heres something to pick your brains....bent my rails today

[maxwell]

went for a ride yesterday..quick rip up the trail burned a few doughnuts because the conditions were not good aswell as the weather. then came back down. i will be the first to admit when i wreck something. but this has me puzzled. i didnt do any jumps. my sled never came off the ground. IM LOST! these are supposed to be the strongest rails on the market so hopefully iceage comes through with some warranty because i do alot of business with them. i went in the EXACT same spots as my cousin with 174 ice age rails and his are fine. i rode ALL last season on stock 163 rails and never bent them and i BAGGED on my sled.

 

[teeroy]

oh snap....polarblu is gonna have a field day with this. those rails don't look any stronger than stock right in the center where they are bent, that sucks dude.

 

[maxwell]

well they arent doo rails so he can shut it LOL

 

[007sevens]

I'm sure you didn't have the track to tight. right?

 

[EMANAARON]

That sucks man. I can't see that happening unless you mashed a rock or launched the sled straight up and down and landed on the very back of the rails.

Hopefully iceage comes through if not I hope you got your stockers.

 

[maxwell]

I'm sure you didn't have the track to tight. right?

nope..i run extros its usually fairly sloppy. but REALLY do you know how tight it would have to be to bend rails? we used to have the rails super tight on the older sleds without extros.

 

[teeroy]

did you cross any short deep creeks or anything like that? i could see maybe if they were acting as a bridge or something, and compressed at the wrong moment maybe bending like that. hope ice age comes good on them.

 

[maxwell]

yep i crossed some creeks.thats the only thing i could think of. nothing deep or out of the norm i didnt do with my stock ones or the 174 rails.

i know in the powdercoating process they bake the material and it reaches fairly high temps....can anyone see this weakening the material? you can buy ice age rails coated so..

 

[RUDY]

suck man...,can't see this happening BUT maybe when backing off a sled deck..The rear of the track hits the ground first and alot of weight in the middle when the sled is backing off until the skis touch the ground...Can't see that happening though.

 

[maxwell]

suck man...,can't see this happening BUT maybe when backing off a sled deck..The rear of the track hits the ground first and alot of weight in the middle when the sled is backing off until the skis touch the ground...Can't see that happening though.

possible. except i pulled my sled off my deck. lol

 

[dezmitchell]

Yikes i can honestly say this is the 1st time ive ever seen ice age rails bend.

I would think if you bent them by hitting something hard (even in a creek) you would notice it, ive beat the f**k our of mine with no problems at all. The only thing i can think of is maybe during the powder coating process some one turned the oven up a touch to much and weakened the rails for all we know ice age could have a special technique to powder coat them in house.

 

[synergycycle]

The hp from a etec 800 bent them clearly.

 

[EMANAARON]

The hp from a etec 800 bent them clearly.

Only thing there was no exec to bend them.

 

[smokindave]

yep i crossed some creeks.thats the only thing i could think of. nothing deep or out of the norm i didnt do with my stock ones or the 174 rails.

i know in the powdercoating process they bake the material and it reaches fairly high temps....can anyone see this weakening the material? you can buy ice age rails coated so..

They are anodised rails,I am not sure on the process on whether or not they have to be heated to bond...I bought a set from them this season in 174anodised black for my Tapex,I certainly hope they hold up better than those did.

 

[flying frenchman]

That sucks. On the bright side it will turn like a 121 sled, and maybe pull better wheelies. Good luck, and hope you find the cause.

 

[Summitric]

You should contact iceage........ Sounds like a warranty issue???

 

[kanders]

Hey guys, just a little info on the powder coating. Keep in mind I am a little biased since I do anodizing for a living, but the amount of heat applied to the rails during powder coating can affect the hardness and strength of the aluminum but I don't claim to know how much. When I had my manufacturing company we used to make the main body of our machine(an 8" X 13" X 60" long channel) out of aluminum. We had our own paint booth and painted everything with endura plastic paint which was expensive and time consuming. A powder coating company rep approached us to do our parts and make our process easier so we sent them 5 of our machine bodys and were pleased when they came back looking good. Much to our surprise, when we tried to assemble the body to the stand the bolts didn't line up anymore by more than half an inch. Upon further inspection, we placed a machined straight edge across the top and found that the heat had warped the flat surfaces and they all had bowed concaved, effectively spreading open the body. Sorry for the long winded story but I just wanted to share the facts of my experience and not spread any false facts about someone elses process.
BTW, during anodizing the parts go through 8 steps and the hottest tank is only 130 degrees F(far below the boiling point of water). The anodizing is only .0005 thick so it doesn't affect the aluminums core strength, only hardens the surface. Kev

 

[my mod]

yes,
I have sen where the powder coating parts was left to long on the oven and all the parts were warped and bent. I would suggest that the powder coating heat caused issues.

 

[synergycycle]

Just a thought, could your drop brackets been to big? that way all the pressure would be on the back half.

 

[gartho]

wow hope iceage comes to the table,just had their rails put in my 201 m8 174 could u please keep me in the loop ????