To Remove The Sway Bar or Not To Remove The Sway Bar

DownhillBill

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Get a Polaris! Mine carves with the flick of a wrist, and the bar is still in.
I can't even ride a Doo they turn like a tank.

Hey now...My "TANK" turns just fine!:d
 

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Bnorth

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Run the disconnect, I pulled mine and love it except on groomed trail. On the trails its tips pretty easy and likes to pull the inside ski so a sway would be nice in those situations.
 

takethebounce

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Some people are reffering to XP's in their replies, which is not the sled being asked about.


Really if you can't sidehill a sled because of the sway bar being in I find it hard to believe someone will miraculously be able to without it.

People who are really good at sidehilling can do it with and without a swaybar. :rolleyes:

On my '04 Rev I rode without it. But thats how it was when I purchased the sled and didn't bother putting it back in. And of course its trail manners weren't that great but for the 30km in and out from the stagging area it wasn't a big deal.

On my XP I ditched it right away and have since put one back in. Way better on and off trail. But there is a reason for that and this thread isn't about XP's so there is no reason to continue as to why.
 

nickhesson

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Alright, here's what you doo as was recommended to me by Duck (Wise One I call him!)...Remove sway bar and buy quick connect for trial riding only. Then set your front shock on your track to max, let out your limiter strap one hole, and set your preload to your wieght...then ride! To quote Duck..."it will ride like a seadoo"! And mine did! Like your riding a whole new sled! Duck says the XP suspension tends to colapase at the front of the track and the remaining track follows...Doo the above and you will love the machine even more! Dont fall over! LOL!

Ok thanks! My questions is... I know ch!t all about adjusting these things. When you say set the front shocks to max, do you mean 1? they are at 4 now... What is the limiter strap one hole?

and how do i set my preload?

Thanks for the awesome tips!!!
 

salbendidi

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I tried both my rev and xp each way and noticed no difference in the deep,I agree with shock settings being soft but leave the sway bar in you will like it more on the trail.

the trail sucks no matter what!!! who cares abouT the trail??? sure its nice when its groomed, but we donT set our (mountain) sleds up for the trail..... we ride the trail to get to the sweet stuff . (off trail). they should start selling 154 summits with 1 1/4 track, it sure would be nice on the trail!!?? FML

have a :beer: and think about it!
 

powderhoundbrr

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Guys are good at sidehilling because they don't have the sway bar in!!!!!! I have an 05 and I also have a brand new 05 sway bar sitting on the shelf in the garage. It is right next to the windshield still with the plastic on.
 

CUSO

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Swaybar, in a mountain sled?? What's that?



If you can't sidehill with a swaybar, I suggest you practice.

You may not be the fastest on the trail, but that is 1/10th of your day usually.

If you take it out, get some fox floats, waaay better than the pogostik stock shocks.
If you keep the stockers, crank them up (put more load on the springs) to make up for the bar.
All the bar does is spread the impact load on your shock, so both shocks take the hit.
nickhesson, some fundamentals:

Lets say you are taking a sharp left turn on a trail, you hit a big bump on the outside right ski.... The swaybar will make your right ski less susceptible to compression, by transferring some of the impact to the left inner ski. It also makes the sled tip less because the inner ski squats a bit also.

The factory puts these bars in, because many use the sleds for trail use, and never leave the trail. They also put the other creature comforts, like the handwarmer, thumbwarmer, reverse, on the handlebars. To void a warranty, you have to prove the mod directly caused the warranty to fail... like if your motor fails, it wasn't the swaybar's fault..etc.
 

98670X

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I can sidehill just fine, but never really understood the whole sway bar thing, so... when your sidehilling your saying the pressure of the snow/hill on your steering ski ( the up hill one ) is going to want to transfer throught the sway bar to the other side and kinda push you over, try and put you back on 2 skis again?? did i say that right? So if the bar is removed theres going to be no transfer...its all on the steering ski wich makes for a more controlled side hill? correct me if im wrong.
 

Sleeper700

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Ok thanks! My questions is... I know ch!t all about adjusting these things. When you say set the front shocks to max, do you mean 1? they are at 4 now... What is the limiter strap one hole?

and how do i set my preload?

Thanks for the awesome tips!!!

The front shock everyone is talking about is on the rear suspension. There are 2 shocks, the front one controls the initial weight transfer between the skis and track, and the back one controls the stiffness of the rear suspension. By setting the front shock stiffer, you have less ski pressure, which is good in the powder, but can make it harder to control on the trail. Play with different settings to see what you are comfortable with. The limiter strap controls the maximum weight transfer from the skis to the track when accelerating. Some like it with lots of transfer, others don't like any. Try both, but typically less transfer is better while climbing, as this keeps the skis closer to the snow. If you take out the swaybar, try setting the ski shocks harder and then softer. Everybody has a different preference. I like mine about medium, but I have an xp x package... hopefully this clears it up a bit for you.

Sent from my HTC Legend using Tapatalk
 

CUSO

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The swaybar makes the skis less independant.

It reduces rocking.

The ski that has all the pressure on the sidehill will compress easier when the swaybar is removed.

Best thing to do is have one sled with and one without. Stand on each and just lean from side to side.
 

teeroy

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the trail sucks no matter what!!! who cares abouT the trail??? sure its nice when its groomed, but we donT set our (mountain) sleds up for the trail..... we ride the trail to get to the sweet stuff . (off trail). they should start selling 154 summits with 1 1/4 track, it sure would be nice on the trail!!?? FML

have a :beer: and think about it!
that is your opinion, and you are entitled to it. I disagree....

I love flying down the trail, the rougher the better. taking a moguled out corner at 50 mph on the ragged edge of control is a hell of a rush. at the end of the day when the trail is rough is the best. kinda hard on mountain sleds tho, drop brackets and link rods to be specific....lol.

I can sidehill my sled just fine with the swaybar in, bought a disconnect to try it out and put it back on after a couple trips, didn't notice any easier sidehilling and it totally sucked on the trail.
 

Highmaintenence

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Ok thanks! My questions is... I know ch!t all about adjusting these things. When you say set the front shocks to max, do you mean 1? they are at 4 now... What is the limiter strap one hole?

and how do i set my preload?

Thanks for the awesome tips!!!

I hear ya...I know ch!t about it as well but Duck knows all! LOL! Regarding the front shock on the track...maximum stiffness...I think 5 is stiffest, you should be able to do a visual and figure out what is the stiffest. The limiter strap is located at the front of your track...it's an actual strap. To adjust use a floor jack at the front of your track to colapse and take tension off the track and then loosen the nut and bolt apart, then let the strap out one hole, and re-connect the nut and bolt. All should take you about 15 mins max...Once done you'll be able to lay the sled over easily and your skis will come up real nice when you take off...The trade off is the sled will tend to wanna go straight in the corners on the trail...just sit up front and you'll go around the corners fine! The "quick connect/disconnect" from Martin's is $85 and installs in 5 mins...good to have as no need to get tools out to remove or re-attach your sway bar. Also you only need to remove one of the sway bars...don's remove both r & l...one or the other...

You adjust your preload by turning two plastic nuts (right and left) under your tunnel...they are square looking nuts with values 1-5 on them and located beside the black wheels on the top part of your track . 5 being the stiffest...I wiegh 200 LBS so I'm on five...Its said that the softer the preload (rear stiffness) the better...but not too soft...If your 180 LBS I'd think 3-4 is good! Have fun!
 
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Highmaintenence

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the trail sucks no matter what!!! who cares abouT the trail??? sure its nice when its groomed, but we donT set our (mountain) sleds up for the trail..... we ride the trail to get to the sweet stuff . (off trail). they should start selling 154 summits with 1 1/4 track, it sure would be nice on the trail!!?? FML

have a :beer: and think about it!

Nicely said!
 

capt. crunch

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I know I know everyone says take them out, but I can sidehill with the best of em and even better than some. And I still have them in. I think alot has to do with your strength and ability.

MASH THAT THROTTLE AND YANK IT OVER!
 
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