horkn
New member
maybe with a stock track they "might" not be required. but IME, any sled that is studded should have heat exchanger guards on them, unless you like ruining your heat exchangers, your motor, and possibly your weekend. what happens if a rear idler wheel breaks off, or falls off? then you will have te track balloon up in front, heading toward the HX.
Just because you have HX protectors does not always mean that you will not have stud damage. Our indy 500 had a stud pull loose just enought to tear open the front HX, and luckily I noticed moms sled was leaking, and we were able to limp it home without motor damage. still, that sled was done for the weekend even with HX protectors, and that was the first time out on a friday night. However, one cannot prevent rarities like that, but any thing you can do to mitigate, or prevent it from happening is a smart thing.
The stock track on the 97 venture 6 is a wimpy .510" lug, we upgraded ours to a decent .92" and studded it with 1.175" studs. So a sled like ours will have a lot less room to work with than it was stock, given the 9t drivers still in place. Still there is more than enough clearance. you could run a 1.25" lug track with studs and a 9t driver set, but there is not much room at all then.
your dealer probably told you that they are not needed because he did not want to bother to try to either tell you the mods needed to fit the std SX protectors, or he did not want to get stuck with doing that job, or, he palin did not see any part number form Yamaha, and assumed they were not needed then.
I play safe rather than risk the consequences.
I spoke with Mark from Hauck today about the difficulty in finding HX protectors that fit easily, and he said that ventures have always been a tough fit, and he found that guys have had to modify the protectors of any brand due to the differences in the tunnel/ bulkhead only on the venture. The MM should be the same, but who studs a MM??
He said that yamaha made special protectors at one time, but they are not available anymore. No aftermarket makes them either. He mentioned guys bending the std proaction prtectors, or adding a piece of angle Aluminum to be abvle to mout the protectors.
I think we will go the angle aluminum route.
what a PITA......
Just because you have HX protectors does not always mean that you will not have stud damage. Our indy 500 had a stud pull loose just enought to tear open the front HX, and luckily I noticed moms sled was leaking, and we were able to limp it home without motor damage. still, that sled was done for the weekend even with HX protectors, and that was the first time out on a friday night. However, one cannot prevent rarities like that, but any thing you can do to mitigate, or prevent it from happening is a smart thing.
The stock track on the 97 venture 6 is a wimpy .510" lug, we upgraded ours to a decent .92" and studded it with 1.175" studs. So a sled like ours will have a lot less room to work with than it was stock, given the 9t drivers still in place. Still there is more than enough clearance. you could run a 1.25" lug track with studs and a 9t driver set, but there is not much room at all then.
your dealer probably told you that they are not needed because he did not want to bother to try to either tell you the mods needed to fit the std SX protectors, or he did not want to get stuck with doing that job, or, he palin did not see any part number form Yamaha, and assumed they were not needed then.
I play safe rather than risk the consequences.
I spoke with Mark from Hauck today about the difficulty in finding HX protectors that fit easily, and he said that ventures have always been a tough fit, and he found that guys have had to modify the protectors of any brand due to the differences in the tunnel/ bulkhead only on the venture. The MM should be the same, but who studs a MM??
He said that yamaha made special protectors at one time, but they are not available anymore. No aftermarket makes them either. He mentioned guys bending the std proaction prtectors, or adding a piece of angle Aluminum to be abvle to mout the protectors.
I think we will go the angle aluminum route.
what a PITA......
horkn
New member
So, we found 1 dealership that will actually fab up the correct protectors for the proaction Venture.
It happens to be where my cottage is. No other dealership wanted to go out and supply the part. They have another customer with a 99 venture that needs HX protectors, and they will just make 2 sets instead of 1.
They are making these this week, and the protectors will finally be here hopefully for the weekend, if not, for the next weekend.
Then we can get the work finished on the sled and it should be all set. Looks like we might be going up super bowl weekend after all and riding our 2up.
It happens to be where my cottage is. No other dealership wanted to go out and supply the part. They have another customer with a 99 venture that needs HX protectors, and they will just make 2 sets instead of 1.
They are making these this week, and the protectors will finally be here hopefully for the weekend, if not, for the next weekend.
Then we can get the work finished on the sled and it should be all set. Looks like we might be going up super bowl weekend after all and riding our 2up.
tripplec
New member
Protection Needed
Ok, I can see where you're coming from. Well sounds like a summer job if I come across a set that will install properly. If I get the jist of it. The seat has to come out although the track should not from what I see from underneath.
I'll keep and eye out for guard for the 600 tunnel. See some on ebay but not sure if the are built or bent right for proper installation.
My sled looks real good, but still on the trailer. I am taking it north this weekend. I hope there is enough snow to go somewhere. We lost a huge amount with the very warm weather and rain earlier this month. So getting some sledding in is the only ticket right now. Lakes are suicide, just because it got real cold they think they can go over it. Well they're going over and in and maybe some under. Dahhh don't look like there will be any lake running again this year. We got up to 6" on the lake according to a guy up there and that stopped the freezing (insulated with this light fluffy stuff) of the few inches of ice now.
PS: I gather you did not rivet your guard at the top. You have to have something you can bold down. A rivet can rip out if the belt hits it and cause even more damage.
Ok, I can see where you're coming from. Well sounds like a summer job if I come across a set that will install properly. If I get the jist of it. The seat has to come out although the track should not from what I see from underneath.
I'll keep and eye out for guard for the 600 tunnel. See some on ebay but not sure if the are built or bent right for proper installation.
My sled looks real good, but still on the trailer. I am taking it north this weekend. I hope there is enough snow to go somewhere. We lost a huge amount with the very warm weather and rain earlier this month. So getting some sledding in is the only ticket right now. Lakes are suicide, just because it got real cold they think they can go over it. Well they're going over and in and maybe some under. Dahhh don't look like there will be any lake running again this year. We got up to 6" on the lake according to a guy up there and that stopped the freezing (insulated with this light fluffy stuff) of the few inches of ice now.
PS: I gather you did not rivet your guard at the top. You have to have something you can bold down. A rivet can rip out if the belt hits it and cause even more damage.
horkn
New member
Well,
I found out that the protectors we are getting are an exact clone of the old defunct yamaha part.
The dealership that is having them made for us happened to have one of the original yamaha part, and they keep it around for exactly this reason. They simply send it to a fab shop, and have them make duplicates as needed. Pretty smart huh?
I will post a pic of what the yamaha part is supposed to look like with rough dimensions so if you ever do run across a set on ebay or whatever, you can rest assured that you will indeed have the right ones for your sled.
these will apparently be riveted down on top, as well as the bottom, and require the track, skid, and drive shaft to be out to install them.
I found out that the protectors we are getting are an exact clone of the old defunct yamaha part.
The dealership that is having them made for us happened to have one of the original yamaha part, and they keep it around for exactly this reason. They simply send it to a fab shop, and have them make duplicates as needed. Pretty smart huh?
I will post a pic of what the yamaha part is supposed to look like with rough dimensions so if you ever do run across a set on ebay or whatever, you can rest assured that you will indeed have the right ones for your sled.
these will apparently be riveted down on top, as well as the bottom, and require the track, skid, and drive shaft to be out to install them.
tripplec
New member
Oh Boy,, OH BOY
Horkn, I can see that big rivets hold the plate at the bottom since it likely biased against the frame and can be driven in further. But at the top. Too bad your fab guy could not make a horizontal top to through bolt it (nylock nut and all) instead. IF it breaks free and folds into the heat exchanger. Your vocabulary will change quickly maybe even your language too. (knowone would understand but gather something did not go well)
What does he charge for them down there. Could be costly importing to Canada eh eh...
Pulling it all out to install. oh boy oh boy double oh boy. I see why you had a mechanic install them. Oh boy oh boy. I'll be careful riding for now...
Cheers thanks for the feedback.
Horkn, I can see that big rivets hold the plate at the bottom since it likely biased against the frame and can be driven in further. But at the top. Too bad your fab guy could not make a horizontal top to through bolt it (nylock nut and all) instead. IF it breaks free and folds into the heat exchanger. Your vocabulary will change quickly maybe even your language too. (knowone would understand but gather something did not go well)
What does he charge for them down there. Could be costly importing to Canada eh eh...
Pulling it all out to install. oh boy oh boy double oh boy. I see why you had a mechanic install them. Oh boy oh boy. I'll be careful riding for now...
Cheers thanks for the feedback.
horkn
New member
Honestly I do not know exactly how the guards will mount on top esp. I have seen several yamaha guards that simply rivet up top, so i would figure that shoule be sufficient.
as long as good high quality rivets are used, I don't have any qualms about using rivets. Now aluminum ones would surely not be very durable.
But yeah, the protectors should never see any track flinging against them unless something goes south. Although snow/ ice can get chunked around up there esp first thing in the AM after a good ride.
All the ones on our Polaris' have been rivet mounted, and I have yet to have one come off.
the dealer is charging us 75 dollars for the pair. Yeah, its about 15-20 dollars more than what they really should be, but to simply get the right part it is worth it to me.
if you want to get a pair sometime, I can give you the phone # of the dealer, or you can wait and see if you can find a pair elsewhere, but good luck.
maybe try a sled boneyard? look for any studded wrecked ventures, and hopefully they will be on one. IMO, they would be nearly indestructable, unless the sled was torched so bad they melted. Certainly no collision with a tree, other sled, moose (lol) would take the protectors out.
as long as good high quality rivets are used, I don't have any qualms about using rivets. Now aluminum ones would surely not be very durable.
But yeah, the protectors should never see any track flinging against them unless something goes south. Although snow/ ice can get chunked around up there esp first thing in the AM after a good ride.
All the ones on our Polaris' have been rivet mounted, and I have yet to have one come off.
the dealer is charging us 75 dollars for the pair. Yeah, its about 15-20 dollars more than what they really should be, but to simply get the right part it is worth it to me.
if you want to get a pair sometime, I can give you the phone # of the dealer, or you can wait and see if you can find a pair elsewhere, but good luck.
maybe try a sled boneyard? look for any studded wrecked ventures, and hopefully they will be on one. IMO, they would be nearly indestructable, unless the sled was torched so bad they melted. Certainly no collision with a tree, other sled, moose (lol) would take the protectors out.
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