snowboardman137
New member
hey all i have a 1999 srx 700 , i bought it 2 yrs ago and loved it instantly, put pipes and graphics on it, but the only thing the sled was lacking was suspension. i ride all of maine pretty much, anywhere from the smooth well taken care of northern trails to the rough beat urself up central and southern maine trails. i work at a snowmobile junkyard and we got a blown up vmax xtc in that we parted out i decided i was going to take the big 13" suspension out and put it in the srx. i put the rear in, it went in fine, put the front in and with a few swear words got everything in and all aligned. i didnt really pay much attention when i put it in i just wanted to try it out. i went out and rode in the deep snow and it loved it, i got into the packed trails and the sled was all over the place. i brought it bvack into the shop and noticed that when the suspension was up it was toed perfect, but when the suspension was compressed it toed out extremely bad, like 3-4" out in the front, both sides.
now i have talked to dealers around here and they all say it can be done but they dont know what is going wrong, i have taken all the pieces out of the xtc such as radius rods, trailing arms, and shocks. i did have to remake my shock mounts as the shocks were a lil different but that wasnt a big deal. i was just wondering if anybpody has seen this done or if they have what did they have to change? where is the geometry off? please anybody help really hopin to put it in and have it workin for this yr.!!!
now i have talked to dealers around here and they all say it can be done but they dont know what is going wrong, i have taken all the pieces out of the xtc such as radius rods, trailing arms, and shocks. i did have to remake my shock mounts as the shocks were a lil different but that wasnt a big deal. i was just wondering if anybpody has seen this done or if they have what did they have to change? where is the geometry off? please anybody help really hopin to put it in and have it workin for this yr.!!!
post up a pic of the front end, it may shed some light on the problem. Im guessing that with the long front shocks, you have the front end jacked way up which may be causing a lot of bump steer.Jack the front of the sled up and remove a shock, then raise and lower the ski through its travel and see how much the ski toes in and out as you move it.
snowboardman137
New member
yeah ive tried that, it doesnt seem to do it without the shocks in there, thats why im wonderin whats up? ive never really messed with the front suspension too much on these...
that was part of what i wanted was the extra height, because i have almost 700 acres of fields to myself
and i leave em untracked until the snow is really deep enough to have alot of fun and i love a sled that has alot of clearance in the deep snow, it just seems to carve better thru it when ur not diggin into it if u kno what i mean
i dont have any pics right now, my garage is bein used for a cummins rebuild this week but ill hopefully get to tinker on it next weekend and hopefully get some picstures for you guys...
that was part of what i wanted was the extra height, because i have almost 700 acres of fields to myself
and i leave em untracked until the snow is really deep enough to have alot of fun and i love a sled that has alot of clearance in the deep snow, it just seems to carve better thru it when ur not diggin into it if u kno what i meani dont have any pics right now, my garage is bein used for a cummins rebuild this week but ill hopefully get to tinker on it next weekend and hopefully get some picstures for you guys...
read the front end line up article below.
dont use the long travel front shocks unless you make or buy brackets to hold them. you can also install a viper font cast section.
when you use the shocks the way you did, the front of the sled is going to be way too high and will throw off the caster built into the trailing arms, this will make your sled steer very easy and not want to go straight. it also effects the preasure on the back of the ski witch will make the sled not want to go straight and dart like crazy.
dont use the long travel front shocks unless you make or buy brackets to hold them. you can also install a viper font cast section.
when you use the shocks the way you did, the front of the sled is going to be way too high and will throw off the caster built into the trailing arms, this will make your sled steer very easy and not want to go straight. it also effects the preasure on the back of the ski witch will make the sled not want to go straight and dart like crazy.
bluewho
Active member
Did you change the sway bar as well.
snowboardman137
New member
BETHEVIPER said:
so there is not going to be any way of getting the front end up in the air? that was one of the upsides that i was really looking forward to...
so what would i need different for brackets? i had made some brackets that instead of being like a fork piece and haveing the eyelet thing in the shock they were the other way around, which wasnt really that bad, but what is the viper cast section i guess i dont know what you are talkin about there? and since the whole suspension came out of an xtc i figured it would have that caster and everything built into the trailing arms? maybe i should just call it off? i was really looking forward to it and didnt mind workin my a** off doin it because i really wanted it up there as im really looking at a deep snow sled and i like the height it gives you... maybe there is some type of kit or bracket that could be made to give me the height? any help on this is greatly appreciated
snowboardman137
New member
bluewho said:
no i didnt change the sway bar... figured that would be a pain in the *** hardcore...lol... once everything was in there it didn't hit anything and i looked it up on the fiche and it says it calls for the same sway bar and links with the xtc as it does the srx
Something doesnt sound right! The shocks shouldnt have any affect on the steering, but the position of the suspension as is it goes through its travel will.snowboardman137 said:
What parts did you put on? Trailling arms, radius rods, tie rods? How far up in the shock well is the top of your shock mounted?
When I did mine, I made a bracket that puts it as far up as possible, I actually had to drill holes and install the shock bolt from under the hood!
If you scrap the Idea, you may want to invest in some mountain skis, this will keep the front of the sled up on top of the snow, which is probably what your trying to accomplish anyways.
the correct position of the shock bolt would be as stated above, above the bellypan. you need to cut a hole. i will have these brackets available in a while, machinist is making them this time..
since you work at a junk yard, if you have a viper there, remove the front section from it, that all the suspension bolts to and the front motor mounts bolt to.
this will bolt the shocks the correct height.
caster is decreased on the trailing arm as you swing the arm down and the sled goes up. the more height you have over stock the less caster. also the more body roll, it will handle like crap in a corner.
the rear skid is designed to work properly with stock or lower ride height, not higher. the front track shock just wont give enough travel in a suspension fall out situation. you can make it work, just not designed that way. better to have a suspension have fall out travel.
also, read the skid rebuild article below, it will explain what you need to do to that xt skid to make it better, you have enough parts kicking around already im sure.
if you dont want to make brackets for the front, dont have a viper cast section or dont want to wait to buy them from me, you can do a mod that will use your stock brackets an d shocks, just flip them around, do a search it has been talked about for years since i did it on my 98 back in 99. it will give you 1in of height up front.
since you work at a junk yard, if you have a viper there, remove the front section from it, that all the suspension bolts to and the front motor mounts bolt to.
this will bolt the shocks the correct height.
caster is decreased on the trailing arm as you swing the arm down and the sled goes up. the more height you have over stock the less caster. also the more body roll, it will handle like crap in a corner.
the rear skid is designed to work properly with stock or lower ride height, not higher. the front track shock just wont give enough travel in a suspension fall out situation. you can make it work, just not designed that way. better to have a suspension have fall out travel.
also, read the skid rebuild article below, it will explain what you need to do to that xt skid to make it better, you have enough parts kicking around already im sure.
if you dont want to make brackets for the front, dont have a viper cast section or dont want to wait to buy them from me, you can do a mod that will use your stock brackets an d shocks, just flip them around, do a search it has been talked about for years since i did it on my 98 back in 99. it will give you 1in of height up front.
snowboardman137
New member
BETHEVIPER said:
so let me get this right? i could just swap what on the parts microfiche it calls the bulkhead? and maybe make a few cuts to my bellypan and it would work? would i still get the sno-x height to it? im not a realy fast rider on the trails anyway as when i go on the trails its usually with my old lady and friends but i pretty much want the height and suspension for ditch bangin and boondockin the field cause thats what i love to do i could do it for days straight and never get bored...lol. have u ever actually tried to bolt up a viper bulkhead to an srx? is there alot of modifications to the plastic? does it clear the pipes? or maybe i could just buy the brackets off u? what do i have to modify for them? if its just a few snips of plastic i dont really mind because i know somebody that does carbon fiber and i could easily have some carbon fiber covers made to cover some holes if needed...lol... but if it consists of beating my pipes in or doing somethin drastic like that i might just have to rethink it... not sayin i wouldnt try but haha...
i might just try the flipping the bracket thing and go from there... maybe that'll be enough height to give me the extra height and level up the sled....
so betheviper are u guys ridin already? we just got like 3 inches here yesterday and i went for a ride across the lawn im achin to ride!
the viper front cast section will rivet in directly, you will also need the bracket that the radius rods bolt through. you will need to hole saw the bellypan for the perches to stick through. the pipes will clear by a mile, yamaha was planning ahead i think for a sled they never made. dont bother with carbon, just use layers of heat tape to cover.
if you want to go off trail, you dont need your front end high in the air, you need the hole sled in the air. you need wider skis.
no riding yet, my sled is in a pile on the floor, next few weeks will be buisy may have to ride it this year in mock up only form, nothing painted, plated or powder coated.
if you want to go off trail, you dont need your front end high in the air, you need the hole sled in the air. you need wider skis.
no riding yet, my sled is in a pile on the floor, next few weeks will be buisy may have to ride it this year in mock up only form, nothing painted, plated or powder coated.
snowboardman137
New member
so i think we might still have that vmax xtc chassis layin around in the junkyard i dont think we have any vipers tho, would that front cast section be ok to use? since that is the sled everything else came out of? am i going to have to pull the whole bellypan off to put that cast section in? yeah that doesnt sound like too much cuttin so ill prolly try it just want to plan on it workin before i work my butt off to put it in to find out i still have the same prob. am i going to need to use different tie rods or steering knuckle piece there in the middle of the sled?