ways to make hifax life longer.

[dooryder]

A quick way to reduce slide runner wear, in some conditions, is to reduce the pressure against the snow at the front of the rail. Reduce the center shock pressure by raising the rear of the unit, shortening the limiter strap and then setting the center shock spring preload to zero

Take a new set of hyfax and get your drill. You'll need a 3/8" bit and some strength cause you will be tired after doing two hyfax full length. Start at either end it don't matter cause you are going full length with the pattern. Drill two holes side by side followed by one and repeat. It should look like a five on a dice set ,you get it. Just dimple the hyfax to just above the depth line (about 3/8" deep) if you go to shallow or to deep don't worry. If you go through a few times, slow drill down. If you do go through it is not a big deal. That will give you the chance to look at the thickness left on the hyfax. I choose to drill through in the key wear areas anyway so at any given time I can flip my sled up and look to see how much I actually have left. Now your asking what is this going to do... well it will put snow and ice in those holes and when they get hot it will release the liquid as coolant and lubrication for the hyfax. Also if you come to an area with dirt or low snow the holes are filled with good snow, it will melt and continue to lube your hyfax and wash out the dirt and sand untill you can get to some good snow which should be soon. For you racers this also lets you run on less of a friction area due to the amount of holes (your running on air, snow, ice or liquid ie artificial lubrication wink wink) and it may give you not only extended hyfax life but, a mileage increase, less rolling resistance, and possibly free up some small amount of track hp. With this mod and tightening your limiter straps a little to change attack angle slightly on the track, and most importantly LOOSEN YOUR TRACK. Yamaha runs them at 7/8"- 1" at 22 lbs of pull and that is WAY TOO TIGHT!!! I CAN'T STRESS THAT ENOUGH. Now don't go out and loosen it too much. (your studs and lugs will start hitting and then there's another set of problems) my suggestion (and that's all it is), is to set your track in the middle of the guides (checking for straightness) and set the tension to 1-1/4" to 1-3/16" at 16 lbs of pull. if this is too loose and it ratchets or hits tighten each side equally in small increments till it goes away. Hope I've helped and here are some pics for your viewing pleasure.


I hope this helps out :d

 

[Summitric]

LOOK AT YOU, THE LITTLE RIDE TECHIE...... WHICH SITE DID YOU STEAL THAT OFF?? GOOD ARTICLE, THOUGH

 

[dooryder]

It was a yamaha mod site , i found a link to it in the yamaha thread, i was bored so i decided to post that

 

[SLEDBUNNYRACING]

It is a good post.

 

[Scotty]

Good post, thanks!

As far as the drilling of your hifax goes... I have seen this done and it does work apparently. The Down side is small gravel bits get wedged in the holes and scrape up the track clips making them rough and abbrasive and excelerates hi fax wear. Most guys that try this don't do it a second time. My experience anyways. Everybody has to ride through gravel and mud at some point.

Good post though!

 

[TomKat72]

Just buy Hyperfax and then you won't have to worry about it. I've got 1700 miles on mine and they don't appear to have worn at all. I do however run my track pretty loose so that may help as well. As for standard hyfax, I've always had very good longevity as long as I broke them in properly.

 

[northstar23]

Just buy Hyperfax and then you won't have to worry about it. I've got 1700 miles on mine and they don't appear to have worn at all. I do however run my track pretty loose so that may help as well. As for standard hyfax, I've always had very good longevity as long as I broke them in properly.

How do you break them in properly?

 

[Ridin High]

The best thing that works, is to get a table saw, and set it so you can run down the slider making two lines. You dont have to go to deep depending on the slider go about a 1/16 to maybe an 1/8 of an inche deep and space them evenly on the slider. By doing this when you first start riding the snow will hold in the slots, and if the sliders(Hyfax) get to warm the snow will slowly melt and will allow lube. I have tried and know others that have and it seems to help alot.

 

[dooryder]

I was wondering the same thing

 

[TomKat72]

How do you break them in properly?

For break-in, it is recommended to put several heat cycles on the hyfax. To do a heat cycle, you go down the trail at a decent pace to heat up the hyfax. Once hot, bail-off into some fresh snow, or skid the track, etc. to get some snow in there to cool them down quickly. Be careful not stop while thay are hot as the track clips can melt into the hyfax (not a fun experience, but that's another topic entirely). This in essence tempers them. This doesn't mean that they are now impervious.....just makes them more resistant to heat and wear. All hyfax end up being tempered eventually. You've heard the story...."Man, I don't know what's wrong! My hyfax wore half way through in just the first couple of rides but now seem to be wearing ok!" If you do this early when the hyfax is new you'll extend the life of them. On many sleds they don't get broke-in untill the hyfax is around 50% worn and then they tend to wear like iron. This may seem "out there" .....but it does work! Look at it this way, you're not out anything and you should end up with hyfax that will wear far longer than not. This is something that my family has always done and will continue to do, seeing as we usually get twice the life compared to others that ride with us. Good luck!

 

[Summitric]

Best way to make the sliders(hi-fax) last longer, is "don't doo grass drags"..... One of our sleds had the sliders melt right to the track clips, and it wouldn't move until they pried it apart.

 

[SLEDBUNNYRACING]

I agree..I just about missed a race when after kicking the crap out of my track the sliders wouldn't come unglued from the overhearing.

 

[TomKat72]

Best way to make the sliders(hi-fax) last longer, is "don't doo grass drags"..... One of our sleds had the sliders melt right to the track clips, and it wouldn't move until they pried it apart.

Sorry to hear that! From my limited experience being around the grass drag scene I seem to recall that many use a lube of some sort. We used to mix dish soap and water in a spray bottle (or a honey bottle with the funnel-end) and then prior to the run we'd spray the hyfax/track area during warm-up. We were always going to pre-mix the fuel and then use the oil injection pump and some carburator vent hose routed down to the front of the glides. We never got to as the grass drags only lasted a few seasons where I live.

 

[ZRrrr]

For break-in, it is recommended to put several heat cycles on the hyfax. To do a heat cycle, you go down the trail at a decent pace to heat up the hyfax. Once hot, bail-off into some fresh snow, or skid the track, etc. to get some snow in there to cool them down quickly. Be careful not stop while thay are hot as the track clips can melt into the hyfax (not a fun experience, I've seen otheres do this by accident). This in essence tempers them. This doesn't mean that they are now impervious.....just makes them more resistant to heat and wear. All hyfax end up being tempered eventually. You've heard the story...."Man, I don't know what's wrong! My hyfax wore half way through in just the first couple of rides but now seem to be ok!" If you do this early when the hyfax is new you'll extend the life of them. On many sleds they don't get broke-in untill the hyfax is around 50% worn and then they tend to wear like iron. This may seem "out there" .....but it does work! Look at it this way, you're not out anything and you should end up with hyfax that will wear far longer than not. This is something that my family has always done and will continue to do seeing as we usually get twice the life compared to others that ride with us. Good luck!

I have always broken in my hyfax this way and get great longevity.

 

[Summitric]

sorry to hear that! From my limited experience being around the grass drag scene i seem to recall that many use a lube of some sort. We used to mix dish soap and water in a spray bottle (or a honey bottle with the funnel-end) and then prior to the run we'd spray the hyfax/track area during warm-up. We were always going to pre-mix the fuel and then use the oil injection pump and some carburator vent hose routed down to the front of the glides. We never got to as the grass drags only lasted a few seasons where i live.

pledge works the best, i was told. We used dishsoap and water in an old style pump-up fire extinguisher once, and it seemed okay... Saw lots of guys using wd40, or oils of different types.....

 

[Scotty]

pledge works the best, i was told. We used dishsoap and water in an old style pump-up fire extinguisher once, and it seemed okay... Saw lots of guys using wd40, or oils of different types.....

I've seen Canola oil used on the mini sleds? Don't laugh. It works. It seems to work great in the cold snowy conditions. I'm guessing it would be fine for the Grass drags as well. Canola is very slippery, oily, cheap and also helps to support the Alberta economy lol.