PC skid in M

Thunder101 · Jan 9, 2016

I did this on my 11 M8 and the sled gets up on the snow much quicker and rides down the trail ten times better it also lifts the front of the sled more when boon docking making it easier to counter steer. It's a win win mod and thought I would share what I found.
PC skid arms are 2.5 inches closer to the rail tips so I kept the mounting points in the tunnel on the same "plane" and found 2 1/8 inches forward was the best spot for the front mount. Made new metal plates to go on the inside of the tunnel and after that you measure your center to center to remount you rear bracket. Yes it's some work but I think it's worth it.
Also you use your M arms and the PC rails.

knifedge · Jan 9, 2016

M arms and PC rails???

--So basically you just changed out the rails, not the entire rear suspension, right?

Thunder101 · Jan 9, 2016

That's right you use the PC rails and move mounting points 2 1/8 inch forward.
I will post a pic tomorrow, I'm traveling right now

WyoBoy1000 · Jan 10, 2016

Always thought about it but after changing the pc I couldn't go back. I'm sure it's huge as it puts the skid under your feet and give way more rider control.

I've age pc rails would be better, smoother arc in the front

Thunder101 · Jan 10, 2016

Measure your center to center and your height off the floor of rear bumper and rear mounting hole.
I switched boards at the same time . Here is some pic's.

Thunder101 · Jan 10, 2016

The rear mount

Thunder101 · Jan 10, 2016

Dam phone will only do one pic at a time

WyoBoy1000 · Jan 11, 2016

saw some rails and then a whole skid for sale on craigslist in CO

Sledbrain2 · Jan 11, 2016

I would like to see how you braced the front, also the rear is only 1 inch forward and the front is 2.2 forward?

Thanks for sharing

WyoBoy1000 · Jan 11, 2016

I don't think you have to move the tunnel mounts, just the rails alone move the skid forward.
Ice age rails for a Polaris I think work the best, but not sure, I'm going off a 4 yr ago idea, lol

Thunder101 · Jan 21, 2016

Sledbrain2 said:
I would like to see how you braced the front, also the rear is only 1 inch forward and the front is 2.2 forward?

Thanks for sharing

Your center to center needs to stay the same as stock. I think it's 32" . So the best spot to move the front arm is 2 1/8 forward, once you have that done you measure your center to center to figure where your rear mount will be relocated to. Remember as the rear mount is moved forward it gets closer to the floor/ground so you can not use a stock hole. It is important to pencil or tape line a mark on the tunnel showing the stock plain between the two mounting holes and you don't want to change that plain ( unless you want to do a ton of field testing and probably drill a ton more holes)
That is why you take a lot of measurements so you are not affecting the plain ( the angle of the line between the stock mounting hole in relation the the flat floor your working on and the measurement/height of the sled in the stock ride height )
one more thing I had a 2" piece of aluminum welded onto the rear bracket to extend rearward to support the rear tunnel section. Because in my case I moved the bracket about 1 1/2" forward. This is on the inside of the tunnel part of the bracket.

Thunder101 · Jan 21, 2016

WyoBoy1000 said:
I don't think you have to move the tunnel mounts, just the rails alone move the skid forward.
Ice age rails for a Polaris I think work the best, but not sure, I'm going off a 4 yr ago idea, lol

the PC rail compared to the M rail (09-11) the mounting holes in the rail are 2.5" closer to the rail tips (front). If you tried to just bolt on PC rails onto a M you would have 2.5" more clearance from track drivers to rail tips and the extra 2.5" in the rear length makes the skid to long to even install it.
So in short to answer your question , it is the opposite the rail actually moves back. But the right way to look at this is with the arms on the skid being farther forward more of the engine weight is on the front arm ( shorter pivot point) more rider weight on the skid, the biggest part of rider location is the skid finally does not kick you in the back up and down the trail. The rear arm is under your but vs behind you.
I changed my board inserts to Monster boards and I had a lot of stuff apart already and I had been thinking of this mod for awhile so I got at it. I dont think this is that big of a job but I work on sleds a lot so this is probably not for everyone. BUT if you think that the M is just a few "mods" away from being a better mountain sled then it was when it was the best. 10-11 Then this along with the 36" arms will make anyone that rides it say wow this old thing works.

WyoBoy1000 · Jan 22, 2016

Thunder101 said:
the PC rail compared to the M rail (09-11) the mounting holes in the rail are 2.5" closer to the rail tips (front). If you tried to just bolt on PC rails onto a M you would have 2.5" more clearance from track drivers to rail tips and the extra 2.5" in the rear length makes the skid to long to even install it.
So in short to answer your question , it is the opposite the rail actually moves back. But the right way to look at this is with the arms on the skid being farther forward more of the engine weight is on the front arm ( shorter pivot point) more rider weight on the skid, the biggest part of rider location is the skid finally does not kick you in the back up and down the trail. The rear arm is under your but vs behind you.
I changed my board inserts to Monster boards and I had a lot of stuff apart already and I had been thinking of this mod for awhile so I got at it. I dont think this is that big of a job but I work on sleds a lot so this is probably not for everyone. BUT if you think that the M is just a few "mods" away from being a better mountain sled then it was when it was the best. 10-11 Then this along with the 36" arms will make anyone that rides it say wow this old thing works.

Yep, just didn't remember but your exactly right on how it effects the sled for better transfer and rider control.

chevyman71 · Feb 13, 2016

PC rails in M

Do all years of pc rails measure the same.What year are you using.

Thunder101 · Feb 14, 2016

I used 12.
I know the 16 rail is different. Maybe someone else can chime in with the differences.

boondocker97 · Feb 15, 2016

'16 rails are unique. '14-'15 are the same and are just a bit shorter than '13 since cat moved the skids rearward in '14. '12-'13 are probably the same, but I can't confirm that.

Thunder101 · Jan 14, 2018

Just did my 10CF 141. Same install except I didn't bother changing the boards as it is a prairie sled, far less work.
Here is a couple pictures of the brackets upfront to your original rivit holes surrounding the front arm bolt and catch two upfront on the foot well.

Can't seem to upload from my phone. I will post a couple pics tomorrow

Well it seems SW will not let me upload any pictures. Sorry guys! I resized them and still to big. Deleted a bunch of pictures that were in my SW history, still no luck.

http://backcountryrebels.com/showthread.php?p=1036528&posted=1#post1036528

Ddub · Jan 15, 2018

I have a 16 pc skid in my 07 bolted in the original mounting holes. Works great. Had too machine spacers for the rear upper shaft but that's it.

Thunder101 · Jan 15, 2018

I suggest you pull out a tape measure and measure. Pro climb rear skid arms are the same as the old M. The difference Is The location they are bolted to the rails. 2007 is the old skid with the springs so I guess you did upgrade but Only to a 2008, kind of. Not sure how you got it to fit but what you did would be like taking a Proclimb and moving the mounting holes 2.5" back

Ddub · Jan 15, 2018

If your referring to me, I should say it's a 2016 high country 141 skid bolted into a 07 running a 144 track. Like I said, had to make some spacers for the rear because the pc is a inch narrower.

PC skid in M

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