Well, took the HO out for a spin today, was riding some rough section of trail. I had the handle bars up in the aggressive position and was standing up riding through the moguls.

I hit a big one and bottomed the suspension out, it made a noise, no big deal I thought. I went down the trail a little further and stopped to move a branch. When I got back on the ignition was skipping really bad, then the hot light came on so I stopped.

Upon investigation, when the suspension bottomed, the studs hit the front exchanger, and RIPPED IT OUT OF THE SLED COMPLETELY!!! Yes, you read that right. I couldn't believe it. Apparently, Polaris has a MAJOR design flaw here.

My track is only the 1", with 1.175 studs. My question is: how do the guys with the 1.25 track and the 1.325 studs ride theirs??

My warning is if your are studded, make sure you don't bottom out, or it could mean trouble. I will definitely be following up tomorrow with Polaris AND my dealer.

This is Frickin ridiculous. First I can only ride 80 miles and its out of fuel, now I can't ride over big bumps either. I am REALLY impressed with my $8000 Pile of crap.

dont know what hapopened but im running the 1.25 track and 1.625 studs no probs on mine. .5 over lug when new 2400 miles no probs. did the track really loosen up or something? or cooler come loose. with 1 inch track and short studs you should not even be close.

bottoming out will not cause youi to hit the front cooler. you would have to move the driveshaft to do that. your track is probably toooo loose. this would have happened when the suspension rebounded anyway, since when the suspension compresses the track actually gets tighter. like a dirtbike chain.


even still i have never seen a cooler ripped out. damn! i feel for you.

Are you sure you didn't eat a rock??

Awefully suspicious the angle of that rip... I'm running 1.45's and even with the track pinned on the rear cooler protectors, the studs won't hit anything.

I think you're studs/track picked something up that simply wouldn't give or break upon impact... Check your track, I bet in-line with that hit, you'll find some bent studs or broken/ripped/torn lugs.

Hey guys just remember he is on a 600ho, and the 900 doesn't have a front cooler as our front radiator is are cooler right.

rider error. A rock or something got caught up in there.

thinksnow, thats what i was thinking too. had to have picked up something. you would see scratch lines on the cooler if it was from the studs.

xc8, there is a front tunnel cooler on all fusions.

No the 900s do in fact have a front cooler. And the radiator.

I cant imaine a stud doing that unless something else was wrong

There is a good 2 inch clearance betwwen my studs (1.325) and the front cooler.

OK guys, believe me, this is definitely weird. BUT: the puncture mark has threads on it from a stud, plus other stud markings. Also, when I walked back to pick it up, there was no rock or anything there, as I too tried to decipher what the hell happened. The cooler is riveted to the tunnel, so I can't believe it came loose.

As far as the track, the sled has 150 miles on it, it is barely getting loose from being too tight from the factory. Honestly, thats what I thought too, but the tension is fine.

When I studded it, I could put my whole hand between the stud and the cooler, so I didnt think there would be any issue.


My next question would be: Have any of you guys bottomed out your suspension?

This definitely is weird for sure.

Could have eaten someone elses stud(s)... A buddy of mine was losing studs all weekend. Any stud marks I bet occurred after the cooler cam loose.

Is it possible that the rivets came out first allowing the track to eat the cooler?

WRONG!,

The IQ chassis sleds all have 4 heat exchangers and a front radiator.

But it is true that the bulkhead arrangement is somewhat different between the '05 2 stroke and the '06 2 stroke.

Bottoming out cannot move any sled parts towards the front heat exchanger. I wonder if the bottom of the heat exchanger contacted a rock/stump/fencepost/frozen bump/whatever, which tore the bottom of the heat exchanger loose and into the track, where a studded track could certainly tear it out and down.

Hmmmm?? Please do follow-up!

Probably vibrated loose then got marked up when you drove over it.

If it was your studs then you have a pretty shitty stud pattern. I only see one scratchline :doh:

Why is it not full of stud marks?

I think you pulled a rock into your tunnel...

or a chunk of solid ICE...

Things that make you go hhhhmmm.

Side note: M10 owners make sure you get the correct tunnel protectors, they are longer than the standard suspension'd protectors. Some dealers have been selling/installing the shorter one's on the m10's. Doh!

yep....

I can tell you I definately bottomed mine out, multiple times while dialing in my suspension on my first trail ride this weekend. No problems here, 1.25 ripsaw with 1.375 studs. It was ridden fast through the moguls and aired out over 80'. Everything appears to still be glued on.

I have seen alot of front coolers chewed up by studs, and that does not look like one of them. Probably landed on it, or something else took it out as mentioned above.

The rear tunnel protectors. Funny thing is they tried to put the longer one on the wifes standard. DOH

Took it to the dealer tonight for his eval. He too thinks that the impact of the mogul may have loosened the cooler, which in turn got caught by the stud. He has NEVER seen one ripped out, that makes two of us.

I wish I could have seen something at the scene like a rock or stump or something as others have posted. Sure would explain alot.

I'll keep you updated. The dealer is taking it apart tomorrow.

Is the replacement of the cooler gonna be covered????? (waranty)

Serious?

You think they'd warranty a sled if it ran into a tree?

How about your car, if you ran over a curb and peeled off the transmission pan?

You could have run it over again and it shot out off the trail.

I'm not meaning to be harsh... But you got a raw deal and there's nothing you can do about it now. The upside? This very incident will probably never happen to you again.

I pray that this NEVER happens to me again, or anyone. It's a bummer for sure.

Didn't have time to call the dealer before 5 today. Maybe tomorrow.

Someone suggested that it might have come loose (poor riveting)In that case, it should be a warranty issue.....

And yes, I have been able to warranty many items on my car and sled that I broke......................Sometimes a dealer will step up to the plate if you are a good customer.......

When my M10 softened up (about 200 miles) I bottomed out all afternoon :doh: on my 700 during some early season riding. I still got all my heat exchangers... :banana:

ive got a studded 1.875 which im sure ive bottomed a few times and im still good so far

I think the cooler had to be installed improperly and when you bottomed out it jared the sled enough to let go of the cooler than it got munched by the studs... It was proffesor plumm in the library with the candle stick

OK guys, picked up the sled today. The dealer said that after very close inspection, he determined that I did hit something right on the very edge of the bulkhead which he thinks knocked the rivets loose allowing the cooler to be contacted by the stud. Given the fact that there was extremely small damage to the bulk head, he believes that there was and ice ball or frozen dirt or something, as some of you have speculated. As there was no evidence left in the trail.

I'm glad that he feels that way, and that there are no issues with the sled. Anyway, its back together, and I rode it today for 50 miles or so. so I guess its ready to rock! (no pun intended)

On another note, I had them install the 45 pilots, as suggested in SnowWeek, but it still didn't fix it. This loading up at idle thing is PI$$in me off. Can't wait to call or write a letter to Polaris to "see what they want to do" about this. Good luck to me, right!!!!

Thanks guys,,

Pooboy

DID you install tunnel protectors?

Put the 50 pilots back in and install .9 pilot air jets.

Yes, I installed them when I put the studs in. They go in the back though, and the problem was with the front.