This isn't the 146 competition track on the Assault

[Scott]

Looks ike a Camoplast paddle track to me.

Hmmmm?

You now they HAVE to be thinking of more than just the competition track for this thing. If it's for the freeriders, then we all know a LOT of freeriding is done in other snow conditions than just spring snow.

I'm thinking this sled would suit lots of peeps with a 2.5" 156 Extreme as an option.

http://pi54.com/Snowmobiles2009/Gallery/load/wallpapers/wp_1600x1200_800_assault_rmk_d.jpg

http://pi54.com/Snowmobiles2009/Gallery/load/wallpapers/wp_1600x1200_800_assault_rmk_e.jpg

http://pi54.com/Snowmobiles2009/Gallery/load/wallpapers/wp_1600x1200_800_assault_rmk_f.jpg

 

[CO 2.0]

Going from 146 to a 156 track on the Assault, I'd want the rear suspension 1" higher too then. Take a look at the Polaris spec vs. track length, they go hand in hand. On Deep snow sleds: 146" = 14.5" rear suspension. 155" = 15.5" rear susp. 163" = 16.5" rear susp. I would have been the first to buy the Assault if it weren't for the short track length and hard track... I went with the 155" D8.

 

[buck50]

Going from 146 to a 156 track on the Assault, I'd want the rear suspension 1" higher too then. Take a look at the Polaris spec vs. track length, they go hand in hand. On Deep snow sleds: 146" = 14.5" rear suspension. 155" = 15.5" rear susp. 163" = 16.5" rear susp. I would have been the first to buy the Assault if it weren't for the short track length and hard track... I went with the 155" D8.

i had a couple of friends do the same thing for the same reasons. also, they already have 163 d8's, and like to carry spare parts, and didn't want to have to buy all different parts, ie A-arms

 

[Bull]

talked to the Regional sales manager at the local sneek peak......there will be a 146 series 5 pow track available in the fall......could use your 5 hundie in poo dollars to cover most of that, eh? could also up track to the 155...... i would be curious to see the difference in handling in the pow with the wider front....probably takes the "dive" out on the trail??

 

[rab]

Scott is there a rumor or info that says its suposed to be a competition track on the assault

 

[Spud]

won't work if...

this assault has the same tunnel-front cooler clearance as the 08RmK's,
it won't work! wtf don't these guys have a decent drop&roll on their sleds...

 

[Racer220]

They are calling it the 'Mountain, Freeriders' sled. IMO if you look at the way the sled is set up it would support that. I also think this will be a popular sled for the hillclimbers given the parts that come on it. Piggyback WE, shorter rear skid w/ comp. track, rail braces, Pro-taper bars.... If you look at ISR rules for 2008/09 they are really starting to limit what racers can replace on a stocker. Most of these 'upgrades' will give a racer the competitive set-up from the factory instead of changing parts out. Just my .02

07

 

[mountainhorse]

The track shown in the pics links from Scott is not the "Assault" comp track.. must be a photo shoot sled before they put on the new track.

Pic of the Assault 146" track, looks waaaay stiff. I hear people whining about the deep snow performance of the sled.... It's NOT a Deep pow sled, it's a freeride sled. The track will give decent pow perfomance BUT it will also need to hold up to hard packed booters, hips and ramps..

No problem with a 2.5" track under a RMK based chassis with RMK drivers... the stock 2.4" (were talking about 0.10" difference here )

Pic with the cooler & 2.4" track_____________________________________________________________________ Pic without cooler & 2.4" track

The Assault will not run the front cooler which will give additional clearance there...more than enough to run the tallest tracks!

If you want an Assault "Long Track" Build it!!! With better parts than Polaris can afford to put on a stock sled

Get the 800 RMK Dragon in the tunnel length you want, Sell the shocks, a-arms and Rails. Pull the sway bar, add the Super tough ARS-FX Cromoly A-arms in the 43" width (or 46" if you like it wide), ARS-FX Piggyback coilover triple rate sprung front shocks, have Ice Age make you a set of non-tipped 155" (or what ever you want for track length) that are built to take punishment and have ARS-FX make you a kick-azz set of rear shocks. Buy just the front cromoly swing arm from the Holz coil over kit to take more punishment than the stock Assault part will [$215.00] Run the comptetiion 155" track, finger track, cat power claw or whatever you want!

For a real beater, remove the nose cone/stock bumper and install the TCP bumper for a MUCH more abuse resistant sled.

The sale of the stock shocks, rails, track and A-arms will take the sting out of the purchase of the new parts....

The result will be a sled that will take a pounding, to a level that the Assault will not, for a modest investment.

I'd get rid of the stock center extro and run 2 Avid extros as the 3 driver shaft seems to be clogging up with ice and ratcheting the track.

 

[Scott]

Scott is there a rumor or info that says its suposed to be a competition track on the assault

Uh, isn't that how they are advertising this sled? With the 146 comp track?


Does anyone know....Is this comp track stiffer than the finger tracks?

I've never seen anyone run a 2.52 pitch driver so they can run finger tracks on the IQ rmks. Does anyone make a 2.52 driver for the IQ drive shaft?

 

[Scott]

this assault has the same tunnel-front cooler clearance as the 08RmK's,
it won't work! wtf don't these guys have a decent drop&roll on their sleds...

If the dragon can run the 2.4" Pol track, why couldn't it run the 2.5" camo?

 

[mountainhorse]

2.4"s 2.5"s and comp tracks

Uh, isn't that how they are advertising this sled? With the 146 comp track?


Does anyone know....Is this comp track stiffer than the finger tracks?

I've never seen anyone run a 2.52 pitch driver so they can run finger tracks on the IQ rmks. Does anyone make a 2.52 driver for the IQ drive shaft?

If the dragon can run the 2.4" Pol track, why couldn't it run the 2.5" camo?

=========================================================

Scott,

This is the "COMP" track that is going on the Assault.. looks like it will pretty stiff to me... No great number of these tracks out there to test so who knows how they'll compare to the fingers, they have more surface area on the paddles than the fingers do

"COMP" Assault 146" track

Camoplast finger 2.25"

Avid makes Extrovert drivers in 2.52" pitch if you want to run a finger (144", 151" or 159") as well as using the stock 2005/2006 RMK non-extro drivers if you can pick them up.

On standard RMK's with the front tunnel cooler, and the 2.4" tracks, there is not a whole lot of clearance, BUT on the models with the cooler removed, the clearance becomes respectable.... IMO, if you run a 2.4" track, delete the front cooler on the RAW RMK's... install the plastic block off plate to keep ice and snow from building up there. See the above pics for he clearance difference. With tall paddles that run closer AND move more snow out the front of the tunnel, lack of abundant clearance robs a lot more HP than you would think as the engine has to work to pump all of this snow out of a small opening... even worse in heavy pow like we get on the west coast.

Without a cooler, a 2.5" track no problems, with the cooler and it will "work" but you will be loosing hp (parasitic loss).... its just a matter of clearance

Part # for the plastic closeoff plate when removing the front tunnel cooler, #5437050 About $35

You will also have to block off the coolant bottle and the cylinder head bypass that runs thru the front tunnel cooler, and run the 163" thermostat, part #7052452, which most dealers dont have in thier fiche, they need to look at the "online" parts fiche and order it... it is NOT part #7052433.... the 163" thermostat has a built in bypass.

 

[Scott]

Well I'm well aware of what the finger track is, and I've seen the pics over the last month of this new comp track.

I have been running a 159 finger track on my genII mod for 5 seasons now. I'd love to put my 159 finger track and EZ Ryde on a new Chassis. I could do that on a Dragon, but probably not an Assault, since the tunnel is not long enough.
Looking at the pics, the 146 tunnel is much shorter than the 155 tunnel.

 

[mountainhorse]

Not trying to be a smart-azz, but isn't the Assault a Dragon with wider front end, different track (from the trail Dragons) and better shocks.

Since you already have a top notch rear skid to transplant, IMO, for what you want to do, you'd be better off starting from the Dragon 155 and running the 159 on there.... I had a 159 under a 155" RAW tunnel no problem, if you really get picky, have Mike Vanamburg build you the 2" extension/bumper for the 155"... Heck, he could probably do the 7" extension for the 146 Assault, but then you would not have the longer coolers for the spring time.

With a $750 aftermarket track and $2300 skid, you don't seem to be shy about upgrades.

Also, IMO, the WE air piggybacks (not to be confused with a compression adjustable remote reservoir shock) will not be the "Best" freeride shock out there. Simply a second spring-rate chamber circuit is all it has, helps to deal with the rapid pressure spikes from hard landings and tall whoops that might blow out a standard WE air (especially when cold).

The assult shocks are NOT the same as adding the Fabcraft chambers... the assault has two different nitrogen chambers, a Floating piston and no adjustability in the field. The nitrogen in the second chamber does not mix with the oil. The Fabcraft chambers offer a mechanical method of adjusting in the field the oil/nitrogen emulsion pressure in the field.

If you really need the Assault graphics and hood color, I'm sure that you will find someone that wants to trade you.

If you built it up with the aftermarket parts and your EZ-Ryde, it would be a more stout sled than the Assault with a better supsion. Compared to the projected price of the Assault shocks ($1100 from what I hear) you would be Much better off with the ultra adjustable big hit Fox Float EVOL X's with DSC... MILES ahead of the Assault shocks with rebound and compression dampening adjustment, DSC high & low compression speed adjustment, and on-the-snow multi rate spring (air) pressure adjustment.
DSC description http://www.foxracingshox.com/fox_tech_center/owners_manuals/08_DSC_supplemental_sheet.pdf

Vanamburg RAW RMK tunnel extension

 

[minet]

is that assults track installed backwards?

 

[Scott]

Yeah, but it's multi directional. You can flip it around and it doesn't matter. BUT as F-bomb said, you'd think they'd put the arrows pointing the right way so people don't wonder weird things about them.

 

[Spaarky]

Not trying to be a smart-azz, but isn't the Assault a Dragon with wider front end, different track (from the trail Dragons) and better shocks.

I thought the rear skid had more travel than a Dragon too???

How much motor can a person go with removing the front cooler? I know stock would work, but big tripple, turbo, BB? How far can a person take it before they have cooling issues??

 

[mountainhorse]

The Assault is listed as 10" front travel (due to the longer a arms) and 14.5" rear

800 RMK 144" is listed as 9" front 14.5" rear

The Dragon 155" is listed as 9" front, 15.5" rear

Dragon 163" is listed as 9" front 16.5 rear

So I guess that the Assault Dosen't have more rear skid travel.... go figure.

I know there are plenty of the 163" 2008 Turbo Dragons out there that are not having cooling issues without the front-tunnel cooler.

Anthony Oberti's 1140 IQ-RMK does not run a front cooler and has full length tunnel coolers which are actually smaller than the RAW chassis coolers.

If you really wanted to run a front cooler, VanAmburg makes a low profile unit for this chassis that will free up the same amount as removing the cooler. It would also be possible to run a second, custom Holz U-cooler in the middle of the tunnel on a RAW chassis for more cooling capaicity (and weight). The Holz extrusions are narrow and very low profile.

 

[Spaarky]

hmmmm... I thought was one of the advertised benifits, the increased rear travel. Guess, I am wrong.

If you really wanted to run a front cooler

Not really at all, Mike has gotten plenty of my money over the years. Just wanted to make sure I am ok, and not reinventing the wheel since I am in one of these three(below) or maybe a combo of the three....

I know stock would work, but big tripple, turbo, BB?

 

[Scott]

How about an Assault with my EZ Ryde and 159 finger....and a VE tunnel...and a 10lbs boost.

Can VE take out the bulkead cooler and then re-route that to run the running board coolers to a big double pass cooler in the back?

That sounds like the way to do that one.

 

[mountainhorse]

That would be an awesome looking sled.

If you go this route, contact me and I'll buy the stock RAW tunnel from you.

I just talked to Mike VE on Wed about that very thing... he can build his Boondocker tunnel with running board OR a full length double pass coolers for the Raw chassis that would have very beefy rear drop brackets and strong front swing arm mounts...

Why would you want to Start with an Assault if you are going to this level of mod and your result would be a stronger sled than the Assault... Graphics and Paint??

Boondockers will be offering a pump-gas turbo kit on 7-8 lbs boost, with a low pressure blow off valve, 170 hp at altitude and no intercooler for the 600/700/800 cfi sleds. Compared to a naturally aspirated motor that would be like 200hp plus at the dyno altitudes they are testing at.... not many full mod sleds out there are making 170 hp at altitude.

IMO, get a 2008 700 non dragon, VE tunnel, add your track and suspension, Get ARS-FX to make you a great set of tripple rate adjustable front shocks (or Float X EVOL's) and run their 43" front end kit and spindles. Have Wildchild make you a bombproof steering post of the correct height so you dont need to run a lot of riser, Get some good handlebars, have Edge tool lighten the stock brake rotor by 1 lb and have get the 2009 chaincase cover when available. Add on the TCP bumper and the SPG float plate (without trimming the fenders) Add the turbo kit of whatever boost you want from boondockers and hold on!

You will have the same amount of work into the 2008 and spend $4000 less. The end result will be stronger than the Assault.

HMMM????