Rob's (f-bomb) track mod, who's done it?

Not happy w/ my 08 163 track on my 800. I've seen Rob's mod of trimming off the tip, and sinking screws in. Pretty sure that would help my complaints, esp. in icy cond., but I'm afraid it will drop the resale value. My dealer would probably tell me the "track is shot", even though I say "now it works". Also, how bad does it tear up trailer floors (plywood)? Who has done it, and what's your opinion? thanks, john

I trimmed & screwed an attack20 162 track and put on my 09 d8. Works great but the screws hit the front & the rear section of the top heat exchangers. It looks to me if I run it for very long it will wear though & it was only a 2" track when i started & I trimed a good half inch. It does hook up!

does it work to revers em, or is it just a soft durometer????

I trimmed my 08 155. VERY glad I did it. I'm mostly a flatland rider, and just trimming it turned it into a new track, Never mind what skrewing it would do. WAY better on hard pack and ice, like 100% better, and as good as no loss felt in the deepest powder I could find. (about 4 feet) I'm a bit scared to sink skrews in it though, for the fact of maybe losing one and sticking it through my cooler. But I'm very happy. Would tell anyone to do it.

Rob.... I think your computer has been stuck on Bold for like 6 months now... my eyes my eyes I cant see anything!!

Rob... What does Jack Struthers think of the Power Claw Tracks he is running on his personal sled?

Well I better go to the hardware store and get some of those square headed screws. I think I will add this to my list for the summer. Thanks for the idea. I was kinda worried about doing it with the sheet metal screws for the fact that they could do a number to the enclosed trailer floor. But with the square headed ones and if you sink them flush or a little farther in, that will eliminate all chance of ruining the floor in the new trailer.

I'd follow Robs lead on just about anything on the setup of the RAW chassis... he knows his stuff.

Just a thought.... why not run flat headed Sheet metal screws, (FHSMS). If you are going to sink them all the way.

Use stainless and they wont rust inside the rubber.

www.mcmaster.com

Part number 93945A005

Just my 2 cents

The easiest tool that I've found for trimming the track is a carpet knife... not a utility knife... the carpet knives have razor sharp blades that are hardened and thin... use some spray silicone to glide thru the rubber and it will make short work of your mod... pencil in a line using a straight edge to keep the trim looking good. This knife leaves a Very clean cut and goes thru the rubber very easily.

MH...are those screws available in something other than square drive??

go to mcmaster.com and check out the selection

mountainhorse said:

Click to expand...

My question with these screws is will they work due to the head of it being 1/4"? I haven't got a chance to look at my track yet to see how wide the tip of the lug will be once it is trimmed down that little bit. I looked a little bit at that site looking for a screw with a little smalled diameter head which I think might work a little better to get them just past being flush but didn't really see anything.

I'm away from my shop but when I get a chance I'll read the box of screws and tell you the exact head diameter. They have tiny little heads that sink right into the lug and essentially "disappear". There is not that much lug available to hide them in so smaller the better. The screws I used are also black so they blend in with the rubber as well. 1000 miles not a single one missing or backing out. 3000 miles on my other one that I personally did and ride all of the time and they are still right where I put them.

Now on the cutting of tracks....DO THIS
Use a sharp serrated blade (like a kitchen Ginsu Knife) and a generous slopping of WD40 on each paddle before you cut. It creates a perfect easy slice by hand with very little effort. Only takes about 15 minutes to trim a track down. Jack the rear end up..get your flap out of the way...spray on WD40 as you go...hack off a line...rotate the track a bit more..repeat.

Clean up and proceed with driving in the screws.

Eric...Bold the way you like it! I believe that Jack is a big fan of the powerclaw track. The report was that in certain conditions the powerclaw simply blew the stocker Polaris tracks away. We've never had the cut down stocker and the powerclaw side by side in like vehicles to be able to break down the comparisons of the various conditions that you run into in a seasons worth of sledding on the RMK. I've now gone through a season and am very very satisfied with the way this track has performed. Once again you encounter a lot of different conditions and situations and my goal was an all around high performer versus a standout in one condition and something that you just suffered with or dealt with in another. I'm sure they will sell lots of powerclaw tracks for people that want to immulate what they experienced. I'm very happy with mine so I probably won't be looking that way.

The head is actually pretty small for the screw above.

Dave... Rob made a great choice with the square drive... they hold up better to the driving process without stripping the head...

It wouldn't hurt to drill a 1/16" pilot hole in the track to help guide the screw.
Lube up the screw with some synthetic grease or silicone spray when driving in as well.

Backing out with all the rubber to grip the screw would not be a worry. The flat head acts kinda like a fish hook once buried in the rubber.

You could use "trim head" or "bugle head" finishing screws that use a #1 square driver.. these are about the smallest head screws out there.

I like the idea of the stainless screws... they are not black but they also wont rust and break inside the track as easily.

DONT use drywall screws... they are much to brittle for this application.

Something like this.... the head is 0.22" dia
http://www.mcfeelys.com/product/0710-TSO/Trim-Head-Unplated-Steel-Grey-Phosphate-Screws

I cut down my 2007 D7 track and the hook up was absolutely amazing! I drag raced it and it did well. I didn't use screws and I don't think I lost much in the powder. The piece I cut off was tipped back anyway so that was probably bad in powder.

Now I have a 2009 D8 and the track is terrible. Like Rob said, I get chewed up in a drag race off the line everytime. I can hang or even catch people after that, but the start is terrible. I fell I can climb anything but coming down hardpack snow is scarey as the sled has no bite and takes off!

I will likely trim down the track or go to a challenger extreme. I haven't decided between the two yet.

does anyone have any pics of what their track looks like after being trimmed?

harland said:

does anyone have any pics of what their track looks like after being trimmed?

Click to expand...

Here are two pics of my track. I did it just like Fbomb said, cut just under the nubs just so they stay together in one strip when you cut them off.

No need to dress the screws or do anything other then buy the ones I suggested and drive them in until it starts to twist the lug and you can't see them anymore! To SIMPLE to work? Race me in any condition on your stocker for all the beer I can drink and find out the expensive way!

Gang we used to install and un-install thousands of screws in our tracks for drag racing grass. (we had a crew team member that was his specific job every weekend...HE QUIT..HMMM?) Some classes and events allowed... some didn't..sometimes it was on the same sled on the same day for class qualifications. These are sleds spinning tracks at almost double what you guys are running (countless passes at 5 seconds at 100 mph on brutal surfaces) and they don't come out even on tracks that have had screws installed and uninstalled many many times.

Rob... last year your post showed hex head screws with the heads sticking out... when did you switch to full sunk heads?

What difference did you find in the way they worked?

Thanks in advance.

Did you install screws and cut down your 2009 series 5.1 2 ply track in your sled?

For the track in question and per my first post on this subject we are dealing with an 09 stock non dragon (single vrs double ply) 155 track that came on the sled from Polaris. No sheet metal hex head screws hanging out just the sunken 1" long #6 square drivers. I wanted to try both since I also have a camo X 144 track that is trimmed but has hex heads hanging out. Reason for concern on the 155 was that it was showing some track stain marks in the tunnel from the first 200 non screwed miles so common sense said that if we have the same length of 2.1 plus the head of the screw we were going to see some screw scraping and potential damage.

The 144 didn't show that and also made three seasons with the heads showing without tearing up anything. Different suspension (stock vrs Holz Alpha-X) may have something to do with that since they were trimmed as close as I could get them to be the same and I am not aware of a change in drive shaft position (except the style of it but it's my understanding that the actual diameter of the drivers and the tunnel space is the same on both years)

There is a fine line of performance between cutting off too much paddle and grip of the added hex heads hanging out. There is no way for me to have that complete information of the ultimate since I haven't butchered up enough tracks. (I've over trimmed a race track and hit the wrong conditions of the day and suffered the loss and also not had enough metal on a given day for the track and lost there too...totally prepared, tricky, willing, or just lucky helps but that's racing). So far I've used basic common sense and expiramentation to get to a nice happy medium with limited if any sacrefices for the task at hand. For hillclimb racing in ice/rocks/dirt/stumps ect you have to have some metal grabbing or you can't compete. This 155 is just for free riding so I also didn't think the hex hanging out was a critical issue versus the stiffness and the windage issues. (some days in some weird spots you do wish for the metal but not a daily concern) If you guys have ever been around drag racing/snocross and traction stud placements it's a black science in it's self and you get a sense of what I am talking about here.