Skid drop brainstorming thread

[kidwoo]

I drilled some holes in my limiter strap and moved the bottom FTS mount forward just to look at the numbers. I think this is a viable way to drop the front of the skid. I got around 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch depending on how tight I squeezed the strap.

I ordered a blank strap and a half inch longer eyelet for a coil QS3 shock I have. It's all going to depend on what the front of the skid bottoms out on, the shock or the jounce bumpers. Will keep you posted once some parts show up.

 

[Duff]

I'm putting mine together today, only 1 hole for the FTS mount.

 

[sno*jet]

saw these and thought of you.

Nextech Rear Skid Accesories

have seen them on another site like tki or somewhere also. always wondered...
I think my SLP skis have room for a spacer between the saddle and the ski

 

[kidwoo]

Oooh titanium too!

Doesn't look like they'll mate up against the existing plates in the tunnel but it's definitely a good looking brace. Thanks!

 

[summ8rmk]

Ya, cats Tapered tunnel makes it difficult to change skid mounting location.
I am considering dropping the rear more.
The back half of the track doesn't touch the ground, even with the front paddles folded in half.

Sent it

 

[bgraff1]

i used those nextech Ti mounting plates on my old sled with one of there carbon skids. i just used a rubber mallet to get rid of the taper in the tunnel. aka i smacked it with the mallet until it was flat lol. then riveted in the plates. had no issues for years

 

[kidwoo]

i used those nextech Ti mounting plates on my old sled with one of there carbon skids. i just used a rubber mallet to get rid of the taper in the tunnel. aka i smacked it with the mallet until it was flat lol. then riveted in the plates. had no issues for years

I was thinking about this last night. I was thinking a firm slow deliberate clamp but hey, whatever works!

What sled did you do this on?

 

[bgraff1]

I was thinking about this last night. I was thinking a firm slow deliberate clamp but hey, whatever works!

What sled did you do this on?

had it my old 2012 frankenstein. i think the only thing still original was the front bumper, steering post, cooler and bottom end of the motor. can see the plates if you zoom in. a couple large C clamps and a couple small blocks of wood also might work well. clamp it together, install brackets and then remove the clamps

 

[Wheel House Motorsports]

I've got a pic request. It looks like ice age may have done something similar to what I'm thinking. Do your rails have two holes for the lower front track shock mount like in this pic?


View attachment 336567


If so could you get a measurement from arm mount hole to each of those shock holes?

Those were the last pre production protos. Production rails only have 1 hole for the FTS.

 

[kidwoo]

Thanks guys!

I've got a few different things I'm going to look at. A longer eyelet for a coil FTS I've got, moving the bottom mount forward, and now these plates with some tunnel crushing.

One of them will work.

 

[kidwoo]

I ended up buying a longer eyelet than I needed so that I could cut and rethread slowly to make sure I was getting the rise that I wanted. But fox makes enough pieces that you can just buy one.

To raise the front of the skid 1", you can buy this shock eyelet

Carver Performance :: Warning

You'll need a shaft clamp and some heat to pull the stock one off but that should do'er. I made my own clamp with a drill press, half inch bit, and a bandsaw.


I went ahead and bought an elevate kit but I'm going to go ahead and raise it even more. I'm doing the same with some coils on the front. If someone wants to check my math, the coil I have from a base model 2016 proclimb 36" front end has 5.5" of shaft travel. Cat claims 7 inches of front travel so that's a 1.2727 leverage ratio of ski travel to shock travel. I'm not quite sure how long I'm going to end up with but as it sits with my skid raised 3/4" in the rear and 1" in the front (with elevate bits) there could definitely be more ski pressure. So I think I'm on the right track with raising the front a little bit more and having an elevate kit on steroids.

 

[boondocker97]

Just curious, what made you drop the money on a full Elevate kit? You seemed pretty gung ho about trying to get results with stock parts first.

 

[kidwoo]

Just curious, what made you drop the money on a full Elevate kit? You seemed pretty gung ho about trying to get results with stock parts first.

I finally saw a buddy riding an alpha in the wild, and realized that with or without the sled, that elevate kit to make a dual rail out of an alpha has resale value. ?

That's part of it, but it's also the best thought out option with the most homework behind it, so I wanted to use that as a standard, and also see what's like to push the most extreme option even further.

I still stand by the budget option of longer spindles, longer ski shocks and a lowered front skid can get you something really really similar. And I may even still do that. But mtnside still hasn't made their spindles yet and I don't really care to completely (and unnecessarily) reconfigure my front end with the BDX setup, which puts more leverage on the ski vs. the upper a-arm the way it is stock. Plus it doesn't come in black.

I can say I'm pretty blown away by just what the elevate kit does.

 

[Frostbite]

I just I just went ahead and ordered the Barcode A arms for their 1 1/2" lift for my 2015 M8000. At $798 shipped, I will give them a try without any rear skid changes and then determine if I need to make any modifications to drop the rear skid to match. If I do need to drop the rear skid to match, this thread is where I will find out how. Thoughts?

 

[kidwoo]

Thoughts?

I'm just happy you finally decided on something.

Definitely keep us posted!

 

[Frostbite]

Kidwoo, you had some great ideas and I was anxiously following your lead fully planning to drop my factory rear skid via your recommended eyelets and FTS remount. I was waiting to hear your thoughts on how you thought it worked. I thought that maybe after you rode it maybe there would be some refined ideas coming. Then you abandoned ship and spent the big $$ to get the Iceage kit. Now, we are left with no feedback on how your ideas panned out, and we have become the guinea pigs. I just want to know what works to lower the rear skid without causing larger issues.

 

[kidwoo]

I didn't abandon, I came up with two ways to lower your skid! Even with the elevate kit I needed to come up with something because my 2016 doesn't have a lower plated hole to drill. Having ridden the front skid raised 1", I'd say the 3/4-1" range is good. Whatever you want to raise the skid, just get an eyelet half that length longer than stock. Carver performance and hygear have most of that stuff listed.


The only one I didn't ride was moving the air shock forward in the lower mount.

And the longer eyelets I have coming for some ski shocks today will still be applicable to anyone with one of the 1.5" spindle options.

 

[sno*jet]

I just I just went ahead and ordered the Barcode A arms for their 1 1/2" lift for my 2015 M8000. At $798 shipped, I will give them a try without any rear skid changes and then determine if I need to make any modifications to drop the rear skid to match. If I do need to drop the rear skid to match, this thread is where I will find out how. Thoughts?

thoughts- take a measurement from ground before and after your install to see the actual gain in height. Curious how much they are actually raising the sled not just moving the skis out front more.

 

[Frostbite]

Snojet, I will take some measurements and pictures of the before and after Barcode A arms. I hope the height raise claim pans out. I am told as you narrow the ski stance the height continues to go up. We shall see.
Kidwoo, I was going to order the eyelet you linked but, it says item not available. If you get a chance, could you please add another link? I will go ahead and order one to try. The Fox Part number would probably be best.

This seems like it could be it: https://www.hygearsuspension.com/co...8-shaft-x-0-7-w-x1-eyelet-x1-49-base-x-1-76-l

 

[kidwoo]

Yep, the second one

2.26" tlg - Hygear Part #23-03-007
That should raise you an inch in the front which might be a little much given that the barcodes are already going to lighten up the front end a bit. This is the piece that I ended up getting, way too long but I drilled, tapped and cut it down so that it's essentially the same height as that part number above. You can make this one any length you want if you don't want to go the full inch at the skid.
23-03-025, Fox - Shaft Eyelet, Steel, 1" Smooth Bore, 2.40"tlg, 7/16-20 Mount, $24.99ea, SOH

Washer if you need it for your spring collar
23-03-024, Fox - Fastener, Eyelet Retainer Plate, .5" ID x 1.5" OD, Steel, $4.99ea, SOH

Personally if I were you, I'd wait and ride with just the arms and see what you think.

If you do extend the front shock, you'll need a different limiter strap. The stock ones aren't long enough. Kimpex makes a bunch of them. I just ordered the longest one figuring I could make it any length I wanted but it's way longer than what you'll need.

And to be honest, I only bought the elevate kit so I don't have to bend over as far to work on the sled.