Here is a page I put together this morning to assist those who are restoring their IQ race sleds. It does not include much specific to trail converting just mainly structural reinforcements to the bulkhead and reassembly of the chassis. Not every idea here is required but with summer approaching there is no better time to take a close look at your sled and determine if you need any repairs.
Please feel free to comment or ask additional questions as needed. If you have any suggestions, post them here and I will try to include them on the page.
Tom
IQ Chassis Structural Upgrades
Full Version: Restoring Your IQ Race Sled
Great page Tom, as usual real easy to read and see what the problems may be and how to fix them. We need a (you) in every major snowmobile area, not just AK hahaha...
thanks
thanks
awesome!! thanks that helps a ton.. ya my chaincase blew out and the guy reused it apparantly.. put new bearings in it and worked the snap ring back in.. but there is only 5/8 of the outer alluminum that holds the snap ring in remaining.. so now i need to find me a chaincase
Tom you are the man thanks for all the info.
now is there anything you can do on a prox to strutul enforcement updgrades? im sure there is, what do you got tom
anything you post should be pinned at the top of this forum so it is never lost. thanks alot!
Great job
Pin this too!!!
TOM Alway great info Now if you and Harry would only do a 800 big block in a IQ 440 chassis and post information and pictures like you have with the 440 and 600,s You would pretty much have all the polaris motors covered in the race chassis.
good thing i took off my front bracket.. the alluminum that holds the front a arms in the center of the chassis wouldnt have lasted another season
hey tom on the polaris fix for the steering.. what does adding 2 self tapping screws do to support the steering joint?? i dont fully understand
Do you find that these upgrades are specific to the 05 & 06's or do they include the 07"s. I picked up an 07 and will be going through it this summer. Great info thanks Dan
PIN TTT
The '07 uses completely different steel mounting brackets for both the front and rear lower A-Arm mounts. It uses a different style of rivets for surperior attachment strength. And the '07 uses a different bracket to hold the Lower Front bolts together, this new bracket helps hold the front mount to the bulkhead better similar to the bracket I built in the link above. The '07 bulkhead is also constructed differently than the '05 & '06. It apperas the lower steering nut (aluminum nut inside bulkhead) has been improved for much better strength.
The '07 could still loosen up and have problems over time but my experience with them this season has been very good, much improved over the earlier IQ's. On one '07 we have, it has been Lawn Darted a dozen times, it has also hit a culvert completely sheering off the entire left suspension both the upper and lower. It has been raced and freestyled every weekend since November. There is no evidence of damage to the mounting tabs at the bulkhead. The earlier IQ's would not take this kind of abuse. I am sure the 600RR will be built just like the '07 Racer in this area.
The '05 & '06 racers can be a very tough trail sled no doubt. Even if they have been raced hard they can still be incredable tough when abused on the trail. All race sleds should be looked over closely and repaired as needed. Little cracks here and there are no big deal really.
The '07 could still loosen up and have problems over time but my experience with them this season has been very good, much improved over the earlier IQ's. On one '07 we have, it has been Lawn Darted a dozen times, it has also hit a culvert completely sheering off the entire left suspension both the upper and lower. It has been raced and freestyled every weekend since November. There is no evidence of damage to the mounting tabs at the bulkhead. The earlier IQ's would not take this kind of abuse. I am sure the 600RR will be built just like the '07 Racer in this area.
The '05 & '06 racers can be a very tough trail sled no doubt. Even if they have been raced hard they can still be incredable tough when abused on the trail. All race sleds should be looked over closely and repaired as needed. Little cracks here and there are no big deal really.
awesome work
this guy knows his stuff when it comes to the polaris race sleds.
AKIQRACING 
AKiqracing
i would like to know about some Pro x structutal reinforcements, i guess the bearing upgrade for the chaincase is possible , and your Bolt kit for the rear suspension also.. keep on the good work
i would like to know about some Pro x structutal reinforcements, i guess the bearing upgrade for the chaincase is possible , and your Bolt kit for the rear suspension also.. keep on the good work
On the 2005 Iq 440's is the track relocation really that important like, do i have to relcate it? If i don't relocate it will someting wrong happen?
Relocating the front of the skid would not be the best solution for a trail ridden '05 IQ.
A couple ideas for reducing the steering effort, improving cornering on trails and improving acceleration on an '05 would be to move the rear of the skid up into the tunnel with new mounting holes in the tunnel and shorter spindles from Power Addiction. These two modifications along with properly revalved shocks will go along way toward improving the trail manners of an '05.
The front skid relocate i mention is primarily for SnoX and Hard ditch banging.
A couple ideas for reducing the steering effort, improving cornering on trails and improving acceleration on an '05 would be to move the rear of the skid up into the tunnel with new mounting holes in the tunnel and shorter spindles from Power Addiction. These two modifications along with properly revalved shocks will go along way toward improving the trail manners of an '05.
The front skid relocate i mention is primarily for SnoX and Hard ditch banging.
tage
For structural mods to a ProX chassis we always added tab doublers to the upper rear track shock mounts as well as the lower ski shock mounts on the trailing arms. We also replace many of the suspension bolts with AN bolts so the threads do not chew into the mounting tabs, the most important bolts to replace IMO are the bolts that hold the front torque arm to the rails of the skid. The factory bolt will do damage to the rail in short order if ridden hard. We also add the extra rivets in the shock tower supports like the Polaris Tech Tip recommends.
We always added extra rivets in the area of the plastic tub and the foot stirups. When standing on the front of the running boards you can see lots of flex in the foot stirup area, we add several extra large head rivets between the tub and stirup to each side to reduce this flex. We also change out all the Spherical rod ends on the shocks on our ProX sleds to the all stainless ones. The plastic ones will fall apart quickly on the front two shocks. For all front shocks we add the rubber o-ring dampner where the bolt goes through the shock mounts. These o-rings came stock on the '06 IQ front shocks, they eliminate the slop in the shock mount area and also help keep the grease lubricant in the bearing better, they also help keep road dirt out of the shock bolt when your sled is on the trailer. I give these o-rings to everyone I service shocks for, polaris part # 5412290. They cost about $.50 each and make a big difference in the longevity and performance of the shock bearings.
For structural mods to a ProX chassis we always added tab doublers to the upper rear track shock mounts as well as the lower ski shock mounts on the trailing arms. We also replace many of the suspension bolts with AN bolts so the threads do not chew into the mounting tabs, the most important bolts to replace IMO are the bolts that hold the front torque arm to the rails of the skid. The factory bolt will do damage to the rail in short order if ridden hard. We also add the extra rivets in the shock tower supports like the Polaris Tech Tip recommends.
We always added extra rivets in the area of the plastic tub and the foot stirups. When standing on the front of the running boards you can see lots of flex in the foot stirup area, we add several extra large head rivets between the tub and stirup to each side to reduce this flex. We also change out all the Spherical rod ends on the shocks on our ProX sleds to the all stainless ones. The plastic ones will fall apart quickly on the front two shocks. For all front shocks we add the rubber o-ring dampner where the bolt goes through the shock mounts. These o-rings came stock on the '06 IQ front shocks, they eliminate the slop in the shock mount area and also help keep the grease lubricant in the bearing better, they also help keep road dirt out of the shock bolt when your sled is on the trailer. I give these o-rings to everyone I service shocks for, polaris part # 5412290. They cost about $.50 each and make a big difference in the longevity and performance of the shock bearings.
AK, you had mentioned that you had a method to trail convert the 07 shocks that wouldn't require rebuilding the stacks? Any word on that yet? Thanks Dan
Dan
You do have to revalve the stack on the '07 shocks to get them to work properly on the trail. I'm sorry if I said otherwise but it will require disassembly of the shock.
We experimented with reducing the preload on the valve stack by increasing the thickness of the first shim on the Compression by about .003" and on the Rebound by about .002" The '07 front shocks pistons are designed differently than the earlier years and their valve schedule is totally different. We ran out of winter before we got to do a lot of testing so I was reluctant to give any specific advice on revalving because I still wasn't sure how they would perform in a wide variety of conditions. I am waiting to see what the '08rr has for valving??? and or what W/E recommends for a trail tune-up for the '07 racer front shocks. Last I talked to them they were planning a conventional stack and piston for a trail tune up on '07 shocks, while that will work good it will also cost close to $75 per shock just for parts.
If we get really lucky, Polaris will dump the W/E shocks for '08 and give us something like the RydeFX Air 2.0's. That doesn't help '07 owners but it would be a big plus for the guys buying '08's.
It may be a good idea for guys with '07 racers who want a trail tune up on your shocks to give John at W/E a call and pester him about a specific valve schedule for the '07 shock design. There should really be no reason why they can't come up with a slight shim change without having to replace the piston and all the shims.
I am not fortunate enough to have access to a Shock Dyno so all my experience is from trial and error. I am quite sure we can come up with a good tune up for the '07 W/E's and it shouldn't cost but a few $$$ per shock to get the shims all in the correct position. It will take me a few weeks of testing once the snow flys before I am confident in a specific tune up.
I will post my experiences after winter starts, or maybe one of the shock guys here on HCS can respond with what they have done with the '07 W/E fronts to make them trailable.
You do have to revalve the stack on the '07 shocks to get them to work properly on the trail. I'm sorry if I said otherwise but it will require disassembly of the shock.
We experimented with reducing the preload on the valve stack by increasing the thickness of the first shim on the Compression by about .003" and on the Rebound by about .002" The '07 front shocks pistons are designed differently than the earlier years and their valve schedule is totally different. We ran out of winter before we got to do a lot of testing so I was reluctant to give any specific advice on revalving because I still wasn't sure how they would perform in a wide variety of conditions. I am waiting to see what the '08rr has for valving??? and or what W/E recommends for a trail tune-up for the '07 racer front shocks. Last I talked to them they were planning a conventional stack and piston for a trail tune up on '07 shocks, while that will work good it will also cost close to $75 per shock just for parts.
If we get really lucky, Polaris will dump the W/E shocks for '08 and give us something like the RydeFX Air 2.0's. That doesn't help '07 owners but it would be a big plus for the guys buying '08's.
It may be a good idea for guys with '07 racers who want a trail tune up on your shocks to give John at W/E a call and pester him about a specific valve schedule for the '07 shock design. There should really be no reason why they can't come up with a slight shim change without having to replace the piston and all the shims.
I am not fortunate enough to have access to a Shock Dyno so all my experience is from trial and error. I am quite sure we can come up with a good tune up for the '07 W/E's and it shouldn't cost but a few $$$ per shock to get the shims all in the correct position. It will take me a few weeks of testing once the snow flys before I am confident in a specific tune up.
I will post my experiences after winter starts, or maybe one of the shock guys here on HCS can respond with what they have done with the '07 W/E fronts to make them trailable.
Thanks AK, when does winter start for you up there anyway?
We hope to start making snow at the track by Halloween.
There should be decent snow on the local trails by 12/1.
Most of our local mountain riding areas get snow early, like by mid November, but there are lots of bolders that get covered up with 18". 18" is just enough snow to rip off a trailing arm and destroy a bulkhead. There are lots of REVs around here, December is a good month for the Doo Parts Dealers. They usually have Nuns on special.......2 for 1 during December. LOL.
There should be decent snow on the local trails by 12/1.
Most of our local mountain riding areas get snow early, like by mid November, but there are lots of bolders that get covered up with 18". 18" is just enough snow to rip off a trailing arm and destroy a bulkhead. There are lots of REVs around here, December is a good month for the Doo Parts Dealers. They usually have Nuns on special.......2 for 1 during December. LOL.
^^^^ thats funny shit^^^^^^ nuns on special....they should come with a few spares when you buy a new one.
i have a crack at the begining of the running board where the plastic meets the running board..
should a weld it???
should a weld it???
QUOTE(AkIQPilot @ Jun 28 2007, 01:34 PM) 
Relocating the front of the skid would not be the best solution for a trail ridden '05 IQ.
A couple ideas for reducing the steering effort, improving cornering on trails and improving acceleration on an '05 would be to move the rear of the skid up into the tunnel with new mounting holes in the tunnel and shorter spindles from Power Addiction. These two modifications along with properly revalved shocks will go along way toward improving the trail manners of an '05.
The front skid relocate i mention is primarily for SnoX and Hard ditch banging.
A couple ideas for reducing the steering effort, improving cornering on trails and improving acceleration on an '05 would be to move the rear of the skid up into the tunnel with new mounting holes in the tunnel and shorter spindles from Power Addiction. These two modifications along with properly revalved shocks will go along way toward improving the trail manners of an '05.
The front skid relocate i mention is primarily for SnoX and Hard ditch banging.
A question for Tom, you mention moving the rear of the skid of a 05 0up into the tunnel, how far into the tunnel?
Paul
i will be getting a 06 iq this weekend. what parts of your write up include 06 iq's... or is it just 05's? also on the grease fittings for the a-arms i wanted to run the needle setup, is there any fitting in the a-arm for the needle greaser to push into... or is it just the .062" hole?
for the a-arm mounting mods... what ive basicly understood is that you replace the rivets with the high strength 3/16" rivets you mention in the write up... then for wallowed holes you use the 1/4" high strength rivets?
one last question. what rivets do you use for the 6(or so) special piercing rivets on the front a-arm mounts? thats all i cant find.
for the a-arm mounting mods... what ive basicly understood is that you replace the rivets with the high strength 3/16" rivets you mention in the write up... then for wallowed holes you use the 1/4" high strength rivets?
one last question. what rivets do you use for the 6(or so) special piercing rivets on the front a-arm mounts? thats all i cant find.
ttt pin it again please
TTT ill pm a mod
tom im looking forward to the 06 upgrades!
tom im looking forward to the 06 upgrades!
Just one Q about the Self Aligning bearing...
How about metal debris from the chain and gears, they have to get in to the bearing?
How do that affect the bearing life???
AKIQpilot??
How about metal debris from the chain and gears, they have to get in to the bearing?
How do that affect the bearing life???
AKIQpilot??
There is no doubt that the metal debris from the chain and gears will directly enter the bearing and shorten bearing life. Chaincase oil should be changed regularly and IMO the chaincase cover should come off a few times a season to thoroughly clean the chaincase. +or-500 miles should be sufficient.
The '05 IQ doesn't really have this issue because it originally did not have the Self Alligning bearing nor did it have a slip gear or extrovert drivers. The '05 has a 4 driver axle and it does not flex like the 2 driver axles. In '06 when the extroverts were installed there were massive chaincase failures in Duluth. Polaris thought the fix was the Slip Gear and subsequently sent every '06 owner a free Slip Gear. The Slip Gear wasn't the real fix, we began installing the self alligning bearing in the chaincase immediately after Duluth and all chaincase breaking issues went away. On many of our 440's we never installed the free Slip Gear because we weren't having problems with the gear, we were having problems blowing out the snap ring groove in the chaincase. We used the extra slip gears as spares because we found them to have a very short life if they were even slightly abused.
In '07 & '08 Polaris gave us a Self Alligning bearing from the factory.
The self alligning bearing has it's drawbacks, (open bearing rollers exposed to debris from the chaincase oil) but your chaincase will not survive even moderate abuse with the 2 driver extrovert axle if you try to run without a self alligning bearing. The axle flexes a huge amount.
The '05 IQ doesn't really have this issue because it originally did not have the Self Alligning bearing nor did it have a slip gear or extrovert drivers. The '05 has a 4 driver axle and it does not flex like the 2 driver axles. In '06 when the extroverts were installed there were massive chaincase failures in Duluth. Polaris thought the fix was the Slip Gear and subsequently sent every '06 owner a free Slip Gear. The Slip Gear wasn't the real fix, we began installing the self alligning bearing in the chaincase immediately after Duluth and all chaincase breaking issues went away. On many of our 440's we never installed the free Slip Gear because we weren't having problems with the gear, we were having problems blowing out the snap ring groove in the chaincase. We used the extra slip gears as spares because we found them to have a very short life if they were even slightly abused.
In '07 & '08 Polaris gave us a Self Alligning bearing from the factory.
The self alligning bearing has it's drawbacks, (open bearing rollers exposed to debris from the chaincase oil) but your chaincase will not survive even moderate abuse with the 2 driver extrovert axle if you try to run without a self alligning bearing. The axle flexes a huge amount.
Hmm, have to ask. I bought a used slip gear off ebay for my IQ, got it for like $45 and I put it on this summer. Should I not have? My sled has the good bearing. What will be the first signs of the slip gear being bad, do the clutch packs just wear out?
Hey AKIQPILOT i have a 06 600 ho and this year i have a 701 big bore for it from htg i dont no a hole lot about it would i be able to trail ride it all the time and do what i wants with it like used it the same way as when it was stock.
Andrew, your 440 isn't going to hurt the Slip Gear unless you deliberatly abuse it. Like hold it taped just befor you land and or lock the brakes up and hold them locked as you land.
The slip gear is not a bad thing to have in your chain case. It will prevent you from breaking a chain in most cases. Usually when they go they go in a hurry, when they are starting to slip they are usually completely done by the end of the day or the next race for sure. We only destroyed 2 of them, and they basically started slipping and shuddering at the beginning of the day and by the end of the day they were noticibly slipping.
Zackster, I know almost nothing about a Hot to Go 701 Big Bore. I would assume if it's designed to run on pump gas it can be trail ridden just like most any other motor. If it a Race Fuel motor then you will need to call HTG and find out from them about your motor.
The slip gear is not a bad thing to have in your chain case. It will prevent you from breaking a chain in most cases. Usually when they go they go in a hurry, when they are starting to slip they are usually completely done by the end of the day or the next race for sure. We only destroyed 2 of them, and they basically started slipping and shuddering at the beginning of the day and by the end of the day they were noticibly slipping.
Zackster, I know almost nothing about a Hot to Go 701 Big Bore. I would assume if it's designed to run on pump gas it can be trail ridden just like most any other motor. If it a Race Fuel motor then you will need to call HTG and find out from them about your motor.
Alright cool, I will just use it like I normally would which is not deliberately abusing it haha and if/when I notice it slipping I will swap it out to the non-slip gear for the next weekend. I snapped a chain last year and that sucked so if this could help prevent it that would be nice.
QUOTE(AkIQPilot @ Dec 4 2007, 03:43 AM)
The '05 IQ doesn't really have this issue because it originally did not have the Self Alligning bearing nor did it have a slip gear or extrovert drivers. The '05 has a 4 driver axle and it does not flex like the 2 driver axles. In '06 when the extroverts were installed there were massive chaincase failures in Duluth.
Well I got 2 extrovert drivers in my 05 mod and rode without the self allining bearing and slip gear last year.....
Guess I was lucky! =)
I have installed the bearing for this winter
just so you guys know i got a self aligning bearing about 3 weeks ago and after i got it in the dealer told me i must of gotten the last one. they are on back order till january 4th.
QUOTE(jordan123 @ Dec 6 2007, 12:55 AM)
just so you guys know i got a self aligning bearing about 3 weeks ago and after i got it in the dealer told me i must of gotten the last one. they are on back order till january 4th.
I just got one two days ago that was ordered from Polaris a week ago.
QUOTE(TeamFrog @ Dec 7 2007, 06:43 PM)
I just got one two days ago that was ordered from Polaris a week ago.
who knows, just going by what his computer told him haha.
Tom, may I ask what are polaris part numbers for 1/4" structural rivets in different lenghts?
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