From: don@tellabs.com (Donald Leonard)
Subject: Re: Blizzard Suspension Rebuild
Originator: don@sun940
Organization: Tellabs, Inc., IL
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 13:46:25 GMT

In article <1992Oct5.185443.27003@meaddata.com> dougr@meaddata.com (Doug Ritter) writes:

Deleated some stuff...

I have one suggestion... post articles with one or two
questions.Providing good answers for this posting may take all afternoon :-)
So I'll provide short ones.

>I've got a bunch of suspension-related questions for y'all, but first a
>couple of comments on my 'findings':
>
>o I'm amazed at the simplicity of the Blizzard's suspension.  There's only
>  one shock in it and it doesn't really seem to do all that much - it
>  seems like all the work is done by the 4 coil springs.
My brother once had a 82' 9500... It was also built like a brick
sh*t house.

>Anyway, here's what I'm wondering about:
>
>o the first bunch of questions fall under the "I've got it apart, what
>  should I replace while I'm in here?" catagory:
My comment would be that It depends upon what your planning to do
with it once your done. Keep or sell it. I'm assuming your going to
keep it since your doing this much work. Sort of an
experimental/go-fast/beater??? ;-) 

>  - sliders?  They seem to be in good shape, but what do I know?
Find out how thick new ones are and measure your old
ones. Typically the slide rails stick down further than the top of
the hyfax.They may look ok... but check closely.

>  - Coil springs?  Ditto, although they've been in the "sprung" position
>    for 12 years.
For this model sled I would'ent worry too much about trying to
improve the ride. Your not going to get much no matter what you do.

>  - Coil spring bushings?  Not much to these really, just a piece of
>    some sort of plastic.  They're worn a little, is there anything to
>    gain by replacing them?
Usually as the bushings wear they will cause the suspension to have
more play. I would replace them. Make sure you grease everything as
you put it together.

>  - The rear arm of the suspension has 2 points of attachment, 1 to the
>    tunnel (shock attaches here) and one to the slide rails.  Where it
>    attaches to the slide rails is not a "hard" attachment - it slides
>    back and forth 3 or 4 inches.  There are short pieces of hyfax there.
>    The whole rear arm seems real loose, a lot of that play is the shock
>    (which I'm replacing for sure), but part of it is in this "hyfax" attach
>    point.  Should I replace that stuff or is this play normal?
The play may be caused by bad bushings described above. Look for
them at pivot points in the suspension. 
Again... find out how thick new hyfax are then make a judgement.

>o Like I said, the front suspension arm is bent, which is going to restrict
>  it's abillity to move.  I know I've got to fix that, but should I replace
>  the whole section or just try to straighten the arm?
Its an old sled... try to straighten the arm. If you cant then look
into buying a new one. This of course is assuming its not bent too
bad. If It is and you try bending it back, you may fatigue the
metal too much and it'll crack now or worse yet... when your
riding. :-( Another judgement call.

>o Also, the limiter strap bar is broken off (this is the loud snap that I
>  heard last winter) - looks like the weld on one side had been broken for
>  a long time and when the other side went, it didn't come off cleanly.
>  I haven't tried a welding shop yet, but I can probably find someone who
>  will be willing to fix it for me, although around here I won't find anyone who
>  knows snowmobiles who can fix it for me.  So here's my question on this
>  one - how much stress is placed on the limiter strap?  Can I get by with
>  a shoddy welding job here?  Should I buy the entire assembly from Ski Doo?
>  (assuming of course that it doesn't cost an arm and a leg)
Poor welding is not a good idea on a sled... they take too much
pounding for this. Also its like the metal fatigue above... may be
dangerous if your riding hard.

>o I'd like to stud the track - what kind of studs can I safely use on this
>  machine without ripping up the heat exchangers?
Depends upon how much clearance your have between the top of the
track and the tunnel. I'd install tunnel protectors before
installing any studs. Remember also that there may be heat
exchangers hanging down from the top of the tunnel. The studs will
hit these first. That would be bad :-( 

>o Should the limiter strap be set at the stock setting or loosened up a
>  notch? (there're only two settings - I left it at the stock setup because
>  it's too hard to get at with the suspension inplace)
Depends upon what kind of snow you have and it affects your take
off (holeshot).  Make it longer for deep snow or normal for - well... 
normal :-)

>o The bearings of the upper idler arm wheels seem a little rough - should
>  they be replaced?  They don't seem to be a key component of the drive
>  train, but if they are and don't cost too much I want to replace them.
Good idea. I don't know about ski-doo but polaris is know for drive
bearing problems. You have 4 to be concerned with. Two on the upper
shaft and two on the lower. I'd replace them.

>o In the "pearl earrings on a pig" dept., would it do any good to use a
>  gas shock on the suspension, assuming of course that I can get a gas shock
>  to fit it?
See comment at top of article. Its an old suspension design.

>And just in general, are there any tricks I can do while I've got it apart
>to improve the ride and/or performance?  (besides buying a new sled I
>mean - I've already done that, this is my "standby" machine now ;-)
Dont know the sled well enough to say. Throw a spear through
it!! :-) :-) Just kidding!! 
If its a 9500 it'll fly - on a smooth lake :-)

>Also, the foam padding on the underside of the hood is all coming off -
>is it worth replacing?
Keeps the noise down... glue it back up.

>Comments/questions/suggestions welcomed.
>THINK SNOW!
>--
>===============================================================================
>Douglas N. Ritter                                  Bo don't know snowmobiles!
>dougr@meaddata.com
>..!uunet!meaddata!dougr                          No, I'm not speaking for MDC!


Newsgroups: alt.snowmobiles
Subject: Re: Blizzard Suspension Rebuild
Summary: 
Expires: 
Followup-To: 
Distribution: na
Organization: Tellabs, Inc., IL
Keywords: 

In article <1992Oct5.185443.27003@meaddata.com> dougr@meaddata.com (Doug Ritter) writes:

Deleated some stuff...

I have one suggestion... post articles with one or two
questions.Providing good answers for this posting may take all afternoon :-)
So I'll provide short ones.

>I've got a bunch of suspension-related questions for y'all, but first a
>couple of comments on my 'findings':
>
>o I'm amazed at the simplicity of the Blizzard's suspension.  There's only
>  one shock in it and it doesn't really seem to do all that much - it
>  seems like all the work is done by the 4 coil springs.
My brother once had a 82' 9500... It was also built like a brick
sh*t house.

>Anyway, here's what I'm wondering about:
>
>o the first bunch of questions fall under the "I've got it apart, what
>  should I replace while I'm in here?" catagory:
My comment would be that It depends upon what your planning to do
with it once your done. Keep or sell it. I'm assuming your going to
keep it since your doing this much work. Sort of an
experimental/go-fast/beater??? ;-) 

>  - sliders?  They seem to be in good shape, but what do I know?
Find out how thick new ones are and measure your old
ones. Typically the slide rails stick down further than the top of
the hyfax.They may look ok... but check closely.

>  - Coil springs?  Ditto, although they've been in the "sprung" position
>    for 12 years.
For this model sled I would'ent worry too much about trying to
improve the ride. Your not going to get much no matter what you do.

>  - Coil spring bushings?  Not much to these really, just a piece of
>    some sort of plastic.  They're worn a little, is there anything to
>    gain by replacing them?
Usually as the bushings wear they will cause the suspension to have
more play. I would replace them. Make sure you grease everything as
you put it together.

>  - The rear arm of the suspension has 2 points of attachment, 1 to the
>    tunnel (shock attaches here) and one to the slide rails.  Where it
>    attaches to the slide rails is not a "hard" attachment - it slides
>    back and forth 3 or 4 inches.  There are short pieces of hyfax there.
>    The whole rear arm seems real loose, a lot of that play is the shock
>    (which I'm replacing for sure), but part of it is in this "hyfax" attach
>    point.  Should I replace that stuff or is this play normal?
The play may be caused by bad bushings described above. Look for
them at pivot points in the suspension. 
Again... find out how thick new hyfax are then make a judgement.

>o Like I said, the front suspension arm is bent, which is going to restrict
>  it's abillity to move.  I know I've got to fix that, but should I replace
>  the whole section or just try to straighten the arm?
Its an old sled... try to straighten the arm. If you cant then look
into buying a new one. This of course is assuming its not bent too
bad. If It is and you try bending it back, you may fatigue the
metal too much and it'll crack now or worse yet... when your
riding. :-( Another judgement call.

>o Also, the limiter strap bar is broken off (this is the loud snap that I
>  heard last winter) - looks like the weld on one side had been broken for
>  a long time and when the other side went, it didn't come off cleanly.
>  I haven't tried a welding shop yet, but I can probably find someone who
>  will be willing to fix it for me, although around here I won't find anyone who
>  knows snowmobiles who can fix it for me.  So here's my question on this
>  one - how much stress is placed on the limiter strap?  Can I get by with
>  a shoddy welding job here?  Should I buy the entire assembly from Ski Doo?
>  (assuming of course that it doesn't cost an arm and a leg)
Poor welding is not a good idea on a sled... they take too much
pounding for this. Also its like the metal fatigue above... may be
dangerous if your riding hard.

>o I'd like to stud the track - what kind of studs can I safely use on this
>  machine without ripping up the heat exchangers?
Depends upon how much clearance your have between the top of the
track and the tunnel. I'd install tunnel protectors before
installing any studs. Remember also that there may be heat
exchangers hanging down from the top of the tunnel. The studs will
hit these first. That would be bad :-( 

>o Should the limiter strap be set at the stock setting or loosened up a
>  notch? (there're only two settings - I left it at the stock setup because
>  it's too hard to get at with the suspension inplace)
Depends upon what kind of snow you have and it affects your take
off (holeshot).  Make it longer for deep snow or normal for - well... 
normal :-)

>o The bearings of the upper idler arm wheels seem a little rough - should
>  they be replaced?  They don't seem to be a key component of the drive
>  train, but if they are and don't cost too much I want to replace them.
Good idea. I don't know about ski-doo but polaris is know for drive
bearing problems. You have 4 to be concerned with. Two on the upper
shaft and two on the lower. I'd replace them.

>o In the "pearl earrings on a pig" dept., would it do any good to use a
>  gas shock on the suspension, assuming of course that I can get a gas shock
>  to fit it?
See comment at top of article. Its an old suspension design.

>And just in general, are there any tricks I can do while I've got it apart
>to improve the ride and/or performance?  (besides buying a new sled I
>mean - I've already done that, this is my "standby" machine now ;-)
Dont know the sled well enough to say. Throw a spear through
it!! :-) :-) Just kidding!! 
If its a 9500 it'll fly - on a smooth lake :-)

>Also, the foam padding on the underside of the hood is all coming off -
>is it worth replacing?
Keeps the noise down... glue it back up.

>Comments/questions/suggestions welcomed.
>THINK SNOW!
>--
>===============================================================================
>Douglas N. Ritter                                  Bo don't know snowmobiles!
>dougr@meaddata.com
>..!uunet!meaddata!dougr                          No, I'm not speaking for MDC!


-- 

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Donald T. Leonard	|Honda Sabre	| "Bumpy trails? 
don@tellabs.com		|		|  Don't get mad get rad!"
..!uunet!tellab5!don	|Indy 650	|
---------------------------------------------------------------------