ZX2 Installation Question

Hello Fella's
I'm in the process of installing a 136" ZX2 into my '05 600 Snow Hawk and I'm not sure how the rear upper idler wheel assy mounts. I didn't get a new shaft, spacers or wheels with my kit. Am I supposed to use the original upper shock mount shaft with original wheels? If so, how do the old spacers work since the new shocks don't mount on the same shaft anymore? I called AD Boivin and talked to Luc.....he doesn't know, so he has to get with the mechanics. I know some of you have retrofitted the ZX2 on your Hawks...can you help me out?
Also what is the easiest way to remove the drive axle? Does the brake rotor and lower drive gear have to come out? I'm going from a 121" to a 136". TIA

-Todd

toddc said:

Hello Fella's
I'm in the process of installing a 136" ZX2 into my '05 600 Snow Hawk and I'm not sure how the rear upper idler wheel assy mounts. I didn't get a new shaft, spacers or wheels with my kit. Am I supposed to use the original upper shock mount shaft with original wheels? If so, how do the old spacers work since the new shocks don't mount on the same shaft anymore? I called AD Boivin and talked to Luc.....he doesn't know, so he has to get with the mechanics. I know some of you have retrofitted the ZX2 on your Hawks...can you help me out?
Also what is the easiest way to remove the drive axle? Does the brake rotor and lower drive gear have to come out? I'm going from a 121" to a 136". TIA

-Todd

Click to expand...

Todd,
As far as the rear upper idler assembly goes, you do use the original shaft spacers and wheels. You just pull the old shocks off, and keep all the spacers on the shaft, however it gets mounted in a different spot. The new shocks mount on their own shaft with their own spacers. You should have received 3 different instruction manuals with your suspension. One for the base suspension, one for the extension kit, and one for the snowhawk adapter kit. If you didn't recieve all of these, let Boivin know. If you go through all of these manuals carefully, it does cover all of this, even though the english is rather poor.

For the driveshaft you first need to loosen the drive belt all the way. Next you pull off the TLS sprocket on the right side of the driveshaft. This requires the removal of the taper lock that holds it on the shaft. It's kind of weird if its the first time you're dealing with it. First you need to take out the two inner allen set screws, if they had threadlocker on them you might need to heat them a little to break them free. Then you take one of those set screws and thread it into the third empty hole that did not have anything in it before. Screw it in all the way, and it should break the taper lock free from the shaft. Once this is done you can pull off the taper lock and the lower sprocket. After that is done, you need to unscrew the 3 Allen bolts that were behind the sprocket that hold the bearing retainer in the tunnel. They have lock nuts on the backside of the bolts inside the tunnel. Once the bearing retainer is free, go over to the left side. Now you need to pull the taper lock off of the brake disc, the same way you did on the sprocket. Once you get it free you won't be able to pull the disc out since the caliper is still there and the driveshaft is still through the center, but that is ok, just leave it. Now you should be able to tap the driveshaft from the left side towards the right. The left bearing should come out of the left bearing retainer without loosening the retainer, and the right side bearing and retainer should come out of the tunnel, allowing the entire driveshaft to move to the right and become free from the left side. During this process, you need to hold the track up off of the drivers, so that they don't get hung up on the track while you are trying to move the driveshaft and drivers to the right. Once the driveshaft/drivers assembly is moved and free on the left side, you should be able to tilt it down and pull it out of the tunnel.

I've done this a few times, so if you have questions, or something doesn't make sense, let me know.
-Berg

Cool, thanks for the detailed info Berg......I figured the rotor and sprocket had to come out, just wanted to verify. I don't like the idea reusing the old upper shock mounts shaft with all the old spacers, that shaft is solid steel and way overkill for just the idler wheels. I'm going to look into fabbing a replacement from aluminum, I think AD Boivin should have done this from the factory. There is a couple of pounds there that can be removed.
Also, I'm not real impressed with how light the ZX2 was toted to be. It is less than 2lbs lighter than the Pro X Extreme that came out, it better be the cat's meow for handling! Also I read somewhere that the ZX2 has a tendency to catch a lot of snow since its bulkier than your average skid.

-Todd

zx2

I thought about the rails holding alot of snow also so i ported my track. I have a 151 and weighed 3lbs less than 136 expert.

re eeberg

looking at install manual, shows ideler wheel shaft mounted in same posistion as stock. shows drilling new holes for front swingarm shaft!

I'm not sure about on the 503, it could very well be in the original position. On the 600's you definitely move the rear idler shaft to a new location, as well as drilling new holes for the front swingarm mount.

Actually you are both kinda right....the idler wheel shaft does mount in the original position, but the new upper shock shaft bolts into postion on the new brackets at rear of the subframe.

-Todd

I was thinking about this last night, and I wanted verify it before I said anything incorrect. I went out and looked at the hawk and the instruction manual, and this is what I found.

On the original Expert X suspension, the upper rear idler wheels mounted on the same shaft as the upper shock mounts, and the entire thing mounted to the frame behind and above the foot pegs.

On the new ZX2 suspension, the upper rear idler wheels mount on a shaft by themselves, and the upper shock mounts are on the rear swingarm shaft. Neither of these two shafts go in the original mounting position from the old suspension.
The rear swingarm shaft with the upper shock mounts goes into the bottom large set of holes on the new adapter plate that comes with the Hawk adapter kit for the ZX2 suspension. The upper rear idler wheel shaft goes into the other large set of holes on the new adapter plate.
According to the manual, it is this way for both the 600's and the 503.

If you try to put the upper rear idler wheel shaft in the original mounting position behind and above the foot pegs, it will let the track hit the rear of the ZX2 suspension.

I attached a scan of the page of the manual I am referring to. Not sure if you will be able to read it, but the top picture shows where the upper idler wheel shaft mounts, and bottom picture shows how to put it all together using the spacers that the old shocks mounted on.

Hope this doesn't make it all more confusing.

Wow, I stand corrected....I don't even have that page in my instruction manual that came with the ZX2. It's no wonder that AD Boivin is having financial issues with the Snow Hawk....you purchase high dollar parts and the instruction manuals are incomplete and then when you call the factory for technical support no one knows what the hell you're talking about, they have to check into it, research it, call you back, etc. It's rediculous.
On a side note, I see that on the '07 and '08 800's, the rear idler wheel shaft was mounted separate from the upper shock mount shaft. I think I may pony up the extra cash for the replacement shaft so I can retain a complete Xpert Xtreme suspension as a spare. I still can't believe that AD Boivin doesn't supply you with a new idler shaft and wheels with the new ZX2, but makes you pirate the old one off the original suspension. Whatever.

-Todd

Yeah I know what you mean. They provide new pieces for every other item except that shaft and wheels, and of course when I took my old one apart, the ONLY place that had a broken piece, was one of those stupid wheels. So i had to get new ones anyway, i was so pissed!

If you want, I can scan my entire snowhawk adapter manual tomorrow and email it to you so you can check it. Just let me know and PM me your email address or something.

Thanks for the offer, but AD Boivin is supposed to email me an updated copy of the ZX2 for the hawk.

-Todd

Exactly my sentiment..

toddc said:

Wow, I stand corrected.... It's no wonder that AD Boivin is having financial issues with the Snow Hawk....you purchase high dollar parts and the instruction manuals are incomplete and then when you call the factory for technical support no one knows what the hell you're talking about, they have to check into it, research it, call you back, etc. It's rediculous.
On a side note, I see that on the '07 and '08 800's, the rear idler wheel shaft was mounted separate from the upper shock mount shaft. I think I may pony up the extra cash for the replacement shaft so I can retain a complete Xpert Xtreme suspension as a spare. I still can't believe that AD Boivin doesn't supply you with a new idler shaft and wheels with the new ZX2, but makes you pirate the old one off the original suspension. Whatever.

-Todd

Click to expand...

I have made a personal promise to NEVER give AD another dime of my hard earned money.... The basic lack of simple business processes like say, an actual web page with meaningful information or actually have a tech to talk to when you call them about the $10,000.00 machine they just sold you..

Never selling my hawk though - Talk about love Hate!

See Ya at Hawkfest!

OK,
After getting the COMPLETE instructions from AD Boivin, I got the ZX2 mounted up, except for the upper idler wheel assy, which is on order. Somethings not right, I can't get the suspension to compress, even with the shock on the lightest preload setting. I also could hardly get the revolver system rotated to get the pins in. I lost about 3 inches of ride height, which is fine, but there is no way the ZX2 has the travel of the Expert Xtreme. I double checked all the mounting points and everything appears to be correct. I can't believe I dropped 2 grand on this piece of ****.
I'll most likely be going back to the Expert Extreme and just tune it up.
If I can't get any resolution on the ZX2, it will be up for sale. I'm sick of dealing with AD Boivin.

-Todd