If Burandt swallowed a bag of fire ants would you do the same????? Just saying haha. I think there are some small benefits? But I think the manufacturers will or have done some shortening. I know I cant ride my stock tunnel to its potential. Why hack the tunnel off a perfectly good sled?
Cut tunnel, or no flap
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^nobody puts that fin off the rear bogies like lynx, i figure that is key to keeping some snow deflected up to the cooler. Especially poo guys hacking their coolers shorter, wow, hope they dont ride more than 1/2 mile of packed trail into their "zones" lol.
You haven't rode one to see the benefits is my guess. It has nothing to do with burandt. He's the one that brought it to most people's attention but it makes your sled handle better in certain instances. If you don't want to do it nobody is going to pound on you but Don't knock it until you try it.
Took 7 inches off of my axys. Road 10 miles from IP to Two Tops two weeks ago with no issues. If the scratches aren't helping add a mountain tech cooler if needed, but shorter tunnels are legit. I took inches of my pro because I seen the benefits of the shorter tunnel on my alpha. Dont knock it till ya tried it.
The whole tunnel cut thing was caused by AC, they have been using the shorter tunnel for quite a while. Others are seeing the benefits from this and are following suit. There has been a few guys cut the AC tunnel and swear its better, I personally don't see the gains. I do see why the Pol and Doo sleds benefit from this but not AC. Lots run flapless with out issue scratchers down of coarse, the Alpha needs scratchers down with the flap. Fill you coolant bottle to the hot level when cold it adds a fair bit of coolant. Don't worry if it spits some out it will do that until it finds its happy spot mine did not spit any out but some may. The stock flap and rear bumper are two things AC has that drives me nuts. They are both easy fixes and should be done at the manufacture level. These are purpose built mountain sleds AC needs to get that thought process in to production sooner than later.
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It works very good on the trails, but in deep snow it is a massive drag from that fin on the rear wheels. My wife sled is a lynx with this design, and it does not work in the deep. Especially when moving from still stand in deep snow, it trenches horrible with rear fin installed.
Without it is as good as anything. It is a pitty that you need tools to remove it. So on our sled it is just used during spring season.
Don't know why is isn't talked about more, but cat has been bobbing their tunnels since 2009. Here's my old sled... Burandt was also on a cat at the time? Coincidence? I think it came down to saving some money and producing one tunnel for both the 153 and 162 but it's still interesting.
they dont use the same tunnel for a 153 and 162....for a short period of time they used a 153 tunnel on a 141xf but they have never used the same tunnel length for a 153 and 162
add a cooler? lol
trimmed tunnel on an axys sure, but would never look at a sled for purchase if its cooler was hacked. major red flag JMO.
Side by side I can confirm this if you need pictures to believe me. But: my 2020 riot x has the same tunnel as my 2021 hardcore 154. That’s hard facts. Short tunnel indeed
Well if you agree with a trimmed tunnel on an Axys, then you already agree with cutting the cooler.
I rode an Axys on Friday that I welded up the cut tunnel on. Stayed at 125F on trail, lower off trail. Nothing weird cooling wise. Completely changed the fun factor of that sled. If I was a little better with the Tig and we painted it nicely, you'd be hard pressed to know anything wasn't stock unless you knew exactly what to look for.
4" off my '18 Cat, it made a few moves easier, and harder to get stuck. Not the game changer of a difference like the Axys though. Also about 1/10 the work to do.
4" off my '18 Cat, it made a few moves easier, and harder to get stuck. Not the game changer of a difference like the Axys though. Also about 1/10 the work to do.
Any issues with cooling?
YEP Burandts doing it! He also does re-entries, hop overs, and other extremely technical maneuvers where every inch on the machine counts. I get sick of seeing the "How much should i cut my tunnel" day after day(Mostly on Facebook) by "Dad-bod" dudes who are going to do nothing more than Meadow wheelies and take sicknasty pics of their sponsered(10% discount) sled builds for Instagram
Prove that you need!
And I get sick of seeing the "I'm pissed at the world and don't like what others do with there time and money" kind of guys. If meadows make some guys happy, and real technical other guys happy, what's it matter to you.
I thought the same as you but the parts book doesn't agree. At least in 2009.
