Was thinking, how hard would it be to get a longer track on my 1996 zrt 600. Would I need a whole new rear suspension and tunnel extentions? I think it would be a very good sled with a long track in the deep snow. It rarely gets stuck as is, but there are those times, I am running a 16X1 inch track Dont know the length, but wanted to move up to a longer 2 inch paddle track :P. I am quite handy with tools and fabricating just need to know how, and how hard. Mabey even the cost.

I longtracked my 1999 ZRT 600 for $300 US. The track cost me $200 on Snowest, the rail extensions cost $50 on E-bay and the tunnel extension cost $50 bucks on ebay. With shipping and all it was about $380 bucks total. Went from the stock 15'x121'x.85 to 15'x136'x1.187 fullbar. What a difference.. Love it. Only took about 6 hours total to change it over. Heres a couple pics

its not that bad you will need new drivers on the drive shaft for a 2" other than that its like rammer356 said . new track, rail extentions and tunnel extention ( good luck finding one for a 96 though ) M

Nice job on the extensions guys, but, Codyp, do you really need a 2" paddel? those suck for trail riding - heats up slides etc. rail extensions are the way to go for low buck, if your a heavy guy though you'll find the susp a little softer cus of the extra leverage, as far as the tunnel, you could make your own with sheet alum. use a jig saw with fine tooth bladeto cut, get a local metal shop to bend, make a template of your existing tunnel ends for bumper mounts - I 'm using some factory mountaincat parts to do this to my t-cat and now realize after all the cutting and riveting I could have just made the parts for much less. 1.25 ripsaw would be an awsome upgrade - might even fit with stock drivers and no studs (crossfire trac- seen a couple on ebay for 2-300)- had a 1.25 on my 94 zr - no issues on or off trail only 121 though which is the length you have now. AC made tunnel extensions also which are now disco'd but you may find one of those on ebay as well if your patient
Good luck buddy! - Eric

Rammer - did you change any clutching/gearing when you went to the long track? What other mods are you running - I'm looking to get my 136" zrt600 dialed in better this year.

Ya I dropped the gears. went from 23/40 to 22/41. Love the bottom end now. I just bought some new cylinders with mild exhaust porting, cut heads, and spacers. Will put it together this summer. Then I gotta set it up again.. that should be fun., I have BM Pipes , and a Power Breather . I gotta get it rev to about 9200 according to the guy I purchased the parts from. I guess we will see next winter.

I went with the 1.250 ripsaw and thats about as big as will fit with the stock drivers in a 96zrt. I rode mine all last year and determined that the gearing is a little off . will prolly go -1 on top as a start then up on the bottom if it still needs it

Rtammer-
where'd you find the pipes? I've been looking for some too - already have the pwerbreather, D&D shim kit,reeds. What rpm were you engaging at last year? Did you have the change the chain when chainging the gears, or did you still use the stock? Even without pipes I was running over 9,000 rpm with the mods I have when it was 121 - so 9,200 with the pipes sounds about right.

I got them on Ebay right from Black Magic. I bet if you email BM they still have some for a good price. I had also purchased a Monoblock had but realized that I didn't want to cut the inserts so I sold it. Only lost about 100 bucks on it and used it for a year. No big deal. Last year I was way clutched wrong but I smoked a piston near the end of the very short winter so I just left it. Next year I hope we get some snow so I can get it set up right this time. Thanks for your interest. Heres a pic of the pipes. I was engaging at about 5200 but topping out at about 8500 which is too low.. then the piston broke and there was hardly any snow so I said,, screw it till summer.. lol

I've got a brand-new mono block kit as well for 1995-2000, I'm not going to use. Pump gas inserts/Big Bore inserts, ceramic coated, with Pistons/rings for each as well (and BB cylinders freshly replated). If anybody wants to go nuts, you are welcome to stop by and make an offer, I've got boxes and boxes of parts at this point.

What do you gain with the Monoblock kit? Any advantage over the D&D shim kit (thicker base gasket/milled heads)? Don't happen to have any BM pipes for sale do you drwho?

The Monoblock head kit, has improved cooling, plus you can change the domes quickly. I have BM Pipes for a 96-98 (coated), and D&D pipes (non-coated), both with EGT holes. I have the BM pipes on my 96, and I don't really want to pull them, the D&D's I'd probably get rid of, but I'm not sure they would work in the 2000 chassis.

Ive done alot of research on longtracking my 96 zrt and no one makes a rail extension kit they start in 97 with the new rear susp setup with the ETT. so you will have to find a rear skid out of a 97 or newer car, im in the middle of installing a rear skid from an '02 CCE ZR. a bit of a paint what with all the measurements and drilling and so on but it will be worth it in the end and the biggest track a 96 zert can fit without changing the drivers is 1.434" max lug height

you could problably swap the 121 rails for 136 touring or mc rails, just redrill for rear arm mounts using 121 skid dimensions - ?

That looks really good. I have a 96 ZRT, I'm a bigger guy(6'2-225) and am looking for a better ride. I really never worked on snowmobiles so I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but do I get a new heat exchanger when I purchase a tunnel extension or can I reuse my old one?

Thanks,

Sells

im not much of an artic cat fan but thats a nice sled you got there

No you just leave the exchanger where it is. I have had no problems with cooling. The snow still hits it fine. There really is no exchanger at the rear on a 99 ZRT 600 anyways. Its just a crossover tube. The cooling is done from tne front exchanger and the rails in the tunnel. :-)

Thanks for the compliment. Its my pride and joy!! :-)

I've also heard that there is no change needed to the exchanger - but , is there a protective aluminum guard covering your crossover hose in the rear? If so you will need to make a new one if running studs, my tcat project is going to require my exchangers to be lengthened because the skid
i'm installing has more travel that the origonal and I don't want my track/studs anywhere near that crossover hose. In my opinion it should be relocated back. My solution to this is buy a used set of exchangers on ebay - paid $30 - cut the ends off yours, then cut the ends + however long your extension is off the used ones, bring to a welding shop and presto!! No worries, you also get a little more cooling. I dont think there is a factory made exchanger that would bolt in, I spent some time reseaching this for mine, you could have one custom made, but you'll need deep pockets.

I'm starting to research this long track...I tend to ride hard and test for stress factors on my 00' ZRT6, are these rail extensions tough enough. I also noticed the geometry with the extensions installed may have changed, would a stock type 136" skid have the rear mount back farther?

Basically i'm not raggin on the extenders, but asking if getting the 136" stock type skid would be more beneficial as far as toughness and ride quality.

Thank you!

i have a 2000 that i put tracks usa extensions on. they are a cnc machined piece that fit very nice. as far as strength i have had no issues. the 1996 zrt has a rear heat exchanger that drops down in the back so you would have to modify that heat exchanger or move it back. i also have a 1997 zrt that i put a complete 136 skid in. you have to watch wich sled you get the skid out of because some of the mountain cats used the older pre ett style skid. the skid i bought came out of a 2001 600 le mountain cat, the regular 600 mountain cat uses the zl style skid. the best way you can tell what the skid is out of is how the front arm mouts to the sled. the zr style skid has a bolt and nut and the zl style skid has just a bolt thatgoes into a threaded shaft in the fron arm. when i extended the tunnel i just drilled all the rivets out of the factory top piece and moved it back about 8 inches then used lund boat rivets and bucked new rivets in and filled in the open spaces with aluminum sheet. the 1997 i made a new custom aluminum bumber that ties into the running board. which i also use this sled to pull a cat cutter. i need to get some pics of both sleds.

I'll be going with a 144" M-10 rear and a tracks usa tunnel extension over the summer. Most of my riding is off trail but no really deep powder. I just found a 144" X 2.25" camoplast finger track for an amazing price. My plan so far is to cut the longer lugs and stud them with those screw in style track lug studs. Seems like everybody is going with a longer track.

dont do it. Just install a taller lug (1.5) and youll be fine. You would be losing around 20 mph if you go with a 136".

in a 96 you need to move the exchanger back