples come back with flying colors and they recommend longer intervals, even on my diesels. This grease seems to be better in cold temps than the red Mobile1 synthetic stuff I used to use. Can’t wait to see how the suspension performs this year!
Snowbound98
Expert
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2019
- Messages
- 268
- Age
- 47
- Location
- Chicagoland
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2015 SR Viper M-TX 153
Hand sanding these rails is kicking my rear. Time consuming to say the least.
About got one side of one rail done. When I did the 153 rails on my Viper, all I did was get them flat and dull and the paint stuck without issue. That was painting them black over black, I hope this covers and sticks because I would hate to see this yellow pop thru.
These things don’t fit in my blast cabinet and I know I can’t use my blasting pot with baking soda. I doubt soda would take this powder coating off. I’m having a hard time with new media in my cabinet on the other parts. Back to work, not gonna get done by itself.
About got one side of one rail done. When I did the 153 rails on my Viper, all I did was get them flat and dull and the paint stuck without issue. That was painting them black over black, I hope this covers and sticks because I would hate to see this yellow pop thru.
These things don’t fit in my blast cabinet and I know I can’t use my blasting pot with baking soda. I doubt soda would take this powder coating off. I’m having a hard time with new media in my cabinet on the other parts. Back to work, not gonna get done by itself.
REDLINE 1
Expert
I would send them out and get them powder coated. They will strip them down and refinish whatever color you want. Much more durable than paint
