skid not sitting flat

M

mcviper

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Apr 12, 2008
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52
Location
oakville
I have a 02 viper with a 136" extension on it. I have been messing around with it the last couple of weeks, and no matter what i do i cannot get this thing to sit flat. The back of the track is off the ground over an inch? i tried putting more pre load in the front springs, shortening the straps, no preload in front skid shock. any one have any thoughts. I will try to post some pics. thanks
 

geometry of the skid on the pro-action. Not going to fix it unless you go with other then a yamaha skid and drill different holes for mounting. nature of the beast.
 
Thanks for the responses guys. I was doing some research today and figured it was made by hartman inc. So I looked at the instructions on-line and saw the cnc drop mounting brackets and figured the guy who owned the sled previously never installed it correctly. I gave hartman a call to see if I could order the brackets and I was lucky enough to get tom on the phone, he was great and explained to me that the 136" version uses the stock holes and just to keep adjusting it. It has just been a little frustrating because my 04 viper s handles so great compared to this thing, and my brother 01 venture track seems to sit nice and flat? The skid was completely rebuilt and powder coated 2 yrs ago. The next thing I am going to try is taking out the shocks, maybe a bend shaft?
 
definetly normal for it to "NOT" sit flat... as stated above when it transfers then most of the track will be in contact with the ground...
 
One of the things you can do is run the track loose as you can. This gives slack to the rear where it doesnt touch. You will be more subject to a ratcheting track depending on how loose you want to run it to make it touch in the rear. Extrovert drivers will let you run even looser. Just test the sled out for ratcheting once you get it to touch in the rear or much closer
 
I will try that, thanks. I should also add that it has a very tippy feeling when cornering?
 
Had the same problem when I extended my Viper. Rear of the track was like 2" off the floor. Took in the limiter strap as per Hartmann's instructions. Helped abit but ride quality suffered. The thing you need to remember is that the track should be about 1" off the floor at the 121 mark not at the end of the 136 extension. I also tried a 2" drop bracket. Skid would sit flatter but felt tippy and the skis had a hard time biting in the corners.Went back to BETHVIPER's suspesion setup removed the drop brackets and bolted on a set of SnowTrackers (aggressive) . Fixed everything
 
I was able to get my 136" hartmann to set flat on the ground, but I believe I had to add quite a bit of preload on the rear shock, forcing the back of the skid down. I also had the front skid shock w/ minimal preload, and the straps were pulled up to when my weight was on the sled, they were taut.
This season, I added drop brackets from CB Performance, Ohlins up front, along w/ Slydog skis and it handles really well. The skis alone were a BIG help.
 
the drop down brackets you got from cb's, is it just for the rear or middle as well? going to put some new carbides on it and take it for a ride tomorrow, i know it should turn better but it still needs more stable
 
my stock 121 skid sits with the rear of the track about 3/4 of an inch off the ground. when i sit on it, then it sits a little flatter, and when gassed, it's fully on the ground. ride isn't bad, but i dont know what a good vs bad ride is with these, i came off an edge chassis so it's worse lol. but sled transfers weight pretty good, skis come off the ground 1-2 inches. rides decent, and handles corners awesome
 
Loosen your transfer rods a bit. When you have them to tight the rear end of the track will suck up
 
mcviper said:
the drop down brackets you got from cb's, is it just for the rear or middle as well? going to put some new carbides on it and take it for a ride tomorrow, i know it should turn better but it still needs more stable
Click to expand...

The brackets were for the rear bolt. You have to drill a new hole for the middle bolt, a little ways down from where it is now, and the brackets themselves needed a little "machining" to keep the proper radius from the front bolt, which is not precisely spelled out in the instuctions, as the focus was on the criticalness of the middle bolt. You would have thought the brackets sat perpendicular to the tunnel when mounted, but to maintain proper distance from the front bolt, they have to be canted forward, and there is NOT enough clearance in the heat exchanger cutouts on the brackets for canting them forward for proper center to center of the bolts. Luckily the person working on this sled with me, owns a machine shop.
 
I have a hartman 136 as well and i had the same problem. i tightened my limiter strap into the last 1/4 of the threads. it was to the point that i burned up my slides in 300 miles because all of the weight was on the front of the skid. took some pre load out of the front shock and tightened the straps and all is well now. i couldnt even keep the skis anywhere near the snow with it set up with the hartman specs.... but it sure was fun!!! til i had to turn....
 
http://s1135.photobucket.com/albums/m627/mcviper12/
I hope this works! Here are the pics of the skid.

It still sits slightly up at the back(like it is supposed to) and i got to follow it around the trails this weekend, it does sit flat under power. We added a set of woody"s dually carbides to the ski's, it turns now going in to the corners. The problem now is that i think it has too much weight transfer, the ski's lift off the ground under power coming off the turns making it impossible to steer. I have the transfer rods set up the same as my 121 skid, no gap at the bottom. Then 50/50 when you are sitting on it. And the straps have about an inch of thread showing. any suggestions?
 
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