I built this cooler for my Cr500 which will also work on the 2015 and 2016 kits with no mods to your kit.
M5
M5
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Another Tunnel Cooler Option for all years of TS Kit
- Thread starter M5-
- Start date
looks great!
looks real good m5! I'm a big fan of the heat exchanger it flat out works! I'm not an aluminum welder yet, but have been wanting to get a tig setup for a while now, I was wondering if you have many problems with cracking on something like that? I've had some stuff welded for me at a local shop and it has been good thus far, but for some reason I seem to always worry about cracking especially on something holding coolant that you really do not want to leak. I'd like to get my exchanger moved forward like you have done so the hoses can be as short as possible, so I was thinking about doing something like what you have done.
looks real good m5! I'm a big fan of the heat exchanger it flat out works! I'm not an aluminum welder yet, but have been wanting to get a tig setup for a while now, I was wondering if you have many problems with cracking on something like that? I've had some stuff welded for me at a local shop and it has been good thus far, but for some reason I seem to always worry about cracking especially on something holding coolant that you really do not want to leak. I'd like to get my exchanger moved forward like you have done so the hoses can be as short as possible, so I was thinking about doing something like what you have done.
I've built quite a few coolers over the years and so far so good. The thing with TIG welding is you have a hot start compared to MIG which is a cold start weld so you can really get in there and get good penetration on the weld which goes a long way to eliminating cracking.
M5
M5
Funny when I first posted this thread I didn't get a whole lot of responses but now I seem to be getting a bunch of questions about my cooler and how I built it so here it is. I started with an in tunnel cooler from a Yamaha Nytro MTX. The cooler needs to be shortened about 2 inches in order to be able to fit it in through TS frame. I whacked the mounting flange off of it and welded on mounting tabs for the adel clamps. Lastly you need to remove the brake disc then bend and fit the spigots around the hub and weld them on. The cooler can be removed by just pulling the brake disc and caliper off which is no big deal. With the placement of the cooler being where it is the rad hoses are nice and short.
M5
M5
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Looks good, M5.
I mounted my version 1 tunnel cooler
in the same place, using the same clamps.
Except I used a heavy duty oil cooler/exchanger
that looked kinda like a regular rad.
Towards the end of the first ride the clamps broke and the exchanger slammed up and down a million times and destroyed itself. Lost all my coolant. Chit!
Your exchanger looks way tougher.
Version 2 has the Arctic Cat cooler back in the
"conventional" spot. It has been trouble free
for a couple of seasons.
Your location is nice because its free space and
closer to the center of the bike.
Nice one.
I mounted my version 1 tunnel cooler
in the same place, using the same clamps.
Except I used a heavy duty oil cooler/exchanger
that looked kinda like a regular rad.
Towards the end of the first ride the clamps broke and the exchanger slammed up and down a million times and destroyed itself. Lost all my coolant. Chit!
Your exchanger looks way tougher.
Version 2 has the Arctic Cat cooler back in the
"conventional" spot. It has been trouble free
for a couple of seasons.
Your location is nice because its free space and
closer to the center of the bike.
Nice one.
K
kell8071
Well-known member
I understand the theory behind a heat exhachnger cooling a snowmobile via snow kicking up on it but the only time I have cooling issues is on the trail and I can't imagine they get that much snow on them if it's a little icy. Is the tunnel cooler just acting as a larger heat exchanger (or radiator) and a larger coolant capacity in these situations or do you guys still get some overheating in the spring?
Kell
Kell
My understanding was the main cooling problems that snow bikes experience is running too cool rather than needing more cooling. Is this exchanger for bikes that don't have very good cooling already?
Cool cooler!
I suggest using some additional rubber exhaust dampers.
They will take out most of the vibrations that cause the clamps to snap.
Here some photos of those I used on my intercooler.
I suggest using some additional rubber exhaust dampers.
They will take out most of the vibrations that cause the clamps to snap.
Here some photos of those I used on my intercooler.
I've had the clamps on my tool box snap before. What I have found is the clamps are available in both steel and aluminum, the aluminum ones are basically NFG for anything, they snap in about 15 minutes, the steel ones last. Swedenturbo, I'd probably do something like that if I was starting over but I just want to ride the thing and quit wrenching and fixing broken chit. As for the cooling thing we are mostly talking big 2 strokes here, the thumpers have their own issues.
M5
M5
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I knew you were on a 500 but it just slipped my mind, my bad, sorry. In answer to your question the bikes run about 30-40 degrees cooler everywhere. You do end up with a fair bit more coolant in the system which helps keep temps more even. Kell, do you have a temp guage? What are you seeing for temps?
M5
M5
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