I have a 700 ves engine and I am in the process of installing an slp single pipe. The fit is kinda goofy like all slp as you have to reroute the coolant bottle. I also have to tim the hood and add heat reflecting tape. My concern is on the shock tower rubber mount. It is 1/2" away as the pipe rides on the 1/2" cross beam member that keeps the shock towers from spreading out.

The simple solution is to just remove the steel member. It doesn't seem like it serves much of a purpose for guys not jumping. I don't do a lot of jumping, mostly mountain riding. If I remove it, the pipe will sit down and I won't have to trim the hood.

Can i just cut it out?

The rubber bumper should hold it above the bar. You can add shims(washers) to increase the height above the bar. Check to make sure they sent the right pipe, y-pipe, & can they occasionaly make a mistake.

i can add shims to increase the height of the bumper but it would be a lot easier to just cut the bar off. Does it provide a significant benefit? The edge style chasis does not have one and I am guessing it is there for rigidity for the snowcross race applications.

My slp single fits really nice with the bar in ! triming the hood is not a big deal , I think I cut 3/8" off the air inlet.... Not noticable at after its filed . Heat tape is just insurance against damage, once its done it looks factory. I would leave the bar in , I know the 2001 prox didnt have it but there must be a reason they have them?

Mine fits real good as well Just a little trimin and heat tape.

another option is to relocate the brace. I can cut it off the top of the shock tower and use a peice of flat-iron on the front. It would provide the exact same re-inforcement.

The 2004 440 pro-xr is different than a standard pro-x in a few areas and SLP may not be taking this into consideration. There is no 440 pipe so any sled that could accept a SLP pipe would be a swapped out engine. My engine brackets were custom fabricated and it may have located the engine a half inch different than someone else's 440 pro-xr c/w a 700 ves engine. So many variable that I think it may be better to just relocate the brace.

I honestly wouldn't be too concerned if you aren't jumping the thing. I've jumped the crap out of old polaris's with alot less bracing at the towers and they've held up, for the most part. I know that brace is probably going to give me crap while getting triple pipes into mine.

i agree with you. The brace can only prevent the shock towers from spreading out but you would have to bend the entire front frame to do that. There is also a welded on bracket on each side as well that prevents that potential damage.

IMO, a hit hard enough to cause damage without that brace is going to be a lot harder on the rest of the sled anyways. The shock towers will be the least of my worries.

removing the bracing on a snowcross sled like the xr800 was/is seem a bit gay, if i had the toughest sled around i wouldnt try to weaken the chassie by removing reinforcements from it, this is just my opinion, people can do what they like, but you must have got the wrong pipe....

Knee

You have a nice sled coming along and IMO you would be best served to figure out how to make the pipe work or get a pipe that fits properly without removing the brace.

Many of you are right, lots of old polaris sleds did not have the brace and they were ridden hard and nothing happened. Nothing except little cracks in the bulkhead and eventually the whole front end being all worn out.

If you remove the shock tower brace, things will start moving around, maybe just a little but they will flex on every hard bump. As these points flex over and over welds will start cracking. ProX sleds are notoroius for cracked bulkheads.

As a side note, one of the first Racing Tips from Polaris in '04 was to drill and add 4 structural rivets to the shock tower brace to keep it from loosening up. These 4 extra rivets greatly improved the structural integrity of bulkhead.

AkRacing

If your cutting the bar off you might as well have ordered the pipe for a regular xc that way you won't have a dent in your pipe which gives less horsepower. Correct me if I'm wrong but the dent for the cross-bar is the only difference in the pipe and it prouced less horsepower.

Ak can you post a pic of the extra rivets in the bracing, i want to strenghten my chassie a bit more.. or link a picture from your homepage on a pro x sled with xtra rivets.. :beerchug:

So that bar is probably suppose to be perfectly straight isn't it....mines definetly got a bit of an arc to it.

That was more hearsay than anything. I think it was Hot Seat that started saying that (and even published it in a magazine tech article) so they could sell you a pipe with no dent for $500.

I have all the tech tips from '04 at the shop, I'll have to go get them later tonight to post. I will try to take a pic of the extra rivets but they are the extra holes in the cross brace right next to the upper shock bolt. The holes are already drilled in the brace but not in the shock tower so you use a 3/16" drill bit and drill the holes and add structural rivets. There are 8 holes total not 4 like I said before. At least that is how the racer chassis come.................... I just looked at the Parts Browser and ALL ProX sleds from 2002 to 2004 use the same cross brace and the brace is already drilled for the extra structural rivets. Take a look at yours and see if you see some extra 3/16" holes.

The cross brace is definately supposed to be strait. If yours is bent then it has already seen some hard riding or someone deliberately bent it for something under the hood to clear.

Polaris Nut is correct, the little dent means nothing and will not effect HP in any significant way. Being off 1/2 a jet size will have more effect on your HP than a small dent like this.

AkRacing

AKIQPilot, do you race those IQ's or use them for trail sleds? How are/would they be for trrail sleds. Interested in seeing those racer tips.

Sorry to get off topic a little but here are pictures of a few ProX race sleds with the extra structural rivets in the cross brace. I looked at my sleds this evening and there is no doubt if you remove the cross brace you are asking for damage to the shock towers and eventually the entire bulkhead even with moderate trail riding.

And we only race our sleds, almost no trail riding on them. Every sled it the fleet is either a race sled or a practice sled. If we do decide to play ride them we do it with the practice sleds but they are basically in race trim.

AkRacing


'02 ProX 440
Click to view attachment

'04 ProXr 440
Click to view attachment

AkIQPilot, thanks for the pics.

If I were to move the cross brace to the front of the shock tower ( where you added the extra rivets ) , the pipe will fit much better. Is this an adequate solution?

That could possibly work.

You might also consider cutting off the 1/2" square tubing, shorten it the correct amount (about 1.5") and move it down to between the two shock support pieces it used to be attached to instead of on top of them. Add a few gussets and it may work just fine. This will work only if there is enough room to clear the Y-Pipe when you move it down. Essentially it will be 1/2" lower than it is now.

Good luck

i have looked at the total fit and moving it to the front is the easiest solution and eliminates any interference. Moving it down would cause it to hit the y pipe and would also lengthen the moment so I don't think it would be as strong.

The prox chassis have taller shock towers, and need the brace to keep the towers from moving. They will move, with any aggressive riding.

Thats awesome AK, Im going to do that right away since I have the pipe out of the sled it should be easy. The clutch side may be harder to drill Ill have to look at that... As usual your knowledge in these areas, and willingness to share it is very impressive.

Out of curiosity, are there any other areas of the XR that you have added extra bracing or reinforcing over the consumer models?

Kneedeep, just for information, I had a friend of mine fab up a crossbar for my RMK a couple seasons back, and for the life of me I dont know why Polaris doesnt offer them as an optional part. Its a great add on, if for nothing other than the confidence it gives that you can take a hit or ride the rough stuff and not be too concerned. I would certainly try to leave it in. I kept my stock exhaust, and had to remove a couple of washers from under the rubber bumper, and I believe I may have even shaved it down a bit. Hope this helps.

EDIT** It appears from AK's pics that the rubber bumper setup for the XR and the Edge chassis are completely different. This also explains why I had to shave height from the bumper and you need to add height. Anyway, have a look at an edge chassis and see if you can swap out the rubber bumper assembly.

XR:


700Edge:

DIX

I don't want to Hyjack this thread but it is about bracing and keeping everything from moving around. I try to keep the list short, Ha Ha.

1. A worthwhile mod on all Polaris sleds with W/E shocks is to add this little o-ring to the upper and lower shock mount bolts, 2 per shock. The o-ring will act as a vibration dampener and increase the life of the Spherical Rod Ends or Bearing as Polaris calls them. They cost about $.75 each and are well worth the trouble. The o-ring also keeps dirt and water out of the shock end bearing so they dont get all corroded up as quickly. Part # is 5412290. I have added this o-ring to every W/E shock we have. This may seem unnecessary but you will be a believer once they are installed. Plus the Bearing lasts 2 times longer and they cost about $18 each.

2. On the trailing arms I weld doublers to all mounting points, where the bolts go through. ESPECIALLY the lower shock mounting point. The Radius Rod mounting points will wear out pretty fast also with hard pounding. A properly sized grade 8 washer will work as a doubler but most washers are a little larger than they should be. A doubler can be welded on and drilled out with the proper size bit and then you get a nice tight fit for the bolts. Again, maybe overkill for a trail sled but those of you who have wollered out mounting holes know this is an issue.

3. On the rear skid I add doublers to the upper rear shock mount as well as both the upper and lower front shock mounts. Same principal as the doublers on the trailing arms. Rear Skid Reinforcments

4. Where the skids mount to the tunnel we keep a very close eye on the tunnel and as they start to show signs of wear and wollering out we build a doubler out of chromolly and use structural rivets to mount it to the tunnel. This is especially true for the two rear mounting bolts.

5. I replace every suspension pivot bolt with AN bolts to eliminate the threads of the bolts from wearing out the mounting tabs. These bolts are especially important in the front torque arm lower mounts where it attaches to the aluminum rails. Rails are expensive and AN bolts will keep the rail holes from wollering out for thousands of miles. AN bolts have a longer Grip or unthreaded shank and the threads do not gouge into the mounting tabs. Check this link, I am not trying to sell you anything on this thread just giving helpful info. Suspension Bolt Kits AN bolts can be purchased at any Aircraft Supply Store like at your local small airport.

6. And lastly for this thread, I keep a very close eye on the trailing arm mounts under the foot rest. As these mounts crack I weld them up. It is usually not necessary to remove the plastic tub to make this repair, you can usually drill out a few rivets and pry back the plastic to keep it away from the heat and make the repair. Keep a close eye on this and make repairs as you see cracks.

Hope this helps.

AkRacing