copo427ss
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
i am doing a ett cat skid swap in my 2006 apex rtx. the skid is out of a 2001 thundercat. these measurements are good for the following skids
97-06
zr
zrt
t-cat
the 2000 and later skids being better as the rails are thicker and reinforced.
all tunnel measurements are from the BOTTOM of the tunnel protectors, NOT from the tunnel itself.
measurements are as follows
9 3/4" center to center driveshaft to front hole
4 3/4" down from bottom of protector to center of front hole
23 3/4" center to center from front hole to rear hole
5 1/4" down from bottom of protector to cent of rear hole
holes are drilled 13/32" drill bit diameter.
hardware is all grade 8.
front bolts are 2 1/2" long, washers on both sides and lock nut
rear bolts are 1 1/4" long with washers. washers and lock nuts are grade 8 also
this swap is pretty straight forward. the hole still is on the front plate so no need to change that. the rear mount will have to be removed and replaced with a 5"x8" piece of 3/16" higher strength aluminum plate. i marked and drilled the new plate to the same rivet and bolt holes as the original one. so the only holes i drilled in my tunnel are the 2 new front holes. i am running doo extroverts so i had to swap out the cat rail caps for the stock mono rail caps. i also had to cut/shape them to clear the extros, but they do slide onto the cat rails and the holes line up for the most part.
ahicks has been a big help in doing this swap. i have taken pics and they will be posted shortly. i hope this helps anyone thinking of using one of these skids in their apex. this is by the way a 121" track
97-06
zr
zrt
t-cat
the 2000 and later skids being better as the rails are thicker and reinforced.
all tunnel measurements are from the BOTTOM of the tunnel protectors, NOT from the tunnel itself.
measurements are as follows
9 3/4" center to center driveshaft to front hole
4 3/4" down from bottom of protector to center of front hole
23 3/4" center to center from front hole to rear hole
5 1/4" down from bottom of protector to cent of rear hole
holes are drilled 13/32" drill bit diameter.
hardware is all grade 8.
front bolts are 2 1/2" long, washers on both sides and lock nut
rear bolts are 1 1/4" long with washers. washers and lock nuts are grade 8 also
this swap is pretty straight forward. the hole still is on the front plate so no need to change that. the rear mount will have to be removed and replaced with a 5"x8" piece of 3/16" higher strength aluminum plate. i marked and drilled the new plate to the same rivet and bolt holes as the original one. so the only holes i drilled in my tunnel are the 2 new front holes. i am running doo extroverts so i had to swap out the cat rail caps for the stock mono rail caps. i also had to cut/shape them to clear the extros, but they do slide onto the cat rails and the holes line up for the most part.
ahicks has been a big help in doing this swap. i have taken pics and they will be posted shortly. i hope this helps anyone thinking of using one of these skids in their apex. this is by the way a 121" track
copo427ss
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
ahicks
TY 4 Stroke Master
Now you just need somethng to dress up that big 'ol hole in the side of the tunnel! Looks like you've got it though. That should work really well!
copo427ss
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
yeah i was thinkin about a thin piece of aluminum to cover the hole using the original allan bolts with maybe the tuning forks or lol, the cat head emblem, since i had to use there skid to make my yammy work.
kinger
VIP Member
Your like the rest of us now, cat parts, doo parts, poo parts, all on a yammi to make it perfect! Enjoy!
ahicks
TY 4 Stroke Master
I found this little ProX sticker I run on the rear sides of my tunnel, I vote for the Cat sticker!
You're right Kinger. Some of us do it our way/the way we want it... Life it too short!
You're right Kinger. Some of us do it our way/the way we want it... Life it too short!
copo427ss
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
copo427ss said:
copo427ss
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
well we got some snow a few days ago, it settled out overnight so i took the sled out on the property and in the fields. all i can say so far is wow! what a difference. now since our trails are still closed i dont know how this is gonna be on the bumps yet. but in the powder with the aproach angle and the 1.5 inch track, it gets ontop of the snow and goes. my buddy stopped over with his 02 mxz 800 and we went out in the field and i killed him everytime in 15+inches of powder. im still playing with the adjustments on the skid. so far im happy with where its mounted. i do think though if anybody is thinking of this skid swap. drill the front holes up 1/4 of an inch from what my measurements say. i coupled the rear of this skid for $25.00. it transfers weight but also doesnt go sky high unless you want it to. ill report back once the trails here open and i get some miles on it.
copo427ss
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
just another quick update. our trails are open but no as luck would have it, we dont have enough snow to ride here. i trailered out to my buddies this past weekend. he had a good 10-12inch hard base with 3-4 in of powder ontop. trails were not open but had about 300 acres to run on. what a difference this skid and track has made this sled. it is so smooth. eats up everything in its path. even riding double. and wheelies on command. i am very very happy with this mod, i encourage everyone not happy with theyre yammi skids to look into doing a suspension swap of another brand. i'll update here again when i can get out on the trails and rack up some miles.
UncleRedBuck
Veteran
i did the same mod last year with help from 'hicks'.
pretty similiar to your setup.
i have 07 apex rtx and used 01 zr cross country skid withe the reinforced rails.
i didn't install the extrovert drivers but did find I was just about out track tension adjustment......I figured to add larger diameter rear axle wheels to help.
this year I stretched it to 144".....cat extensions are the tipped up style for similiar handling on the trail.
have yet to ride it but I really loved the improvement last year.
now the sled rides and handles like I wanted it to.
pretty similiar to your setup.
i have 07 apex rtx and used 01 zr cross country skid withe the reinforced rails.
i didn't install the extrovert drivers but did find I was just about out track tension adjustment......I figured to add larger diameter rear axle wheels to help.
this year I stretched it to 144".....cat extensions are the tipped up style for similiar handling on the trail.
have yet to ride it but I really loved the improvement last year.
now the sled rides and handles like I wanted it to.
copo427ss
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
UncleRedBuck said:
i spoke with you on the phone a couple months ago about the measurements you used. wow 144. thats gonna handle sweet!!! you should also add the coupler blocks. huge improvment. get them from your cat dealer for a 02 and up skid. also same as the firecat ones. its like $25 for everything.
copo427ss
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
logged about 100 miles so far. i cant believe how smooth this thing rides. it eats everything up. so far so good.
UncleRedBuck
Veteran
your not going to believe this.
I did my swap last year and have ridden the stretched version....now it too stiff!!
I have moved the rear arm mounts on the rail and its still too stiff!!
I am going to try and move my rear arm mount (top) on the bracket that I fabbed similiar to yours.....since I have so much spring coming through the front behind the outside idler wheel and see if that helps, if not I will be going to a softer spring.
It rode great at a 121", I actually had to stiffen the spring tension.
now that its a 144" it rides way to hard.....and I am running out of options to soften it up. I will figure it out, but never thought stretching it would make that much of a difference but it sure did.
I did my swap last year and have ridden the stretched version....now it too stiff!!
I have moved the rear arm mounts on the rail and its still too stiff!!
I am going to try and move my rear arm mount (top) on the bracket that I fabbed similiar to yours.....since I have so much spring coming through the front behind the outside idler wheel and see if that helps, if not I will be going to a softer spring.
It rode great at a 121", I actually had to stiffen the spring tension.
now that its a 144" it rides way to hard.....and I am running out of options to soften it up. I will figure it out, but never thought stretching it would make that much of a difference but it sure did.
ahicks
TY 4 Stroke Master
What else did you do? Have you moved the coupling adjustment (forget what you're using for that)? Tightened the front skid spring?
UncleRedBuck
Veteran
ahicks,
I didn't move anything.....I just added the rail extensions.
I have tried softening the front arm and stiffening the front arm, it didn't seem to make much of a difference.
I talked with a buddy that stretched his ZR to a 136 with rail extensions and he had the same problem.
never expected it and neither did he for it to effect the ride of the sled, seems odd that just stretching the rail could change it that much.
he's the one that told me to move the rear arm mount location on the chassis.
the coil over rear spring is really long and alot of extra spring-end is available where the spring end rests on the rail behind the front set of bogie wheels. he moved his rear arm mount back an inch and said it made enough difference for him to be comfortable again. basically I am going to move the mount back so that I am making the spring longer, since there is so much extra spring after the rail mount it should soften it just a little more. I will be riding on more of the end of the spring compared to more of the middle. As it sits I have about 3" of spring-end past the mount location, if I move the rear arm mount back 1.5" it will make my spring that much longer.
I have a Performance Manual from that genre of sleds from AC and have gone over the rear suspension adjustments options 3 times trying to see what else I could do......and those seem like my only options. after this I will have exhausted my adjustability without installing softer springs....that is the next option.
Again, its not bad, but would like to be able to soften it a little more to get some more weight transfer and make it more bearable for the little bumps. Right now I could jump it off a mountain and it wouldn't bottom out!
I didn't move anything.....I just added the rail extensions.
I have tried softening the front arm and stiffening the front arm, it didn't seem to make much of a difference.
I talked with a buddy that stretched his ZR to a 136 with rail extensions and he had the same problem.
never expected it and neither did he for it to effect the ride of the sled, seems odd that just stretching the rail could change it that much.
he's the one that told me to move the rear arm mount location on the chassis.
the coil over rear spring is really long and alot of extra spring-end is available where the spring end rests on the rail behind the front set of bogie wheels. he moved his rear arm mount back an inch and said it made enough difference for him to be comfortable again. basically I am going to move the mount back so that I am making the spring longer, since there is so much extra spring after the rail mount it should soften it just a little more. I will be riding on more of the end of the spring compared to more of the middle. As it sits I have about 3" of spring-end past the mount location, if I move the rear arm mount back 1.5" it will make my spring that much longer.
I have a Performance Manual from that genre of sleds from AC and have gone over the rear suspension adjustments options 3 times trying to see what else I could do......and those seem like my only options. after this I will have exhausted my adjustability without installing softer springs....that is the next option.
Again, its not bad, but would like to be able to soften it a little more to get some more weight transfer and make it more bearable for the little bumps. Right now I could jump it off a mountain and it wouldn't bottom out!
