09 d8 extrovert drivers worth it?

i was told that putting the drivers on makes a big differnce do to you have to have the track so tight. just woundering if i could get some feed back on it?

I put a set on my 09 before I ever rode it and they are a perfect match for the D8. I don't have the problems that others are talking about!

You don't have to run the track tight with extro's. Are they worth it? Yes, I will vouch for them, I've run them on my Edge's and my IQ's. It will be easy to add them to yours due to the fact your track already has the windows cut out from the factory. You will need to trim your rails which is easy and I recommend running an Anti-stab wheel kit on the stock suspension. Avid's drivers are stronger than stock.

yes i would change the drivers . even thou the dragons come with the center driver that helps from sliping you still have to run the track alot tighter witch ends up running down your hi faxes alot quicker than with a looser track. but yes i would change the drivers

If you have money to waste then send it to an avy victims family. There are some legitimate reasons to change to extro's, a looser track doesn't happen to one of them.
Carl's doesn't put them on any mods unless by customer request. There have been actual tests run, articles in snowmobile mags, yet this legend persists.
I haven't run extros, no idler wheels & run my track very tight and have not replaced a hyfax in years. My track doesn't ratchet, my sled is fast what's wrong with that? A deep lug track, excess speed in icy conditions, low moisture snow and lack of ice scratcher use account for most hyfax wear, not the track being tightened to Polaris spec. IMO.
Any one see a conveyer belt run loose?-not for long!

I will agree with Ron, a tight track doesn't wear the hyfax out, I have never run into this problem. I run my track to Polaris's specs even with the extro's. My tracks did ratchet and were tearing the nubs off the inside of the track I believe from the stupid track porting I did which allowed the track to stretch excessively.


Hey Ron, Why would my tracks be doing this otherwise?

I would reccomend them. You must run an anti stab kit though, we tried it without and ended up with a stabbed track.

I have 2300 miles on my 08 D-8 and have put one set of hifax on it..I run stock drivers and tension and stock scratchers..no wheels...

Ron said:

If you have money to waste then send it to an avy victims family. There are some legitimate reasons to change to extro's, a looser track doesn't happen to one of them.
Carl's doesn't put them on any mods unless by customer request. There have been actual tests run, articles in snowmobile mags, yet this legend persists.
I haven't run extros, no idler wheels & run my track very tight and have not replaced a hyfax in years. My track doesn't ratchet, my sled is fast what's wrong with that? A deep lug track, excess speed in icy conditions, low moisture snow and lack of ice scratcher use account for most hyfax wear, not the track being tightened to Polaris spec. IMO.
Any one see a conveyer belt run loose?-not for long!

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Ron, you make a very good point about track tightness. The main reason that I added the Avid drivers and anti-stab kit is so I can get rid af the ridiculous center driver that Polaris came up with (anyone else fighting the dreaded iceball on the drivers?). I know that I probably could have been safe just cutting out the center driver, but I figured I would give myself some added assurance that the track would never ratchet. Now if we could just get some snow back, we could all be enjoying winter.

alright thanks will look into some prices

SpeedWobble said:

Ron, you make a very good point about track tightness. The main reason that I added the Avid drivers and anti-stab kit is so I can get rid af the ridiculous center driver that Polaris came up with (anyone else fighting the dreaded iceball on the drivers?). I know that I probably could have been safe just cutting out the center driver, but I figured I would give myself some added assurance that the track would never ratchet. Now if we could just get some snow back, we could all be enjoying winter.

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Yep, I did today. Clean it out and it was right back again. Must not have tested that design much.

Both 08 D8's and 09 D8 I rode with had that problem.

The spoines on the drive shaft on my 08 don't look like they extend far enough out to the sides to alow for extrovers. Do you have to change the drive shaft also to run them on the dragons?

Avid makes the drivers so that they fit the 2006 - 2009 driveshafts...

That is what Dub is runnning on his... stock shaft.

I think that the Combo drivers from Avid are a great idea...IMO.. should be on all High HP sleds.

Not to be confused with a true "extrovert"

A combo driver drives 99% of the time on the involute nubs of the track (just like the stock ones) but when the track starts to slip (AKA Ratchet) on those nubs the teeth engage the track and guide it back onto the involute nubs...the teeth RARELY contact the track.

A true extrovert, like the one used in the center driver on a Dragon does NOT engage the involute nubs on the track... when a stock Dragon track starts to ratchet all it has transferring the power to the track is 4 teeth on the center extro driver untill the involute nubs can re-engage the outside drivers... a poor design IMO.. especially when you see how close the drivers are and that they can collect a big ball of ice on them... now some may not experience this ice ball on their track... others do...

As Ron Pointed out... Carls does not run combo drivers on their sleds... but I think they are removing the center driver (at least Chris is on his custom build with the series IV 159 track)....

You don't want to run your track too tight either.... follow the directions in the Owners manual for tightening the track.... If you are at factory tension... and the track is still having problems... DO NOT increase the tension "till it goes away" ... especially not with these single ply tracks that come on the 2009 Dragon RMK's.

If your track ratchets or slips with the stock tension as specified by polaris (see below posts) then your engine is overpowering the abilities of the driver to drive the track effectively... or Ice is causing a problem.

IMO.. this over tensioning that many people are doing is what is causing the internal stresses in the belting of the track that is leading to de-lamination or seperation of the track.

Remember... these stock installed single ply tracks are brand new to factory built sleds for Polaris... what you know about the 2-ply or 3-ply tracks of the past MAY not apply to this new construction and over tightening may be leading to failures!!

Too tight could cause undue stress on the drive train and suspension.

IMO, Avid Drivers, with the factory Polaris specified tension on the track is the optimal setup for these sleds..

I wish that the Polaris factory would install the same style of drivers, made for the Tubular RMK shaft, that they bless all of thier 08 and 09 Factory produced Race sleds with... and ditch that Hokey center driver.

2008 & 2009 Stock drivers on the IQ-Racer chassis...

From a previous post...

Some stuff I've learned from the diff engineers in the sled world.

Looser tracks allow the paddles to fold over easier... a part of the equation that most dont think of and is the MAIN reason why (I think) Jack Struthers says that a tight track works better than a loose one...it hooks up better, expecially in more setup conditions like on a track or hill-drags, or spring time climbing (or our average Sierra cement)

The people with Extrovert (AKA combo) drivers seem to want to run the track real loose and feel it frees up HP...a loose track allows for distortion of the track as it leaves the driver and makes the track more suceptable to "stabbing"... With the extros, I dont look at them as a way to allow a track to be run looser... I look at it as a prevention of ratcheting in the high-demand situations.

I think the "combo" drivers are the best option, but run almost as tight as the stock drivers AND run the more slippery hyperfax as well as popping back on some idlers for spring conditions as well.

Extros, IMO, are mandatory on high hp sleds... BUT they should be run at the correct, not loose, tension... similar to normal tracks/stock-drivers.

When they are running normally, not ratcheting, the teeth of the extro are not even contacting the track or the clips and only drive from the involute portion on the inside of the track.
The first of the M-series cats had poor geometry that tightended up the track when it worked thru the travel and caused all kinds of problems that was the big factory push to extros and the one that gave the extros and stabbing a bad rap


Do NOT run the track too loose.... many people do with extros and end up stabbing the rails thru the windows... IMO, too loose of tracks by people with Extrovert drivers is the main cause of stabbing track windows with the rails ("stabbing")... most sleds do not, IMO, need anti stabbing kits...

There is a difference between an extrovert and a combo driver... unless it is ratcheting, the teeth on a combo driver never touch the track.

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Track tension is critical for maintaining correct suspension
operation. If the track tension is too loose it may cause the track
to slip or “ratchet” on the drive shaft drivers and cause the track
and rear suspension durability problems. If the track is too tight
it will wear down the rail slides, reduce top speeds, cause rear
suspension vibration and cause track and rear suspension
durability problems.
1. Lift the rear of the machine and place a jack stand or secure
the rear of the machine so that the track is off of the
ground.
2. Start the engine and slowly let the engine turn the track
over. This will warm up the track for a correct
measurement.
3. Shut off the engine.
4. Place a 10 lb. (4.54kg) weight at point (A). Point (A) is 16”
(41cm) ahead of the rear idler shaft (E).
5. Measure the distance (D) between the rail slider and the
track. This measurement should fall with in the
measurement range for the appropriate vehicle.
6. If adjustment is needed, loosen up the lock nuts (B) on each
side.
7. Loosen up the idler shaft bolts (F).
8. Turn each adjuster bolt (C) toward the idler wheel
(clockwise) if you need less of a measurement. Turn the
adjuster bolt (C) toward the front of the sled
(counterclockwise) if you need a greater measurement.
9. When you achieve the correct tension listed below, torque
the lock nuts (B) and idler shaft bolts on each side to 35 ftlb
(48 N-m).
NOTE: Track alignment affects track tension.
Misalignment will cause excessive wear to the track
and slide rails. Excessive slide wear will appear on
units with the track tension set too tight (or below
measurement specification).

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Correct track tension for the RMK's..

3/8" - 1/2"
(1-1.3cm)

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Cats and their suspension geometry are a whole different ball of wax... plus they run a big 3" driver window...and most run at least 1" free hang on the cats...

Polaris runs combo drivers on their Race sleds without anti stab kits BUT they run stock tension (10 lbs on track in front of the rear scissor ... 3/8" below hyfax) Those sleds had the pizz run out of them... all with shorter rail tips and the combo drivers.

IMO.. MOST of the stabbing issues are tension related.

The Cat suspensions really tightend up the track at full travel... especially on a tail hard landing ... the track got real tight and the rail tips push right thru the window...

Anti stab kits cant hurt though and only add 4 lbs to your suspension.

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...

Thanks Mountainhorse. Man I must of had my fingers on the wrong keys on that last post.

Cardiac Kid said:

The spoines on the drive shaft on my 08 don't look like they extend far enough out to the sides to alow for extrovers. Do you have to change the drive shaft also to run them on the dragons?

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No you don't have to change the drive shaft. One of the extrovert (combo) drivers will be offset.

2006 Polaris 900 Dragon with 166 track and 9 tooth 2.52 pitch combo drivers

Icing

SpeedWobble said:

The main reason that I added the Avid drivers and anti-stab kit is so I can get rid af the ridiculous center driver that Polaris came up with (anyone else fighting the dreaded iceball on the drivers?).

I have read about the center driver collecting ice but didn't get it until Saturday. Drape and I were both out Saturday on 08 D7s and after a few hours of riding we started having big problems with the ice ball on the center driver. Neither of us had had it happen before but what a pain in the a$$. We were in the middle of a major snowstorm trying to find our way back and had to keep stopping and breaking the ice off the center driver.
So I would highly recommend trading to the Avids!!
Arc

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