Preload on the front track spring

[jsledder]

Where do you all set your preload on the Carl's front track spring? I'm still searching for a cure to the diving when trying to turn this thing and not tipping it over. Nearly impossible to turn in the powder without it wanting to just dive to the opposite side. Sidehilling is a real chore

I've tried... Gripper ski's (current setup). Powder Pro's. Sway bar. WE air shocks set by WE. Dragon spindles. Stock Ryde F/X rebuildables with Zbroz triple rate springs.

I've got the ski's set to the narrow stance. Thinking about trying a set of WE Needle shocks for the adjustability but for the price I'm a little hesitant to just throw them on to "try it".

 

[dktraw]

do you have anything bent or broken? my 06 700 always seemed to be way harder to manuever than my 9 was, had all the doodads on there but still couldnt make it work. come to find out, 3 out of the 4 front a arms were bent! problem solved

 

[jsledder]

One of the A-Arms has a small dent in the bottom tube but as far as being bent, they all look good and straight. They are stock 05 A-arms though, do newer A-arms help this situation?

 

[jsledder]

No more input????

 

[05900]

Carls spring was stiffer and the sway bar thicker. Did you do both or just the spring??
Set spring a little..little bit higher than stock. set torsions to highest.

 

[94fordguy]

I don't have the Carl's spring, but here's my setup that I'm very happy with.

Stock springs all around

Rear track springs on max preload (been wanting to do the .375/47 but I don't see spending the money with 4600 miles on it)
Front track spring cranked up a bit (haven't messed with it in 4 yrs so I can't say how much)
Front suspension springs cranked to within 1/2" of max preload
Sway bar removed
Gripper skis in widest setting
Limiter straps in bottom hole

With this setup the sled is easy to roll over and very easy to sidehill with, I actually love the way it initiates a sidehill and the 166 keeps it from washing out the way my 155 does. The down side of this setup is that the sled does roll around on corners (speaking to trail handling). I'll take the sacrifice in trail stability for the ease of handling in the trees. I wouldn't say the sled 'dives' to the outside, but it does roll around a bit... anything I would do to decrease the roll would make it harder to initiate maneuvers with though and I like the way it handles as is.

 

[jsledder]

Carls spring was stiffer and the sway bar thicker. Did you do both or just the spring??
Set spring a little..little bit higher than stock. set torsions to highest.

I ordered the sway bar from Carl's, it came in the Polaris packaging so I'm thinking it might be the stock bar??

I've got the bigger torsion springs also, don't remember where I have them set.

 

[guidoxpress]

I ordered the sway bar from Carl's, it came in the Polaris packaging so I'm thinking it might be the stock bar??

I've got the bigger torsion springs also, don't remember where I have them set.

the Carls front track spring and the heavier (thicker) sway bar are BOTH polaris factory parts. they came on the switchback and touring (2-up) edition sleds i believe.

Carls is a polaris dealer and did alot of research to find the best setup and since doing that, they basically called those parts their "fix" thats why we refer to them as the carls spring ect...not alot of people knew the factory part numbers, so they are just helping us out with it.

anyways..

as for the setup.

the 220lb front track spring will make a big difference, to set it up, i always tightened the lower spring collar to handtight tension and about 1 full circle more, so it would stay in place. no need to "crank" the collar and give more sorin tension.

the rear track shock doenst have any simple fixes to it.

you REALLY should move your rear torque arm bolt (on the rails its the very back arm) back 5/8" and it will give you a better shock rebound/transfer

THEN you should invest in the better torsion springs thats Curt at Fastrax has given us insight on, i put these on my wifes sled and did everything else stated and WOW....its a cadillac and i LOVE IT.


as for the heavy front sway bar, i also had that at one point (removed entirely now cause i have Zbroz EXIT shocks on all sleds now), the sway bar will help with body roll and diving as well, but the front shocks really come in play here as well as ski alignment. The stock shocks must have the sway bar or you will eventually destroy them.

but with the mods above, you should have a solid setup for sure.

 

[jsledder]

Update: Moved the rear scissor back, moved the limiter strap from the center hole to the bottom hole on the shock mount, set ski's to the widest setting and did the Carls cycle mod to the Powder Pro's. First thing I noticed was that I could ride this thing on one ski with little effort for as long as I wanted, before it would want to push it right back over if I tried to one ski it. Only had about a foot of fresh on top of setup spring snow so really couldn't get a feel for how it is going to work in deeper snow but I could tell that downhill turns are still going to be a chore.

Now, to figure out why my daughter whooped me by 3-4 sleds on a uphill drag with her 685 Carl's RMK.....