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KMOD Skinny

My thoughts after the weekend... Quick run down of the sled. 2019 165 with Silber turbo, 154 tunnel, Elevate kit, Fox Float 3s with Evol in the front and Yamaha mountain skis.

Putting the skid together was fairly straightforward and the kit came with all components. Nothing from the OEM skid is reused, a niceity. I installed the skid in the lower holes like Ice Age recommends for Elevated sleds. I also started the shocks at Kevin's recommended settings for my weight which is 260 before equipment.

With these settings and the coupler blocks set on 2 the sled sled climbs like a goat. In situations where the stock skid would wheelie and leave you trenched it now climbs on top of the snow and nothing can stop it. It takes the steepness out of any hill. I was very impressed. Great for steep tree riding. With the same shock and skid configuration it is also very difficult to get the sled to feel real playful, even when the coupler blocks are set on 1. With the cut tunnel and my weight I had issues with the skid catching the back of the tunnel when I did get on it and try to get the ski ups and when on the bottom of step drainages going up them. I will try and move the skid to the factory holes in the rear to see if that helps alleviate the track catching and help lift the skis slightly.

A few issues that I need to figure out and that I had. The lock nut on the FTS came off some how and the axle and washer are lost in the snow. The shock and bolt are fine and I didn't loose the spacer. I made sure to LocTite all of the bolts throughout the skid and still had the bolt for the rear arm work loose. I caught it before I had any major issues. A Allen screw for one of he the spacers also worked its way loose and is gone but I didn't put LocTite on them so that's on me. Lesson learned is LocTite everything and retorque during your first ride.

Fi employee monitoring software worktime nal thoughts, the skid is awesome. The fit and finish is very nice and I have no complaints. It turns the Alpha into a conquer anything sled. With some adjustments and tweaking I won't want to go back to stock ever unless I am trying to get real rowdy doing Saxton type stuff. With the shocks and such the skid if worth the money and does what it's advertised to do.

hmmm, interesting experience
 
Anyone bent any of these rail?

What is the cost/availability to get new rails if you do bend them?

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I guess some people can bend/break anything with a rubber hammer-
I for one have not been advised of one bending or breaking, and I have sold a lot f the skinny suspensions.
I have been pretty hard on mine over the past 2 seasons-and have loaned my sled out for people to ride and try- and have had not one complaint. It's a very sold and fun suspension.
 
Anyone bent any of these rail?

What is the cost/availability to get new rails if you do bend them?

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk
I'm guessing similar cost to a set of regular Ice Age rails since that's who makes them. Maybe a little more.
 
Just getting ready to install mine. Where is everyone mounting it? stock location or lower holes like you would do with an Elevate kit?
 
I didn't get enough miles on mine to see any issues. Seems odd though. Were you running the strap in the recommended position?
 
Was where it was set when I got the sled. I like the handling as it's setup so I probably won't change it. Overall the strap was in tough shape end to end, but it snapped right where it goes under the washer on the lower attachment point. Washer has a bit of a sharp edge so I'm not too surprised it broke there. Going to radius that washer and sandwich an extra piece from the old limiter there as a sacrificial item going forward. Ordered a new one from Kevin yesterday and a spare to have on hand. We field fixed it but broke again within 1/2 mile.

FYI when the limiter breaks it both loosens the track and pushes it away from the drivers. You'd think the skid pushing out on the track would tighten it more, but it doesn't. Lets the track ratchet pretty easy and ends the riding day.

We encountered the shrader valve issue on a friend's skinny he just installed. If you bottom out the rear shock, the main air chamber cap gets down close to the inside of the track. Then if something pushes the track up at the same time the drive nubs can hit the cap and try to rip it off along with the valve. Sounds like the fix for now is to swap that cap with the one that is on the bottom of the nitrogen reservoir. It's more rounded and lower profile so less chance of it getting ripped off.
 
Had another limiter strap snap on a friend's sled yesterday. Luckily I had an extra in my tunnel bag after my experience. He's a much smaller guy than I am and not running boost. His snapped up by the top bolt where it wraps around the arm.

We also figured out that the stock alpha scratchers work much better than the ones supplied with this skid. Stock scratchers retrofitted run 15-20 degrees cooler tested side by side. Same trail, both 165, both supercharged, and my buddy's having a snow flap that points down more than mine. I could look down past my running boards and there was all kinds of snow flying into the skid with stock scratchers. His had barely any making it in there. I was running 140-145 degrees on the way up the trail and 135-140 on the way down. He was having his temp light come on and hit 160-165 on the way up and was dragging his feet on the way down to keep the light off.

When I wanted to put the scratchers up I just used two S hooks off of a rubber bungee strap to hold them to the front arm. Have two split collars that I found that I'll tack weld them to and clamp to the arm for a permanent solution now that I know they work.
 
Kevin just sent us Cat part #4604-324 as replacements this time. Supposedly they are a little stronger. Not sure if he punches any special holes in them or not.

As for shock pressures, what do you weigh?
 
I don't have a good starting point for you, but you should be able to run lower pressures than me. At 300lb before gear I'm running 150/300 rear on #2 on the clicker setting if hitting bigger bumps and hopping creeks. #1 clicker on smooth-moderately rough trail. Front shock pressure 75/160 and it is pretty light on the skis, but a little on the rough side. I might drop it down to 65 or 70 on main chamber and see how it does. Skid mounted in the middle hole on the rear drop bracket, drilled out lower hole on front mount. Paired with riot spindles up front. Started at 100psi on fronts, but added evol chambers and now down to 85/140. Feel I could go a little softer on valving up front.
 
Guys, are there any updates on the K-mod Skinny? I just picked up a slightly used K-mod skinny for my 2020 Hardcore. I was wondering about the best pressures for the shocks (I am 175 -180 without gear). Which holes to mount the skid in front and rear since I have the Elevate spindles and is there anything else I should know? I ordered two extra Cat limiter straps after reading this thread. I haven't mounted the skid yet because I am waiting on my offset rear axle from K-mod so I can run the 10" rear wheels.
 
Update on the limiter strap issue. Put a couple hundred more miles on it this year with the latest strap Kmod provided. Seems to be holding up much better and has an Arctic Cat part number on it. I swore I took a picture of the tag, but I can't find it now. The new strap is a little shorter than the old one even when set to it's longest setting with the supplied holes. So the sled isn't quite as playful or rock side to side as easy as it did before, but I also don't ratchet the track on the drivers every time I'm I'm augured in and really digging like before.
 
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