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Installation funAfter you've picked your studs and decided how many to install, the fun begins. This is a time-consuming job, so allow many hours for the task. Here are a few hints:
• If you lay the machine on the side, lay it on the side that puts the oil tank and chain case on top. Remove the battery and make sure the gas tank is empty.
• If you lift the back end up and there is gas in the tank, shut off the fuel valve, or pinch off the gas lines. You may find that a crankcase full of gasoline is an irritating fire hazard in the best scenario, or a hydraulic locked engine with bent rods in the worst case. In our shop, we use a lift that holds the machine up in a level position.
• Holes have to be cut in the track in a pattern that does not interfere with drive lugs and wheels. A studding template comes in handy here.
• Spend a few bucks and get a template with patterns for your machine and save yourself some time in locating the holes correctly. If this is the first time you've studded a track, your idea of ideal locations may cost you a wrecked track or suspension, so take care.
You don't want to put studs in line with each other from rib to rib. Instead you want to stagger the studs to get as many traction lines as possible. Lining up studs makes them run in the traction groove of the stud in front of it and you are likely to spin the track. Too many studs in a row also means that you cut the track cord in many places close to each other, which could weaken the track. Most traction templates make sure you don't duplicate locations for at least four ribs, and this will give you 8 different traction lines if you use two studs per rib.
o Holes should be cut with a rubber drill, to leave a nice clean hole. Basically this consists of a sharpened tube, and can be bought at the same place you get the studs and template. Camoplast and Woody's are now developing a new series of tracks with holes already molded in and ready to take 5/16-inch diameter studs. This makes the whole process easier, but until these tracks are found on stock machines most people are probably not going to buy a new track just to make things easier on backs and shoulders.
o The last item you need is a backing plate, and there are several considerations here. If you're going for looks, you may choose some colorful plastic plates from Fast-Trac. If you're going for strength, the next step up is round or square aluminum or steel plates. For maximum side support, there are twin plates that mount two studs in a longer plate.
For example, I use a track with a 3/4-inch rib, 1-inch push-through gold diggers with a square steel backing plate in a pattern with two studs per rib (96 total) and 6-inch carbide in the skis for balance. This provides a good safety margin and balanced setup for the trail and lakes we visit in Wisconsin and upper Michigan.
One of our customers who does a lot of aggressive product test rides on an 800 REV always goes to 192 studs right away. His advice is to only use every other rib on the outside for a stud, and load up the center instead. This makes the sled easier to turn on the trail.
He's also careful to move the outside studs closer to the slide rail (no closer than an inch), as this prevents the studs from bending out and possibly tearing the track.
Thirty years of snowmobiling has convinced me that good studding is a great thing when you hit glare ice on a long icy river run, or a twisty trail, and I'm convinced that it's made my snowmobiling a safer experience.
This story ran in the January 2005 issue of American Snowmobiler magazine