Reliability........who's got experience?

[MikeMetzger]

Hey guys, Im really looking into a turbo'd M8 for this season, I LOVE my M7, but really need to upgrade. Im interested to hear about how reliable these sleds are. I DO NOT want to be fidgiting or fixing it every time I take it out, etc.

Really just looking for a pump gas turbo @ 8lbs anybody have experience with this?

Im looking at one of these two sleds, any input?

http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=345070

Thanks guys!

 

[Tonysnoo]

Im interested to hear about how reliable these sleds are. I DO NOT want to be fidgiting or fixing it every time I take it out,

Thanks guys!

You may not want any mod sled if you don't want to fidget with tuning. I own a turbo M8 that I love. I always had to tune on my mod sleds more than my turbo. I do figit with my turbo once or twice a ride to maximize its performance because I WANT to. I'm betting if you don't want the max benefit from the setup you buy, you will be able to leave it set pretty safe and ride it. Please don't confuse fixing with maintaining. Any mod sled will need more care than a stocker.

 

[w2bridin]

The small bit of tinkering and maitance is SOOO worth it. I didn't look at the sleds you are looking at but I will never go back to NA. My M8T rocks. If my turbo does break down out west I will sit in the cabin before renting a stocker!

 

[stcatman]

P.M. snowmow on here he and his buddy WYO have a online snowmobile repair shop, he can answer all your questions

 

[INDEEP]

Last season was my first year on a turbo. It's a used 2010 Twisted M8. If you're a guy that loves to have his sled run spot on day in day out I'm not sure it's do able. I mean perfect. Most days I don't need to touch the box but I do anyways because I always want better. I'm mainly talking about no throttle to full with a heavy load. Mid range and top end it ripped even when it wasn't perfect. Ride a few turbos and see if you like them. I love coming down hills and launching off rocks, shelves, and cornices and with a turbo the bottom end just wasn't there. All that said I'm still pretty happy. Good luck!

IMO stick with Twisted or Cutler

 

[backcountryislife]

I have buddies with 10,000+ on BD turbos (real turbos, not some sally PG setups btw, 14+ psi) and I've got 7000+ miles on cutler turbos.

IMO, with a good install and solid initial tuning, you won't be messing with it much. Replacing reeds here & there, doing pistons maybe 1000 miles sooner than stock... but if it was set up right, it's not that big a deal.

My cutler sleds (12-14 psi) were both pull & go for quite a while, finally had a problem on my last one at 3200 miles (fuel pump died) but all in all, they've been great.

 

[MikeMetzger]

Thanks guys, this is the type of info I was looking for. I think to fully understand, Ill just have to ride one. However once I do, Im sure Ill then need to get one as a N/A sled will feel far less exciting afterwards lol

 

[stcatman]

the turbo sled will put a smile on your face from ear to ear

 

[backcountryislife]

Thanks guys, this is the type of info I was looking for. I think to fully understand, Ill just have to ride one. However once I do, Im sure Ill then need to get one as a N/A sled will feel far less exciting afterwards lol

Yeah... don't even think about riding one unless you're ready to buy.

Btw, I also know MANY guys with setups that have been headaches from day one, or ran good for a month, then something changed... it happens, but most of those are from having poor installs imo, nearly all the problem sleds I know of have been owner installed. Simple things like boost line routing can cost you a ton of money a few weeks or months down the road. They need to be done perfectly in order to run perfectly imo.

 

[twsandrew]

M8 is honestly to me the most reliable turbo sled and I have had about everything. If you want reliable boost they are hard to beat. Most decent kits installed by someone who knows them well will run hard for many miles without missing a beat at 12-14lbs

 

[strong]

last year was my first year on a turbo, 10 hcr with a boondocker. I was nervous just like you everybody was telling me it wouldnt stay together and i would always be messing with it. The only problems i has with the sled was an injector wire rummbed through and was grounding out giving me a weird reading still road normal and everything just weird reading on the BD box. and I had a bearing fail in the DD. As far as the BD box went with the numbers and having to mess with it, once i figured out what everything stood for it was simple, only looked at the box to check my chard temps, max boost, and duty cycle on my injectors. Sounds confusing but is very easy once somebody shows you. Best sled i have ever riddin and put 1000miles on it last winter. best riding i have ever done, only thing is boost is very addicting, plan on spending more money to get more performance. I will never go back to a NA sled.

And if there are ever any questions there are plenty of ppl to ask on here they get you in the right direction right away.

 

[WyoBoy1000]

If its a older BD kit then HeII no, If its a 2011 kit with all the updates then there not bad and the ones I was around ran flawless on the 2011 sleds. Way to much stupid chit on the old BD kits compared to now, back then you did what you had to so it is what it is, but now there probably isn't a single part on those bd kits I would use. The 09's worked most of the time but needed some upgrades pretty bad. Never did see any gains with the pipe, maybe a little more here and there but not friendly to our riding style.

As for turbo m8's, actually its the only sled I've had I didn't have some kind of failure with was my 09 twisted TM8. And there are better kits now then there was but it was much like the cutler, ovs, and twisted that all normally are really easy to tune and ride the heII out of.
So I would say pretty dam reliable, and I'm pretty sure its gone through a few owners since and still running. Sounds like around 2000+miles your going to need some clutch's though, motors are tough if you have any idea how to tune your fine with the right kit.

Also I would not run a turbo on a m8 without the det sensor, it will save your arse.

 

[summithd]

'09 BD kit is just fine - don't listen to WyoBoy - just learn how to properly tune your sled. I'll pass the 6000 mile mark on mine this season. Granted it is just a SALLY PG kit that runs an avg. 8-9lbs, but what the he!! it works great for my type of riding! Not a thing ever done to the motor, not even a new top end. Compression is spot on.

However, I would like to add that if I was in the market for a cat turbo'd sled I'd probably look at a '10 or higher given the changes in the engine.

 

[WyoBoy1000]

'09 BD kit is just fine - don't listen to WyoBoy - just learn how to properly tune your sled. I'll pass the 6000 mile mark on mine this season. Granted it is just a SALLY PG kit that runs an avg. 8-9lbs, but what the he!! it works great for my type of riding! Not a thing ever done to the motor, not even a new top end. Compression is spot on.

However, I would like to add that if I was in the market for a cat turbo'd sled I'd probably look at a '10 or higher given the changes in the engine.

Your not a rookie either, but yours is the only one I've seen run that dependable and does what it should. and you also know how to tune and monitor it.

 

[x-5]

I also have an 09 with bd pgt 8-11 # no turbo related props...