SnowZilla II Video

[SnowZilla]

Here is 7 minutes of raw video (no soundtrack) of the maiden voyage of SnowZilla II. There is some slow motion stuff towards the end.

The jumps are pretty lame but I'm testing the limits of this monster. I already cracked the weld on my original front ski bracket from jumping. I had them rewelded and we reinforced them with a bolt-on L bracket. They seem to be holding up better. In addition to the cracked weld, I also bent the front stabilizer bar. I don't think these kits are meant for this type of riding.

A few other things to keep in mind about jumping. The extra 150 pounds (75 pounds for each track) is transferred directly to the axle. At some point, I'm afraid I'm going to bend the axle, which is probably why I have two spare axles. This thing drops like a rock and the tracks definitely throw off the natural balance of the machine. The machine is also landing on metal/plastic wheels instead of air filled rubber tires. At some point, I fully expect to crack one of the wheels.

It may be hard to tell in the video but this thing is a pain in the a$$ to turn. It takes a good amount of force to turn it. The fact that one of the tie rods was toed in was definitely not helping; I need to adjust them and get the skis going straight. I'm also going to try some single runner skis instead of the dual runner precision skis that are currently on it.

The throttle was also being a pain in the a$$. I had a damn cramp in my hand by the end. I have some parts on order that should fix this.

In terms of wheelies, keep in mind that the stabilizer bars prevent extreme wheelies; it acts as a wheelie bar. I can get a little more out of it by adjusting the stabilizer bars. Even with the track studs, it's difficult to get traction for wheelies on fresh snow.

I will be posting more. We just got some fresh snow and we should get some more tomorrow, which means the jumps are growing! I also need to get some video of this thing in the trails.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgi0JX5LryE

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[evil_stroke]

thats pretty bad ass man one of a kind

[874Q2]

Thats cool man, ive never seen one of those kits before, especially on a zilla.

Howd you make out with the clutch noise ?? got yur shaft back in place i take it ?
looks kinda roomy over there, maybe once that snow melts ill have to take a trip up and check it out

[SnowZilla]

Originally Posted by 874Q2

Howd you make out with the clutch noise ?? got yur shaft back in place i take it ?
looks kinda roomy over there, maybe once that snow melts ill have to take a trip up and check it out

I didn't have a clutch noise. My clutch was slipping so I replaced it. I managed to get a 5 second ride in on the new clutch before the chain came off of the rear sprocket and killed it. I knew my 89 was going to be down for a while so I decided to just buy another zilla, which I was already thinking about before I killed it. I found an 87 in MA and that's the one you see in the video; it was in mint condition and has some great bolt-ons. My 89 engine is currently ripped apart and I think I will be sending the upper half to Q for the Rx mods.

There is a little room on my property but not enough for a zilla. There is plenty of room on the pond and on the trails but these are not options in the warm season. There are a few pits in the area but nothing too great. We need to find some places to ride in the warm seasons.

[bshee]

hey snowzilla thats a pretty cool set up you got going there...but one thing you said was that you were worried about the axle bending...and yea that adds a lot of weight to the total amount of your quad but none of the weight is being suspended by the axle its already sitting on the ground, and even when you jump those things will be on the ground before any force is applied to that axle...i was wondering though how does it run...that really has to eat up the power of that 500?

[SnowZilla]

Good point about the axle.

It's a crapload of inertial mass and these are stock motors. I have no problems with gears 1-4; I can hit the powerban. 5th gear can be a problem sometimes depending upon the ground coverage. Deep snow can bog 5th. I have stock sprockets on the new machine. I need to gear it down a bit so I can tap 5th gear better.

There are things working against me.
* Inertial Mass
* Studs - I have heard that a heavily studded snowmobile track can steal away up to 10 MPH
* Skis - I currently have double runner skis. I'm going to try single runner skis to see if they do better.
* Cold weather.
* Air Flow - I can not remove my air box cover. I tried and it filled up with snow within minutes. These tracks kick up too much mistified snow.

The best I have seen out of her is 62 MPH on the lake (light snow on ice). I used a GPS unit for the speed. To be honest, I'm not even sure these tracks were made for these speeds. The deflection of the tracks at these speeds is large. With some minor tweaking, I'm hoping to break the 70 mark.

[bshee]

yea thats what i figure...and if not gearing it down just due to the mass of spinning the tracks...the tracks are probly a lot bigger then your tires were which would be like gearing it up, so you go two things workin against you

[socket17]

man thats movein 62 on some tracks there are ment for 35 lol. thats crazy.. looks like a blast but i was warm weather.

[02yamahablaster]

That's badass I like it.

[SnowZilla]

Originally Posted by bshee

yea thats what i figure...and if not gearing it down just due to the mass of spinning the tracks...the tracks are probly a lot bigger then your tires were which would be like gearing it up, so you go two things workin against you

Bshee, you are full of good points; I forgot to list that one. I believe my original tires were 20s and these tracks are direct driven by a 24" wheel.

Thanks for all of the comments, I appreciate the input.