4130 Apex-pro by Powerhouse Customs

Thanks

Thanks Tarzann, ...you should probably have one of these for that big engine you have!!

I will be posting some more pics soon.

Cheers

a couple more pics

A few more pictures of Laird's new sled as it slowly comes together. Been busy in the shop and difficult to get adequate focused time for the assembly. The next step will be the wiring harness for our new Standalone Ignition/fuel system, however, first we have to get a bunch of snow bikes assembled and ready for the snow, then back to the project.

Looks real good Ron! Sheldon and I are coming into on the 26-28th. We will swing by the shop and have a look at that peice of art.

very cool how you are joining the intercooler to the throttle body boots guessing they are o-ringed?:face-icon-small-coowhat are you guys going to for a stand alone?love the colors best looking one to date.:thumb::beer;

TB connection

BigFish BC said:

very cool how you are joining the intercooler to the throttle body boots guessing they are o-ringed?:face-icon-small-coowhat are you guys going to for a stand alone?love the colors best looking one to date.:thumb::beer;

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Hi Big Fish, we have been using this style of connection to the throttle bodies on our newest Plenums, and yes it is O-Ringed. As for the Standalone, we are developing our own kit based on proven quality components from the High Performance Automotive Industry. Thanks!!

picture updates

This sled is coming along nicely. We have the Standalone fuel system installed, hooked up and working nicely so far. Still some tuning to do with fuel/ignition trims for Boost loads and elevation tweaking. Working great so far! Our Seamstress Gal will be finishing up the side panels this weekend hopefully, should be mountain testing next week.

I will post some riding pictures soon.

Cheers

CR

looks great ron you guys have made everything so clean looking,doing custom side panels?:face-icon-small-coo

BigFish BC said:

looks great ron you guys have made everything so clean looking,doing custom side panels?:face-icon-small-coo

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Thanks, it has been a challenge to get it tucked inside, sled is very narrow and balanced nicely. Our Seat Gal is building the rest of the side panels inserts now, should be done next week. Easy access for working on it and ergonomically it is sweet, nothing for your knees to bang into. Can throw a leg up front of the Chaincase! Can't wait to get it out there on the snow. Soon!!

Cheers!!

CR

Tuning time

We have been testing and Tuning on Laird's new Powerhouse Customs 4130 chassis. Primarily focusing on the tune-up with our new Standalone Fuel/Ignition system. We are really enjoying working through the tuning with this system, the ability to Data Log and then review same on the Lap Top is awesome. One can see all the parameters and make adjusts accordingly. Learning so much as we fine tune on this system.

We are also very happy with the refinements that we have made on this version of our chassis. We have managed to reduce the required steering effort while maintaining accurate control and performance. So Nice to have the big performance of the Turbo'd Yamaha Apex engine, with light steering effort!!

We will be doing more testing this week up on the Mountain. As we have the low end, mid range, Accell and throttle response now dialed, we will be focusing on sustained longer pulls under full Boost. At the end of the day, when the tuning is complete, one can just apply the "auto" mode to the system such that it will correct for elevation and temperatures changes. Awesome!!

Cheers

M1100

Have you thought of... or had anyone ask about putting the Cat 4S turbo in your 4130 chassis? You know with all the engine/TCL mounting, c-c and parallelism problems associated with them. I'm interested. What happened to Laird's 4130 Apex Pro?

No time...

Bendy said:

Have you thought of... or had anyone ask about putting the Cat 4S turbo in your 4130 chassis? You know with all the engine/TCL mounting, c-c and parallelism problems associated with them. I'm interested. What happened to Laird's 4130 Apex Pro?

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Hi Bendy,

Sorry, we haven't considered or looked at trying to fit a Cat engine into our chassis. To date our builds have been with Yamaha engines, primarily Apex engines and few with Nytro engines. We don't really have the time or desire at the moment to try to work with the Cat engine. However, if a Customer came to us with a determined desire to have that combination we could consider it.

As for Laird's last years sled, it was just recently, (a few weeks back when the snow was fresh and deep), reported to have been slaying the chutes in the Airport. It was his first day riding the chassis, he went straight to the Airport and put it to work!! haha You will be seeing it around for sure!

Cheers

M1100T

I have been following your chassis builds from the beginning and have been wondering just like bendy if you guys were considering putting cats 1100 4 stroke in your chassis.

I'm kinda surprised you haven't been asked this question lots!!!

Cats 1100 with big boost could really use a stiffer more rigid chassis.

Seems like to me it might be a good fit???

How hard would it be???

JMO of course, but Apex engines are almost indestructible, they love boost, make amazing power, have great clutching, CR has them dialed, and they are readily available and relatively cheap to get. Just a few of the reasons that most of CR's customers would want to go that route. It would be much harder, and more expensive, to make the same kind of horsepower from the Cat engine...... begs the question: What would be the advantage of not sticking with what already works extremely well?:face-icon-small-win

Something new and different

skibumm said:

JMO of course, but Apex engines are almost indestructible, they love boost, make amazing power, have great clutching, CR has them dialed, and they are readily available and relatively cheap to get. Just a few of the reasons that most of CR's customers would want to go that route. It would be much harder, and more expensive, to make the same kind of horsepower from the Cat engine...... begs the question: What would be the advantage of not sticking with what already works extremely well?:face-icon-small-win

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I have the motor and it runs flawless, I also like to be different. These motors are capable of 300hp+ as well. Its just a though at this time. If CR was willing to take my money... I'm sure I'd be more than pleased with the outcome! Keep up the great work.

Thanks

Bendy said:

I have the motor and it runs flawless, I also like to be different. These motors are capable of 300hp+ as well. Its just a though at this time. If CR was willing to take my money... I'm sure I'd be more than pleased with the outcome! Keep up the great work.

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Thanks Bendy,

Be sure to stop in at the Shop the next time you are in town, we can discuss your project options.

Cheers

CR

My M1100T has an EVO super chute kit running av gas at a little over 300 HP.
Motor runs very well and makes very good power.
I don't think the chassis will last as long as the motor.
If this chassis is lighter and stronger than cats chassis I'd sure be tempted to use it.

Anyone know what the weight difference would be between the 2 chassis?

Ron what does your chassis weigh?

Bendy said:

I have the motor and it runs flawless, I also like to be different. These motors are capable of 300hp+ as well. Its just a though at this time. If CR was willing to take my money... I'm sure I'd be more than pleased with the outcome! Keep up the great work.

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Yep! No doubt CR would build you something amazing and it would be a great project. I was merely stating my opinion as to why they may not have done one before. I have thrown a leg over a couple of "300 HP" 1100T's and they just don't feel like an apex powered sled on say 15lbs of boost, which is relatively low boost on even a stock engine with a head shim. What if the customer wanted 320 or 350 HP? Pretty easy with the apex engine, but those are almost unchartered territory numbers for the 1100. I do understand wanting to try something different and I don't deny the torque and power of the 1100, just saying that I know what the CR chasis will do with an apex engine in it and it is very impressive. Bottom line, your money, and you can do whatever you want to with it and I'm sure CR would make sure you were a satisfied customer!

The big question

d1100t said:

My M1100T has an EVO super chute kit running av gas at a little over 300 HP.
Motor runs very well and makes very good power.
I don't think the chassis will last as long as the motor.
If this chassis is lighter and stronger than cats chassis I'd sure be tempted to use it.

Anyone know what the weight difference would be between the 2 chassis?

Ron what does your chassis weigh?

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D1100T

The biggest question on everyone's mind, what does it weigh?? This is of course the first question we get asked all the time. It would be sweet if I could just throw a number out there. Most of our chassis leave in an unfinished state so I have no way of knowing what they weigh when completed. When I move a bare chassis around the Shop, they are crazy light. Laird once stood with arm outreached holding a chassis at the balance point, one handed, seemingly effortless!

As for Laird's newest sled, it is definitely lighter than anything we have built to date, but we still don't know what it weighs as we have no accurate method of weighing it. Beyond that we really do not care/worry about it, as we do know that we are well over a 100 lbs lighter than an OEM version when comparing apples to apples, same track lengths and options, etc.. stop by the Shop and lift one of ours, then lift one of the Built Nytro's in the Shop, let your back be the judge.

From the start, when we designed our chassis, we had no intention of building a super light weight sled. Yes we wanted to be lighter than built Apex's or Nytro's, but we have no use for something that is fragile!! No point in building a sled that folds up in the deep moguls, or gets trashed the first time it tumbles out of a chute.

As with most things in life, ..it is a trade off, ...too light = too fragile, too heavy = no fun. There is no doubt we could build our sleds lighter, we just don't chose to sacrifice strength for super light weight. Our sleds/chassis are not for everyone, but for those who appreciate the ultimate power and torque of a big four stroke turbo, ...we can build you some "fun"!!

Our chassis are a unique design for a relatively niche market, purpose suited for our back yard environment, the Steep and Deep of Revelstoke!!! We have stayed with what we are most comfortable with, that being the four stroke Yamaha engines, which in our minds are renowned for big power and reliability when turbo charged. Sure other engines like the Cat 1100 can be made to perform, ...as we are a "Custom Shop", we invite someone to step forward to commit to a build project with this engine.

At the end of the day, our chassis are lighter and stronger than the OEM's, so when you have 270 to 300+ reliable HP on hand, ..how much more does one require??

Cheers

CR

I agree Ron. It's not so much about how much it weighs, but more about where the weight is on the sled and how well it's balanced.

Hi Cpt.Ron, I am looking everywhere to find a 3D model of the yamaha engine (apex if it is possible) but I can't find one anywhere! So I was thinking about you. Do you use a 3D model of this engine to develop your frame, or anything to simulate it in a 3D software?

Thanks a lot and keep going your incedible work on every of these piece of art!