[madcow]

i am going to test a new welder this week. it has a tig option so i can weld aluminum and stanless steel. i have some one inch stanless high grade thin wall tubing. a ten foot piece wieghs only a couple pounds. it is really thin but supported at the ends i can do a pull up and it doesnt flex hardly at all. i am going to make a set of trailing arm out of it and then get smaller stuff to make the steering and radius rods. then make the rear suspension brakets out of staneless. that should be an easy twenty pounds. i was talking to a couple speed shops and they want a pair to give to a certain customers that ride hard if they hold up they will by a couple sets for stock and sell them for me. I mostly want to do it for my sled so it would look trick, and also the chrome molly arent made for flat land sleds and spicifically for the xcr 800.
i talked to some light wieght makers and they said they would be carefull with there own products riding hard on a trail theres are made for the mountains and poweder. the sucky thing is it will take about one to two months to get the machine if i like it. o well then i can get field work done atleast while i wait.!!!!!!!!!

nothing goes like three holes!!!!!!!

 

[intendedacceleration]

Ever thought of working with more exotic materials? Like titainium or carbon fiber? I would buy cf a-arms and a titainium exhaust for my sled in a second!

2002 Arctic Cat ZR 800 EFI

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[xc racer]

just curious, how does carbon fiber compare to different common metals? how are carbon fiber parts made? is it similar to laying out fiberglass? molding it?

'99 XC SP 500
Fox shocks stickers- 15 hp
handlebar hooks/riser- 10 hp
red skid plate- 10 hp
red hyfax- 5 hp
running board/edge grips- 20 hp

 

[ripperd]

carbon fiber is stiff and STRONG.

It is made very similar to fiberglass, just using woven carbon cloth, rather than just plain cloth, and maybe the epoxy is is different.

-Dean

 

[Bobinwi]

yeah carbon fiber is pretty strong but if it cant take the abuse i can give it on my rc cars i dont think it can take the abuse from me on my sled. and when cf breaks it doesnt crack or just break it shatters. I run alot of carbon fiber stuff on my remote controlled cars and peices that small still break.

bobby

My wife said its me or my sleds... Im sure gonna miss her

 

[MegaMan]

Yeah, i think carbon fiber products are cured or baked in a large oven-type device at different temperatures for a certain amount of time....Some complicated heating process. It's super strong, and super light.

More complicated than an ordinary fiberglass fix.

Titanium exhaust would rule! It is the best material for exhaust........but i think it would cost too much for most people. Does anyone make them for snowmobiles???

 

[intendedacceleration]

Well a full titainium exhaust for my car only run 700 bucks so one for a sled should be a little cheaper if they did make it.

2002 Arctic Cat ZR 800 EFI

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[xc racer]

i know carbon fiber is strong and lightweight, i don't live in a hole i was just curious as to how much force it can withstand (such as in a trailing arm) before breaking compared to steel, aluminun, titanium, iron, etc.

'99 XC SP 500
Fox shocks stickers- 15 hp
handlebar hooks/riser- 10 hp
red skid plate- 10 hp
red hyfax- 5 hp
running board/edge grips- 20 hp

 

[madcow]

the reason i went with stanless is because thats what i have on hand plus the light wieght it is lighter and stronger than chrome moly.
i seen an add for chome moly arms that had a foot note not for hard trail riding.
with this stanless trailing arm if you hit some thing with you ski straight on your foot board will be the week part.
i will stand behind the arm if you land on a rock on the arm and it bends up i will guarentee you will still be able to ride back to the hotel. when we were in up in the up.lol we were playing on the gravel hills off the trail and a new skidoo went up and when he came down a rock hit his trailing arm underneath dead center and tore the tube open. if it was a stanless he would have felt it but it would not have bent like that in fact the bottom may have dented but the top wouldnt have bent up.
if they are reasonable to make for 200 and work on my sled i am going to make them for all sleds. and make a good warrenty. if you cant stand behind it you shouldnt build it.

nothing goes like three holes!!!!!!!

 

[madcow]

the reason i went with stanless is because thats what i have on hand plus the light wieght it is lighter and stronger than chrome moly.
i seen an add for chome moly arms that had a foot note not for hard trail riding.
with this stanless trailing arm if you hit some thing with you ski straight on your foot board will be the week part.
i will stand behind the arm if you land on a rock on the arm and it bends up i will guarentee you will still be able to ride back to the hotel. when we were in up in the up.lol we were playing on the gravel hills off the trail and a new skidoo went up and when he came down a rock hit his trailing arm underneath dead center and tore the tube open. if it was a stanless he would have felt it but it would not have bent like that in fact the bottom may have dented but the top wouldnt have bent up.
if they are reasonable to make for 200 and work on my sled i am going to make them for all sleds. and make a good warrenty. if you cant stand behind it you shouldnt build it.

nothing goes like three holes!!!!!!!

 

[bigwilly]

Carbon Fibre is really strong until you shatter it. I know that it is also quite expensive too. My old art teacher lost his leg when he was young in a snowmobiling accident and he had a fake leg made partially out of carbon fibre.

Well one day in art he pulled out this shattered piece of what looked like plastic and said" If anyone can tell me what this is you can have a spare." I knew what it was.

He had been driving dirt bike with some of his students one day and he put out his leg to turn and the carbon fibre piece snapped. So he strapped his one leg on the back of one guy's fourwheeler and the kept riding.

It's not how fast you go, but how much fun you are having.

 

[intendedacceleration]

The strength of carbon fiber in directly related to how skilled the person making it is and how many layers they use. If made correctly it will be both stronger and lighter than just about every metal out there. The ony real downside to it is cost and complexity to make.

2002 Arctic Cat ZR 800 EFI

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[madcow]

if i could do carbon fiber i probably would. i would build parts like an arrow. they use lots of layers each one goes a different angle. then they use an aluminum layer to help the arrow from flex stress and abuse. i am also going to make a bunch of parts out of 6061 aluminum. this winter my brother wants to tare the sportsman down and see how much wiehgt he can lose. hes a machinist that worked his way to engineer and designer so he has specs on what things wiegh. he had figured he could lose 150 pounds with rims and pipe with aluminum parts.

nothing goes like three holes!!!!!!!