Fixing up two Venture TRW sleds - need covers and help getting A-frames apart

U

UT_Grandpa

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Salt Lake City, UT United States
I am on the final stages or restoring a couple of 1996 Venture VT480TRW sleds. I got this pair for $600 with a really trashed trailer. I have rebuilt the trailer to better than factory (welded it up using only the tongue and axle). I have rebuilt the carbs on one sled - only ran on one cylinder, built a new seat for one (raccoon ate it), put new belts on them, replaced stoplight lenses, fixed some cracked fiberglass on the hood of one, cleaned a bunch of mountain crap out of them, changed the fuel filters, replaced a missing exhaust manifold bolt, replaced light bulbs, sparkplugs, and some general cleaning.

Right now I am working on the clutches. They start to engage at about 5400 RPM. Pulled one clutch and found the rollers were very loose on the bushings and the primary spring was a bit short on uncompressed length. I have springs and rollers ordered. The cams look OK with some minor "dents" on the cam surfaces. They are barely noticeable with the fingertip. Should I take a stone and work them down a bit? If I do this I am going to weight them with a powder scale and keep them balanced. The actual cams are now discontinued.

I can't get the bolts out of the A-frames on the front suspension - the parts that bend when the shock is compressed. i worked them over with penetrating oil and I can get the bolts to turn but the bushings are seized to the bolts. I can keep wetting them down over the summer to see if they break loose or maybe get a pulley puller and press them out? Any thoughts?

The last thing is trying to find covers for a 2-up sled with a back rest. What do people do? Use a tarp?

Thanks for the forum - this is a great resource to newbies like me. Here are my sleds on the day I bought them:
IMG_0117.jpg
 
Bolts ... waiting to see answers ,,, I almost used a hacksaw blade to cut them apart and considered adding the thickness removed with the
shims or washers ... then you can maybe get them up in a press .... Removing complete pogo and laying flat ???? or hold in press ???
good luck
Ron
 
Place here in Michigan called Menards has universal snowmobile covers for about 40 bucks. I have used them and they are pretty good quality.
 
Thanks for the tips. My next thought on the bolts in the A-frame was to get a puller with clamps on the bolt head side and press it from the nut side. If that doesn't work then put some heat on the joints and try pressing them out. After that, I guess is to buy new parts ($200+) per sled. How do the dealers do this? Is there a special tool? What might they charge to break things apart?

Maybe I should not worry about it and just keep them soaked with penertrating oil. As long as they move I guess they are usable.
 
I have tried to get those apart with heat, penetrating oil etc. On several sleds. Even sleds that have been stored properly prove very difficult to get apart. If they have sat outside I would forget it. The fix to prevent it is to drill and tap the knuckles with zerk fittings and then to grease them. It should have been like that from the factory.
 
Use an air hammer. Put the nut on flush with the end of the bolt.
 
Yes, heat and the air hammer is about your best hope. Soaking in water and molasses (7:1) for a week or 2 can take the rust off, and could be worth a try but they are likely really corroded. A hydraulic press if you can get to it might work too.
 
The bolts all turn now. They didn't when I started. I put an impact gun on them and worked penetrating oil into them while turning them. Now at least the scissors will move. The bolt is "welded" to the bushing now. I picked up on the molasses and water trick. Not too logical that something sticky would help a stuck joint. I have also read about some people using Acetone and ATF. I guess as long as the joint is moving (in this case bushing against the arm) I am OK. Sure don't need a locking nut and a cotter pin to keep the joints together now.

It is nice to know it happens to sleds kept inside (these weren't). My son's Polaris had zerks on the joints. A much better way to go. If they seize up again I might try drilling and tapping for zerks and then warming the joint while you pump grease into it. Who knows I might sell these and get something different in a couple of years anyway.

Thanks to all for taking the time to post here.
 
UT_Grandpa said:
I can't get the bolts out of the A-frames on the front suspension - the parts that bend when the shock is compressed.
I worked them over with penetrating oil and I can get the bolts to turn but the bushings are seized to the bolts.
I can keep wetting them down over the summer to see if they break loose or maybe get a pulley puller and press them out? Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
UT_Grandpa said:
My next thought on the bolts in the A-frame was to get a puller with clamps on the bolt head side and press it from the nut side.
If that doesn't work then put some heat on the joints and try pressing them out.
Click to expand...
Hammer Down said:
The fix to prevent it is to drill and tap the knuckles with zerk fittings and then to grease them.
It should have been like that from the factory.
Click to expand...
UT_Grandpa said:
The bolts all turn now. They didn't when I started.
I put an impact gun on them and worked penetrating oil into them while turning them.
Now at least the scissors will move. The bolt is "welded" to the bushing now.
I guess as long as the joint is moving (in this case bushing against the arm) I am OK.
Sure don't need a locking nut and a cotter pin to keep the joints together now.
It is nice to know it happens to sleds kept inside (these weren't).
I might try drilling and tapping for zerks and then warming the joint while you pump grease into it.
Click to expand...
TSS.jpg The picture is from Dan Hurtubise EX-570
 
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had to look twice to realize they were all drilled with grease fittings ...
more of an electrolysis problem than rust,,, suspension need same treatment... one local welds on
1/4" fine nuts to steel pipes then drills a centre hole and adds a zerk.
Ron
 
last time I messed with this, I cut the bolts on the inside of the scisors both sides with a hacksaw and added shims to tighten it up. dremmel tool with cut off wheel works as well.

as to cover, I recommend a skins one as the universal aftermarket nylon ones never fit right on a Yamaha in my experience.
 
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