Exciter trailing arm mod and mountain mod

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bmxinallday

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Okay so i asked about putting a trailing arm on my exciter on this site a while back and based on what i was told i decided not to. Then i changed my mind so now i want to order a steering shaft from a 98 srx 700 to start the conversion but i have a few questions. I was looking at some diagrams of the srx steering and exciter and it looks like the shaft on the srx is a bit longer does anyone know for sure if it is. My other concern is that the exhaust will be in the way of the mount for the shock any suggestions on that. Also does anyone know where i could find info on the geometry for the steering. I also want to do a 136 track different seat tunnel extension etc.My budget for the project is about a grand including the other mods i want to do so im considering buying a parts sled and salvaging everything useful including the steering parts or ill just have to buy smart and make everything i can. Another question i dont know if i want to do rail extensions or a whole new skid. Rail extensions would be cheaper but i think it would benefit from a newer better skid. I know this is going to be a challenge but ive got all summer to work on it without having to worry about having a dissasembled sled and three feet of snow. Please let me know any other info or advice you might have for this mod. And i know i could buy an older mountain sled for like a grand but the sled has just over 3000 miles and it would be fun to watch the sled transform from a boring old sled to a crazy old sled. Any advice is appreciated.
 
I can't answer any of those questions. Sounds to me like you're gonna need to brush up on your welding skills...and a whole lot more. Good luck, you're gonna need it. I think you're crazy, but people call me that all the time.
 
got-wood said:
I can't answer any of those questions. Sounds to me like you're gonna need to brush up on your welding skills...and a whole lot more. Good luck, you're gonna need it. I think you're crazy, but people call me that all the time.
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X2.If you buy a donor trailing arm sled you maybe able to take your measurements from that sled. Maybe even farm some of the trailing arm bulkhead on to the exciter bulk head.
After you get the front end figured out, you may realize you might not be able to fit any kind of pipe under the hood.
One idea is to use an oil tank from a vmax 540 and mount it up by the coolant filler neck like on my exciter 700. Or go to premix. That may give you extra pipe room. There is probably more issues than I can list but good luck to you and post pics of your progress.
 
Why not start with a pro action front end and mod from there? Seems like that would be a lot less work and there must be a lot of parted out sleds out there that would be thrilled to sell you the whole assembly cheap. If you add up the steel and fab time, it would be worth it. Better yet, get a rolling chassis.
 
I found a guy witb an srx chassis he said hell sell me for 50 bucks all the stuff for the steering is there except the tie rod ends. Hopefully the shaft will go in without to much work because after I get that in along with th relay idler etc ill feel more confident. Anyone have any clue as to what modifications ill have to do to get it in I can see some from the diagrams but I dont have the srx steering in front of me.
 
Here's what I would do. Sell the Exciter, find and buy a good trailing arm YAMAHA, go through and get it ready for winter, spend the rest of my summer at the lake drinking beer, skiing, chasing bikinis and related stuff......

The only things those two chassis have in common is the name and the bolt sizes.
 
got-wood said:
Here's what I would do. Sell the Exciter, find and buy a good trailing arm YAMAHA, go through and get it ready for winter, spend the rest of my summer at the lake drinking beer, skiing, chasing bikinis and related stuff......

The only things those two chassis have in common is the name and the bolt sizes.
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really looking to customize the sled a bit to my liking rather than buying a different sled even though ill never get the money i put in out. Plus it would be fun to bring an old sled back to life. Ill be doing some light to moderate boondocking so it seems like the sled might be a good canidate for a mountain mod cause its light decent power ski stance and fairly reliable so im really not looking to sell it. Kind of starting to look away from the trailing arm thing but it seems like it would be preaty easy to to get an srx or mountain max steering shaft in there with some light mods because judging by the diagram the general design is similar. Seems like after the relay would be where it starts to get challenging but i could probably leave the motor in after i get the steering shaft in. I would agree about buying a trailing arm yamaha but it would be more fun to mod the one i have.
 
Well, Im gonna have to agree with got wood, However I personally would like to see it done.
Yes the ex570 is a light sled. I believe its around 500 lbs wet. Now the addition of a longer skid, track, and all the trailing arm componets will make that thing a beast. My guess it would end up tipping the scales around 650lbs. This is just a guess.
 
The Exciter is an excellent sled for what you have in mind. Here is part of the reason why and perhaps some data you are not aware of in your plan.

While a lot of people put the strut suspension down, most did not comprehend the problem or lack thereof. The geometry on the strut is perfect throughout its travel, no scrub, no bump steer as opposed to any automotive type suspensions.

If you draw yourself a diagram with points A and B representing your skag looking at the sled head on and then point C as the sled's-center of gravity up in the middle someplace, you can place another point D dead center on the ground between the skags. This is your roll center and is exactly the same as a leafer as on the strut. The difference between the strut and the others is that through caster and camber they can effectively raise point D off the ground and closer to point C hence making the sled more stable and more difficult to roll over/pull over in the deep stuff.

When suspension travel is raised, the supporting structure has to deal with more leverage and becomes too heavy and bulky to handle the forces at work, hence the switch to automotive type suspensions.

The strut is way cleaner in the snow and has less drag which, combined with the roll center make it a better boondocker .

For the power available I would suggest a 136 inch length with an 1 1/5” lug height as the Camoplast Intense track. This track works amazingly well.

I ride a MOUNTAIN SRX with this combination and ride with guys with longer tracked machines without problem. These people buying all these LONG tracks believe that they will not get stuck anymore with these tracks and that is true to a point. Most of the time they don’t know how to ride.

If you’re set on keeping the Exciter then get some better struts for it, like maybe SX struts or V-Max-4 struts. A newer 144 skid with the tip up rail with a 1.5 Cobra track would be all I would go for the power available and should work very well for both boondocking and every day riding. Custom paint and graphics if you want to change things up a bit in the looks department. Maybe an aftermarket pipe and can and a mountain strap, some modern plastic skis and that would be about a perfect Exciter in my books. The 570s did have some problems so I would probably build myself a strong 600 twin to drop in at some point in the future if that was to be my sled for that purpose. Voila.
 
Well where im at right now is hopefully buying a chassis in the next couple of weeks. Its an 04 f7 not a Yamaha :( the dude wants 300 and its got preaty much everything but the engine skis skid and front shock. I think what all do is get some rail extensions for my skid hopefully put that in the chassis and whatever else i may be able to make work. Find an engine for cheap that needs a little work get it running good have a nice sled to ride next year hopefully. How much do you guys think it'll cost the sled has all the controls still the belly pan side panels a arms heat exchangers and i think the bars too so the only big thing ill need is an engine at least that's how it sounds cant tell for sure till i see it though. Also the guy has papers for the chassis.
 
What happend to your exciter plan?? Athough you maybe getting a great deal on that F7 chassis, but in the end you may be into it for way more than the cost of a running, complete sled. Being that the sled is an 04 may pose a parts issue. Motors cost a bunch and guys arent giving away those 700's.
Projects are fun and rewarding, however Got Wood brought up some very good points and facts that you should consider with your Exciter.
P.S. Vmax 4 struts will not work on an Exciter. I made that mistake a while back. The struts are bigger in diameter and dont fit in the frame.
 
Would still keep the exciter and eventually put the parts back in once i replaced the parts on the chassis with other parts. Figured if i had them both set by winter i could use the f7 as a boondocking sled mostly because its got more hp than the exciter and use the exciter for the trails. I think im gonna try to get the f7 and at the very least and keep it as a side project. Modding the exciter isnt out of the picture still really want to do that but if i get the f7 and find everything i need for a low price ill just keep it like it is maybe do a little to increase the trail performance. In the end i would like to end up with both sleds sitting in my garage.
 
I am just getting ready to start the very same project. I have a 90 Exciter and will use a Yamaha Pro-action front and rear suspension. Plan on putting a 700 tripple in it and lengthen it to a 136" track. I will buy a complete donor sled and use parts from it. Last year I built a 77 Exciter with a Ski-Doo trailing arm front, Pro-action plus rear, 700 Tripple and custom seat. Go to; vintagesleds.com, customs section and the entire build is posted there as; Pics of my 77 Exciter project. (on pg 3 right now) It is a tremendous amount of work to do this, but the results are very rewarding. This build was also featured in the Feb. issue of American Snowmobiler magazine. Good luck.
 
wayneo said:
I am just getting ready to start the very same project. I have a 90 Exciter and will use a Yamaha Pro-action front and rear suspension. Plan on putting a 700 tripple in it and lengthen it to a 136" track. I will buy a complete donor sled and use parts from it. Last year I built a 77 Exciter with a Ski-Doo trailing arm front, Pro-action plus rear, 700 Tripple and custom seat. Go to; vintagesleds.com, customs section and the entire build is posted there as; Pics of my 77 Exciter project. (on pg 3 right now) It is a tremendous amount of work to do this, but the results are very rewarding. This build was also featured in the Feb. issue of American Snowmobiler magazine. Good luck.
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I saw the buold on there. Really nice job thats where part of my inspiration to put a trailing arm on came from. How difficult was it to do the trailing arms on it.
 
got-wood said:
The Exciter is an excellent sled for what you have in mind. Here is part of the reason why and perhaps some data you are not aware of in your plan.

While a lot of people put the strut suspension down, most did not comprehend the problem or lack thereof. The geometry on the strut is perfect throughout its travel, no scrub, no bump steer as opposed to any automotive type suspensions.

If you draw yourself a diagram with points A and B representing your skag looking at the sled head on and then point C as the sled's-center of gravity up in the middle someplace, you can place another point D dead center on the ground between the skags. This is your roll center and is exactly the same as a leafer as on the strut. The difference between the strut and the others is that through caster and camber they can effectively raise point D off the ground and closer to point C hence making the sled more stable and more difficult to roll over/pull over in the deep stuff.

When suspension travel is raised, the supporting structure has to deal with more leverage and becomes too heavy and bulky to handle the forces at work, hence the switch to automotive type suspensions.

The strut is way cleaner in the snow and has less drag which, combined with the roll center make it a better boondocker .

For the power available I would suggest a 136 inch length with an 1 1/5” lug height as the Camoplast Intense track. This track works amazingly well.

If you’re set on keeping the Exciter then get some better struts for it, like maybe SX struts or V-Max-4 struts.
Click to expand...

;)! ;)!
 
The cat sounds like a good cheap parts sled. But it is just about always better to find a complete sled when you figure in your eventual costs to bring it where you can ride it.

I don't mean to keep sounding like I'm raining on your parade, personally I love to tinker and perhaps you do to. Wayne did a fantastic job on his Exciter but keep in mind what he said, a TREMENDOUS amount of work. It is, plus you have to be capable of thinking on your feet and solve problems, most often by fabricating the solution from scratch! So if you have the tools, space, funds, fabrication capabilities, willpower and patience, go for it. But the caution is, if you do not have all of the above, most times you will wind up with little piles of parts sitting around for years on, hurry up and wait!
 
Myself i cant see the advantage of trailing arms on a exciter other than it would be differant but thats it.Things i have done to my exciter is widen the front end by extending the main tubeing by welding on sx stuts that i cut off a sled,plastic skis,ported moter,pipes,a chassis plate under the moter and skid plate to stop twist.Sled rides very aggessive and will keep up with any proaction sled on tight trails.

Things i want to do when i retire.Start fresh with a new tunnel i have.Drop and roll the chaincase,install differant skid and a 2 inch paddle track,extend the tunnel and drop a redhead 700 moter i have in it along with my old front end parts .O ya put some hyd brakes on it and change the seat...lol


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