Reinstalling M8 rear skid, help needed

mustard73 · Dec 5, 2011

So I removed the rear skid on my 2007 M8 to do a track swap. I got the track in, diamond drive, brakes and the 2 front bolts for the skid all bolted up. Now I'm having trouble getting the rear 2 bolt holes to line up with the brackets on the tunnel . I need the mounting point on the suspension to go ahead about 1/2 to 3/4" but am scratching my head a little here because I thought they would just line up....

Anyone else run into this problem? Any hints?

TheBreeze · Dec 5, 2011

They don't line up. You need to compress the rear skid slightly to get them lined up. Put a ratchet strap around the front and rear arm of the suspension, and use it to compress the suspension until the bolt hole lines up. You will have to do it one side at a time.

davidhahn15 · Dec 5, 2011

^^^

What he said

RACINSTATION · Dec 5, 2011

Put a cover down and lay it on the side, much easier to install that way....especially on a 1 man job.

bartonls · Dec 5, 2011

let air out of rear shock if you have an air shock

If you have someone that can help you push it into place or move the tunnel up or down it would help a lot. If not, as someone else already said use a strap and slowly ratchet it until the holes line up. Or what I have found works really good is use a shock pump to let the air out of the rear shock so you know what you had it set at if you have an air shock, that way you can move the suspension with your hands easily and then pump it back up after you are finished installing the bolts.

Lawdan · Dec 5, 2011

What Barton said. I did it this summer, just let the air out of the rear shock and it slides right into place

CatRyder88 · Dec 5, 2011

bartonls said:
If you have someone that can help you push it into place or move the tunnel up or down it would help a lot. If not, as someone else already said use a strap and slowly ratchet it until the holes line up. Or what I have found works really good is use a shock pump to let the air out of the rear shock so you know what you had it set at if you have an air shock, that way you can move the suspension with your hands easily and then pump it back up after you are finished installing the bolts.

Cat didn't have the floats in the rear skid till 2008.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk... My iPhone can climb higher than yours!

hd4rob · Dec 5, 2011

Skid

Set the brake and use bar against mounting shaft and through a clipped track window to pull or push till hole lines up

ehjohnso · Dec 5, 2011

Do the ratchet strap thing...

F_ast · Dec 6, 2011

This is 1000Times easier that ratchet straps:

Float skid - Let all the air out of the rear air shock. Skid arms will move freely. Bolt it up and add air. Done.

Cam arm spring skid - Remove the slide blocks and let the cam springs hang freely (they are under some load but easily managable by yourself). With the spring load off, the rear skid arms move freely. Bolt the skid in. Takes a little muscle or a buddy; put the slide block onto the spring, and pull the spring/ block into position and rebolt on the Slide block.

Done.

I find it difficult to get everything to line up with ratchet straps and I usually run out of room or interference with something. Only takes about 5 mins to RE and RE the cam springs.

mustard73 · Dec 6, 2011

Thanks for all the responses. Going to try either the ratchet strap or unload the springs tonight.

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Reinstalling M8 rear skid, help needed

mustard73

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TheBreeze

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davidhahn15

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RACINSTATION

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bartonls

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Lawdan

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CatRyder88

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hd4rob

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ehjohnso

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F_ast

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mustard73

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