Part 1—Front End
So the first thing we acquired for our 2015 Cat was the new front suspension. The handling between the ‘15s and ‘16s are like night and day. And everything starts with the new spindle design.
What you notice with the 2016 spindle’s sleek design is that the caster angle is changed from 17 degrees to 27 degrees. This change in geometry makes a world of difference when riding terrain. The spindle design takes away the sled’s tendency to climb when sidehilling and allows you to hold your line with a lot less effort.
The new geometry allows the sled to roll over on its side with a lot less effort. (This was really noticeable when working on the sled. After we put one side on and rolled it over to do the other you could tell immediately it takes more effort to roll the ’15 over the ’16.)
The shock angle and length is also a little different, which improves the handling in the bumps. But to make this project just a little nicer, rather than grabbing the standard Fox Float shocks, we snuck out a set of Fox Evol piggyback shocks for extreme performance riding. Installed, they will be a little more vertical than the old shock.
Finally, to finish the front we definitely wanted the 2016 skis. This year Cat has come out with some significant changes to make the skis perform better in powder.
First, the keel was increased from 1 inch to 1.5 inches in depth. It was also extended longer and built on more of a rocker style. To accommodate for the adjustability in ski stance, the sidewalls of the ski were extended out to the edge. The combination of a deeper keel and sidewalls allow the ski to work much better in powder snow with a greater turning surface. The skis were also widened in the front to 7 inches, tapering down to 6.5 inches (the old ski was only 6 inches wide).
We also added the Limited Edition bumper to this build, giving us great protection to the front end for tree riding.