Tips to make
your IQ racer Faster, More Reliable and Easier to Maintain
You
should consider making all upgrades listed on the Polaris Tips page.
We will not give you advice on Studding, Skis, Hand Protectors,
Running Board Grips, etc. These are a
personal choice. Purchase a Race Manual
and get familiar with how the sections are laid out.
Body, Chassis
& Controls
1. Use
RTV Silicone Calk to seal all the holes in the tub and bulkhead area. This will prevent snow from getting on the
clutch when getting roosted.
2. Adjust
and trim the tub and cowling so cowling fits properly especially on the left
hand side.
3. Add
extra rubber tie down to each side of cowling.
Kit available from AkRacing, uses factory
rubber strap and billet lugs.
4. Turn
kill switch upside down. If you hit the
kill switch with your hand or face the engine will not shut off.
5. Turn
Dragon button down or up some to prevent accidental bumpage. If you hit the hot pipe button with your
waste or chest, the engine will bog and this may cause you problems. This tip is optional.
6. Adjust
brake, throttle levers and handlebars for proper comfort and to keep “elbows
high”.
7. Adjust
brake line fitting “banjo fitting” near master cylinder to minimize chafing of
brake line on handle bar mount.
8. Use
RTV Silicone calk to “glue” throttle cable barrel end to throttle lever. This will prevent the cable from slipping out
of the throttle lever.
9. Install
thicker aluminum spacer block at top of steering post to reduce steering
effort. We are still evaluating the
effectiveness of this modification and will have kits available if we find
merit in the modification.
10. For
younger/smaller riders, steering effort can be reduced by drilling an
additional hole in the arm at the bottom of the steering post. Note: This will increase turning radius but
greatly reduces steering effort.
11. Check
and adjust toe out as per your Racing Manual.
12. Install
cover/protector over the coolant x-over hose.
Kits available from Akracing.
13. Twist
tach so 8300 rpm or Peak
14. The
lower bearing in the chain case should be replaced with a self aligning
bearing. This will prevent the snap ring
from popping out and destroying the chain case when the drive axle flexes. This was one of the most common causes of
chain case problems on the ’06 IQ Racer.
The Polaris
Part # for the bearing is 3514462 (Bearing-205 Self Aligning). We are offering these bearings for $50 and
that includes 2nd day shipping.
Rear Skid
& Suspension
1. Weld
tab doublers to upper rear track shock.
You can also add doublers to both tabs on front track shock. Kits available from AkRacing.
2. Grease
all suspension components regularly.
Most of these components are not greased from the Factory and must be
greased prior to initial use and very often during regular use.
3. Remove
and grease all 8 Oil-Lite bearings on front
A-Arms. These bearings are not greased
from the factory and must be greased prior to use.
4. Grease
the 4 Oil-Lite bearings in the rear skid every time
the skid is out for maintenance.
5. On
the rear skid, never turn the front arm mounting bolts backwards and install
them from the inside out. The threads
from the bolt will damage the aluminum tunnel very quickly.
6. If
you notice the rear arm mounting holes start to oval or woller
our build a doubler out of .100 chromolly,
attach the doubler to the outside of the tunnel and
rivet it from the inside using flush rivets.
This will buy you some more time on that hammered out tunnel.
7. Check
the short and long end of Torsion Springs.
Some torsion springs have the wrong angle bend on the short or long end
and the spring is to short for proper fit.
8. Next
time you have the skid out remove the idler wheels on the upper rear torque arm
and sand the paint off the shaft down where the idlers slip on. Sometimes these idlers are difficult to
remove and sanding the paint off the shaft will make the idlers much easier to
get off. If you ever have to replace a
torsion spring at a race you will be glad the idlers come off easier.
9. When
installing the drive axle ensure the bearing grease ports are aligned properly
in the clutch side of the axle. Also buy
a needle grease tip for your grease gun so you can grease this bearing.
10. IQ’s
do not have a grease port for the jackshaft bearing behind the secondary, you can drill the plate and service this bearing
just like the drive axle bearing below it.
11. Replace
the motion control hardware with the IQ Suspension Bolt Upgrade Kit. Kits available from AkRacing.
Engine &
Under Hood Stuff
1. Adjust throttle
cable to eliminate the slop in the cable at the throttle lever. After adjustment, turn skis in both
directions to ensure that engine does not rev up when you turn fully one
direction or the other.
2. Rout throttle
cables properly so they do not interfere with Air Box removal and are not near
the Spark Plugs. Cables should be routed
to the right side of the airbox near the coolant
bottle.
3. Check spark plug
wire routing, try to make sure wires aren’t rubbing on anything metallic or in
a position where they may ground out.
4. Closely inspect
pull rope routing, make sure it is not to close to the break system and not
rubbing on anything. Have someone pull
engine over a few times and make this inspection.
5. Check ignition
timing and adjust as necessary as per the race manual. Some IQ 440’s come with the ignition timing
off as much as 6 deg. If your sled does
not pull full
6. Ensure carb to airbox boots are properly
fit up. When installing airbox reach in and ensure the boots are properly fit to
the bell mouth of the carb. If boots are not fit properly this can
disturb airflow to carb abd
affect performance.
7. Use large
tie-wraps to secure coolant bottle to steering hoop support frame. The coolant bottle is fairly heavy and has
been known to flop over and rest on the pipe or crack at the bottom fittings
when the sled is pounded hard.
8. Apply aluminum
foil reflective heat tape to coolant bottle and plastic fender under pipe and
muffler. Available from AkRacing.
9. Rout Fuel Shutoff
Valve away from brake system. Use
tie-wraps to secure fuel lines and valve away from the brake rotor. This can and has caused fires on some sleds.
10. Make sure all
openings on the Mag side of motor are taped off. These windows are used to check the timing
and if any loose metallic particle gets into the magneto, it will damage the
stator and you will lose ignition. You
can use clear tape or duct tape but make sure there is no way for debris to
enter.
11. Look for any
loose parts left from assembly like rivets, rivet shafts, rivet
heads, small nuts/washers, screws, remove and discard. Many times these parts are left in the
chassis during assembly and they can do damage if they get into the stator.
Engine Tuning
& Clutching
This is a must read for new engine
break in, we have been using procedures like this for more than 15 years with
great success. http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
Most of the discussion in this link
concerns 4 stroke engines but the idea is to warm up the engine, then run it
hard through acceleration and deceleration several times, then allow the engine
to cool completely. Repeat the procedure
about 3 times and you are set with a strong running tight engine. Do not just run the engine gently during
break in.
1. Check clutch
alignment with the New clutch alignment tool available
from the race department or Team Industries.
Lots on ’06 IQ are being delivered with their clutch alignment way
off. First thing to check if you see
signs of abnormal belt heat or wear.
2. After clutch
alignment is set, check and set engine torque stops as per the race manual.
3. Inspect and
change drive belts regularly. Depending
on how you race you should consider a Race Day Belt and a Practice Belt
especially if you do a lot of practicing.
Never use a play around, trail ride belt on race day. A new belt should be “seasoned” before it is
used on race day and before it is loaded with maximum HP. Treat your belts with care, keep belts in
their own storage container away from dirt, dust, grease & grime, and keep
Race belts marked separately from Practice belts. If you smoke a belt, get rid of it ASAP, don’t
put it aside thinking you will use it later if you blow a belt.
4. To ease drive
belt removal, use supplied Team Clutch expando tool
and open clutch sheave all the way. Belt
will come off pretty easily with sheaves opened all the way. Some of the clutch expansion tools have about
3/8” of unthreaded shaft before the threads start, you should cut this nipple
off and debur the first thread, this
will allow more threads to be engaged when you start to open the sheaves.
5. Also to ease
drive belt removal you can make an adjustment in the aluminum footwell bracing.
Remove driven clutch and use large pry bar or dead blow hammer to make
this adjustment. 1/8” to 3/16” more room
is all that is needed.
6. Adjust air bleed
screw. Polaris sends the 440 out with
the air bleed screw set at .5 turns out.
The air bleed screw should be adjusted for ambient temp and should be in
the range of 1 to 1.5 turns out for normal temperature ranges. Refer to manual.
7. Adjust Idle. Idle is set pretty low from the factory and
should be increased. Refer to manual.
8. Check the
Ignition Timing. If your 440 does not
pull to Peak
9. Jetting for
optimum performance. There have been
books written about this that cover this subject in detail, the key to success
here is knowledge. Try to read
everything you can about reading spark plugs, piston wash and octane
requirements. I’ll attempt to go over
some of the highlights.
a. The 440’s come
jetted very rich from the factory and can be leaned on pretty hard if you pay
close attention to spark plug readings and piston wash.
b. Density Altitude
Calculator. This is an invaluable tool
for figuring out jetting requirements.
Together with a jetting chart the DAC will take all the guesswork out of
deciding what main jet to run. DAC’s cost about $350 and can be purchased from places like
Jegs or
c. Reading Spark
Plugs. There is not enough space here to
discuss the proper way to read your spark plugs. I have included a few links to different
engine tuner sites to give you a little more information.
d. Reading
e. During jetting
runs remember that the typical SnoX engine only sees WOT for 6-8 seconds at a time, max. There is no need to race down the lake when
making jetting runs. Find a place with
really good traction so the engine is loaded properly and make jetting runs
there.
f. Octane
requirements. There is not enough space here to discuss the octane requirements
for a given engine or conditions. I have
included a few links to different engine tuner sites to give you a little more
information. The octane requirements for
a given engine are primarily dependant on; Compression Ratio, Ignition Timing,
Port Timing, Squish Band Measurement, Cranking Compression & Altitude. Knowledge is power, find out as much as you
can about these subjects and you will be able to make reliable Horse
Power. In general the stock 440 does not
require a diet of 100% Race Fuel. Race
fuel can be blended with Premium to come up with just the right combination of
Horse Power and Detonation Resistance.
10. The 440 is
sometimes hard to start when the weather gets cold. For cold weather starting, we use a squirt
bottle filled with Regular Unleaded fuel mixed with oil (28:1 or whatever ratio
you prefer). Shoot about 4 squirts of
fuel right down the intake tube into the air box. Pull the starter rope as you normally would
with the choke on. Should
start right up in 2-4 pulls.
11. The 440 takes
a long time to warm up to normal operating temps. Be sure to allow the motor sufficient time to
warm up prior to reving much above 6000 rpm. The pipe on the 440 takes even longer to warm
up and will cool down quickly when the motor is shut off or idling. When the pipe is cold the motor will surge at
about 8000 rpm and not shift the clutches completely. It will seem like something is wrong with the
motor but as soon as the pipe comes up to temp the motor should pull hard all
the way to 8500 rpm.
http://www.cpcracing.com/site/256083/page/196309
http://www.snowtechmagazine.com/articles/2001/baseline/baseline.php
Your SnoX racing Headquarters
Check us out @
akracing.com
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