Tunnel cut gone bad, Now what???

[powdersnobb]

As the title says...... I got the CR Racing kit, chopped my 155 Axys tunnel at 8", took to what was thought to be a reputable welder, and they destroyed the new kit, the rear of my tunnel, and it gushes coolant. The owner of the company is in the hospital and they are not sure if he will be back. The shop wants to make this right, but it may be a while. I'm looking into options while I wait.

Opt. 1- 5' MtnTk cooler. I would abandon the stock cooler, and install this. I saw only one post about this and would like more info on if it works or not.
Opt. 2- Make them buy a new CR Racing kit and I could take it to another shop. Anyone had trouble with leaks on this kit?
Opt. 3- Suggestions that dont include buying a new tunnel?

I really love the way this sled runs. It's the best running polaris turbo I have been on. I would like to fix it and keep it somehow. I am in Colorado and ride mostly pow except for some trail rides in when low on snow.

Thanks.

 

[powdersnobb]

This is how I brought them the sled. Nice and clean cut if I do say so myself.

 

[powdersnobb]

Top view. As you can probably guess, they had leaks and decided to chase them with more welding rod. Not the way to fix a leak at all.

 

[Mentzel]

That is the big problem with cutting tunnels. If there is any and I mean ANY antifreeze or other contaminants left on the aluminum it will be nearly impossible to weld properly. I would buy a new tunnel and start over. That is going to spring another leak at the worst time.

 

[powdersnobb]

That is the big problem with cutting tunnels. If there is any and I mean ANY antifreeze or other contaminants left on the aluminum it will be nearly impossible to weld properly. I would buy a new tunnel and start over. That is going to spring another leak at the worst time.

Leaving it this way is not gonna happen. Regardless, i will cut it back to clean metal and redo it. New tunnels are not cheap.

 

[gonehuntnpowder]

I haven’t ran only the MTNTK cooler, but I have one in addition to the stock cooler on a 16 Axys. If I was going to cut mine I would install the 5 ft cooler and forget the stock one. I’d you need more look at the Boondocker front cooler.

 

[powdersnobb]

I haven’t ran only the MTNTK cooler, but I have one in addition to the stock cooler on a 16 Axys. If I was going to cut mine I would install the 5 ft cooler and forget the stock one. I’d you need more look at the Boondocker front cooler.

I have heard that there is significant ice buildup with just the mtntk cooler. Any idea if that is true?

 

[live2beel]

Cut off their crappy welds. Make them buy you a new one and take it to someone who actually knows how to prep the area for tig welding. my 10 yr old daughter can tig better than that, no joke.

 

[powdersnobb]

Cut off their crappy welds. Make them buy you a new one and take it to someone who actually knows how to prep the area for tig welding. my 10 yr old daughter can tig better than that, no joke.

Ha. That's the running joke with me and my buds too. I think they used my sled to practice thier first tig. Im betting the owner is gonna be pissed at them for this if he survives.

 

[gonehuntnpowder]

I am not sure why the MTNTK cooler would make more heat/ice than the stock one. My thought would be less square inches translates to less melting area so less ice. That’s a guess, I don’t know for sure. I know my 16 with the cooler doesn’t make any more ice than my 20 with the stock cooler.

 

[couch]

Cut off another 2" and fit a piece of rectangular tube to join it together like the 13-15 pro tunnel. You can still add in Mtntk cooler or grab a BRP cooler from a used parts vendor and add it in.
Would be on their dime of course - **** workmanship for sure - not an experienced welder!

Sent from my motorola edge plus using Tapatalk

 

[nibrandon]

My experience with just the 5' MTNTK is that it wasn't enough cooling. Credit my X3 track to some of that. I now also have the tunnel welded and with that and the 5' cooler, it does great.

 

[ullose272]

On my 850 with stock track the mtntk cooler was fine. Add x3 track and got hot pretty quick but never above 150 with ducking off trails. I would have liked to have tried a better scratcher, but the season ended real quick this year. Have a cr racing cooler that i was thinking about trying too, i know they want it welded in, but ive been kinda wondering if some sort of bad ass epoxy would work too?

On thing ill say about the mtntk cooler by itself is there is alot less now buildup on the running boards with it

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[powdersnobb]

On my 850 with stock track the mtntk cooler was fine. Add x3 track and got hot pretty quick but never above 150 with ducking off trails. I would have liked to have tried a better scratcher, but the season ended real quick this year. Have a cr racing cooler that i was thinking about trying too, i know they want it welded in, but ive been kinda wondering if some sort of bad ass epoxy would work too?

On thing ill say about the mtntk cooler by itself is there is alot less now buildup on the running boards with it

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

Thats good to know on the 5' cooler. Im running a 2.6 track so it should not be an issue. I am at this point not sure if I have enough tunnel for one. It's real close.

I wondered the same with the epoxy on the CR Racing kit. It certainly would have looked better and leaked less than what these guys did to my sled.

 

[BirdmanID]

If you’re in CO, find the guy that welds all burandts tunnels.

 

[EBartling]

Having run just the 5’ mtntk cooler all season on my 17 with 2.6 track and 6” chop I think it runs the same temp wise. And this is with no flap and rarely scratchers. Less ice buildup on running boards. Stop and kick some snow into skid and put some on tunnel and run it. I’ve been in some super low snow conditions this year and been surprised it works way better than I thought.

 

[powdersnobb]

Having run just the 5’ mtntk cooler all season on my 17 with 2.6 track and 6” chop I think it runs the same temp wise. And this is with no flap and rarely scratchers. Less ice buildup on running boards. Stop and kick some snow into skid and put some on tunnel and run it. I’ve been in some super low snow conditions this year and been surprised it works way better than I thought.

Good to hear. What temps are you hitting in the spring? I know my 18 will be lower with the different cooling setup, but my 16 was usually 125 to 130 in spring on trails with scratchers down.

 

[EBartling]

Depends on the snow and how often I stop to toss some snow on top of the tunnel. I can usually keep it around 130-140. Same as the factory cooler setup with snow flap

 

[Murph]

##2021 Season Low snow mod update-video##Another (better?) no weld solution for tunnel shortening.

I went a different route on shortening the tunnel/ cooler— also using MTNTK products. I liked it so much, I became a dealer for them. I installed their five foot cooler and plumbed it in, omitting the stock cooler completely. First I tested it without cutting the tunnel at all— to confirm...

www.snowest.com

Been running a 5' cooler without stock coolers since 2020 on an 850. With a watchful eye, it runs similar temps to stock coolers on trail/ low snow conditions. In deep snow, it typically runs a few degrees cooler.

 

[gonehuntnpowder]

Have you noticed a decrease in the ice buildup?