FYI, adding a spacer to the stock shock should cost about $50... easy job for a shock guy. The doo shocks though would also be an easy fix as well.
Alternative impact 36" M-chassis a arm kit
- Thread starter alt
- Start date
There are more shock manufacturers out there than I can shake a stick at so it all comes down to your preference. We used a set off an XM (16.5") to get the ride height back. The 2013+ Polaris pro uses 16.625" and any of the the XP-XM with the 35.7" stance run 16.5" so take offs are fairly easy to get your hands on. I haven't talked to ken lately but was under the impression he was in a hurry to get everything done. Guys get busy and time gets away from you I know.
Dan
Hey guys just an update here. As it stands the stock shocks will not work. Proper shock length with be 16-1/2"-16-5/8". The longer floats will "fit" because you have more clearance without a coil but the right way to finish it off is with the shorter shocks. How the sled will handle with longer shocks is a guess at this point. Again there are a lot of guys upgrading so finding a set of takeoffs should be fairly easy. For the guys wanting new upgrades I will have fox floats in stock this year as well as raptors. Any questions, I'm easy to reach. Thank you.
Dan
Dan
Just ordered a set from ken at mountain magic last week! So excited. Found a new set of xm shocks for $250. Can't wait to bolt these on. Thanks for putting the effort in making a new product for us guys that still love the M!
I should thank you guys. I get paid for doing something I consider my passion so that's not all bad. Let's face it some of the older sleds ( M & Rev) are some of my favorites. Technology has improved a lot of things but on the other hand they have also replace things I wish they wouldn't have if that makes sense. When you can put a few bucks into an older sled and make it comparable to a newer one and still keep the characteristics it already has you like that's a good thing.
Dan
Well said.................
I dont see these arms on your website, how would a guy go about ordering a set?
Sorry I haven't updated the web site yet. I have a few things to add and change. They are the same price right now as the 40" for the standard color ( black) $445.00. Just give me a shout at the shop when your ready. 406-222-2586 I have one set in stock for someone with floats and another pair not spoken for coming back from the coater that will accept an air shock or coil. Thank you.
Dan
Just about everything sent to mountain magic is uncoated. I can save you $20 on them if that's what you want but it's something I really prefer to not do. Number one reason is bushings. Long and short is the arms cannot be powder coated with the plastic bushings installed. The thinner tube slightly distorts during welding which means when you press the plastic in it follows the shape of the tube and needs reamed after. If these are all things you can do or are willing to have us do after coating I have no problem sending them out raw. Thank you.
Dan
Dan
K
Just installed a set of Alt's 36" A-Arms in Ti on my '11 153 M8, beautifully fabricated, can't wait to try !
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Got any pics of the install? Just getting ready to do mine. Any helpful hints?
Niner, not sure if you bought these from me or mountain magic but for whatever reason ken gets everything raw not powder coating. I really prefer to not do this for several reasons. One they cannot get coated with the delrin bushings in them which means the customer has to press them in. Because the thinner tube slightly distorts during welding the bushings are not perfectly round anymore and so the delrin follows this. When they come back from the coater we press in bushings and ream with a 5/8" reamer to true the hole back to good. It takes VERY little but without doing this some of the shafts will not go in. A regular drill bit will also work. Anything sent out raw I guess what I'm saying doesn't always get prepped propery but a lot of guys I understand want them coated themselves to match a certain color.
Dan
K
After disconnecting the ski/spindle assy. and shock the first thing that caught my attention was the excessive binding there was with the stock lower A arms, really really tight.
I didn't really want to pull the bumper because I run a full skid plate so I got away with disconnecting the belly pans where they connect to the bumper and was able to flex them enough to get the upper A arm mounting bolt out, this was all after taking the hood off and air box out .
I had already done an oil delete so didn't have the oil tank in the way up top but did leave the oil tank heat shield in that I had made a bracket for and did remove that. I also left the pipe on but the removal and install would've probably been a bit/lot easier on the left side if you pulled it.
Next when I went to do the lower A arm install first thing I noticed was Alt's A arm was about 3 1/2 - 4mm narrower than the stock A arms. I'm no way going to put this off on Dan on account these sleds ain't exactly detailed out to what a Steinway piano is, not even close, take for example the differences relative to the Diamond Drive and chassis on this era chassis from sled to sled, the belt alignment issues on the '12 Proclimbs being inconsistent from sled to sled, etc etc..
I did the lower A arm install anyhow just to see what the result would be and after bolting in tight again had way to much binding probably from flexing the bulkhead while cranking the mounting bolts down
So zapped down to the hardware store and grabbed some 1.5mm thick/19mm outside diameter brass washers, put one each on each end up against the bulkhead bushings and the A arm bushings with the end result being butter, smooth as silk with zero endplay, waaay smoother than stock by far.
Next I've got to cut my tie rods down but am waiting on doing that until after my shocks get back from Raptor for the necessary shortening.
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I did buy then through Ken, but I should have got you to powder coat. I'm just going black. I'm not that fussy, this old M is no princess, built for thrashing. Do you know how much they were cutting off the tie rid ends? I'm using xm shocks.
K
As far as cutting the tie rods I'm going to wait until I get my shocks back, install the shocks, spindles and skis, thread the tie rods into both the inner ball joints, eyeball the skis straight then determine exactly how much to cutoff relative to the ball joint at the spindle - I want to leave as much tie rod as possible to take up most of the threads on the spindle ball joint, allowing just enough for toe out.
Have you guys come up with a better a arm to spindle bolt that doesn't bend? The stock bolts don't last a year with out bending and causing the spindle to lean out on the bottom. Also its a Huge pain the as$ to get the bent bolts out. I met a guys who was trying titanium bolts, said it was the fix.. Where do we get titanium bolts in the correct size? and length?
Thanks Jim
Thanks Jim
I treat the bolts as a first line of defense against bending an a-arm or worse. The only way the bolt bends is if you hit something. I would rather replace a $10 bolt in 10 minutes than spend $100 on a bottom a-arm and have the hassle of changing it.
A
For tie rod length - wood dowel at 9.875 - drill 23/64 hole, wrap elec tape on end, thread tie rod in , strips of paper will tighten up hole if required. Measure for your length.
K
eh ?
why not just use the existing tie rod, skipping the drill, electrical tape and strips of paper, to do the same exact thing ? :rapture:
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