Making the SX Viper "Q" - Polaris IQR 440 skid swap


Well tonight I got the engine ready to go and took it for about a 2 minute ride. in the yard. I had the engine summerized with automatic transmission fluid (which worked very well by the way, thanks nosboy) so it took some time to clean out the carbs and get it ready. I didn't want to rip up the lawn too much, so I didn't punch the throttle too hard but right away I noticed the weight transfer was much better. I could blip the throttle and pull the skis right up. Tomorrow night when it cools off and the dew falls I might take it into the ditch for a little bit, maybe find a few bumps to try out. No one cares about that grass ;)!
 
Nice write up. Will be helpful when I change my skid.

I guess you couldn't wait any longer to try it. Glad you like it so far.
 
Well we got a little snow so I got to do a better test.

The first noticeable part is weight transfer. The front is much lighter than I could get it to be with my old proaction skid. Of course the tradeoff is less ski pressure for turning, but for ditch riding it's not much of an issue.

This skid is capable of absorbing some really bit hits. I have the rear shock clicker set all the way soft and it's about right, but it can be set very stiff. ( I also only weigh about 160). I'm still messing around with settings though and learning things. The skid seems to handle jumping very well.

Right now the skid is set up to have a lot of weight transfer, and I'm experimenting with that. But I might also see if I can set it up for the smootest ride possible instead. I'm learning as I go here. There seems to be a connection between weight transfer and how tippy the sled is. Right now you can pitch the sled side to side easier than ever before.

With the way it's set up now, the sled really hooks up. On acceleration, the whole sled will kind of rock back and put weight on the track. It's not hard at all to pull the skis up.

That's about all I have, just a few comments. Really, we need more snow before I can do too much else. I want to see what works best in deeper snow, and how deeper snow affects things.
 
I got out into some deeper snow today. The wind has been blowing, and in some of the deeper ditches there's an honest 3 ft + of powder. Finally got a good ride on the new skid, and I love it!

The skid is set at max weight transfer right now. I moved the rear scissor arm forward one hole, so the rear of the skid has more leverage on the shock. I think I still have the clicker on the shock at the softest setting, but wherever it is it works really well. With the old proaction, the sled was a bit of snowplow in soft powder. But now the front stays light with all the weight transfer available. Looking back at my tracks, there were places that the skis barely touched the snow which really surprised me. The ride quality was great as well. It's very smooth, even when pounding drifts. It seems to soak up the huge hits with no problem.

I thought it was alot of fun to go back after making a bunch of passes, and just fly through the packed snow bumps and the old tracks to see how much air I could get. The front end stays pointed, and the lanches and landings were so smooth. The bumps are a blast to pound through. Absolutely unheard of with my old proaction.

I can't say what it would be like on hardpack trails though, it might be a bit stiff for the little bumps. But for the ditchbanging I do, this skid setup rocks.
 
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The easiest way to get a bolt outta a shaft thats spinning . Is remove one side and put a nut on that bolt. Thread it on alittle so you can get the bolt back into the shaft and use it as a lock nut, tighten that nut. Then go to the side that doesn't want to come out and loosen. Remove it and go back to the other side and loosen lock nut then remove bolt.
 
bringing alive a dead thread i bought this skid in the spring of last year and just got to installing it the guy said draw a line 8 1/2 back from the flat of the driveshaft and you can drill the holes anywhere on that line well thats what i did but now the front of it is rubbing on the track any help would be great
 
Doing the same install now...if the IQ skid has 14" of suspension, how can the rear wheels not hit the tunnel at 5.5" drop from the top of the tunnel? If the whole skid moves up into the tunnel, the skid moves about 11" (both shocks move up). But if the front shock does not compress much and only the rear compresses, the rear wheels move up 14" and the track will hit the tunnel (have not tried this yet). Pics of install progress attached....these are of the 5.5" drop on both the front and rear mount

Other option is to drop the rear mount 2.5" or so (to clear heat exchanger) but this will jack up the back of the sled quite a bit. Or make an adapter like discussed in post #12 (this string of postings).

What am I doing wrong here? I have two brackets made at this point. The one in the photo I believe will hit the tunnel if the back wheels/shock bottom and the front shock does not move much....is this possible that only the back would move??

Can I spin the rear mount (alum mounting bracket with bushings) on the splined shaft to reduce the ride height?

Does the transfer setting need to be forward as shown in the last photo at the unloaded condition?

I need to pick which bracket to use for this weekend (assembling the skid on Friday and hopefully riding in vt this weekend).
Thanks for any guidance
 

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xs
You still need it down from the tunnel like 5 1/2 inches. I used th jbshocks prox install but if you have a fusion skid I'd follow that one
 
Does the skid ever move in an arc where the front shock does not move but the rear does? At 5.5", the rear wheels will move into the tunnel....but if it collapse parallel to the tunnel, the wheels will clear.

Thanks....Ed
 


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