SLP / Carls stage 3 kits

snobyrd · Dec 27, 2017

I'm at 6000 feet with a 16 155 2.6 with jaws pipe. I encountered all of your same issues until I changed motor mounts and install a new primary spring.
all of my clutching is stock other than 71 grm mtx weights.
I'm pulling 8400 easily, trax speed imedeatly goes to 39 and will climb up to 47mph if theres enough time to hold it wot for 10 seconds.
get rid of that blk purple spring, just revs and goes nowhere. I prefer the stock pol primary for its low engagement.
I bought carls kit for my 13 pro and it was garbage, I even blew a belt on my first day with it.
This setup is the best my sled has ever run.

dktraw · Dec 27, 2017

I tried the blk/ppl sec sprin last yr in my 16 and i also hated it, stock sec spring is what im running currently in my 17. Primary spring was new this yr. Going out tomorrow to try a couple diff setups

AdrenalineAddict · Dec 28, 2017

I agree with going back to 60/40, your backshift with the 42 will suffer, Black/Purple should be fine with progressive helix but is too much spring for the stock straight 40. Should pull 64 gr EPI's at 8150 but not likely going to rev with 66's. If you really want to see a performance gain go with carls porting, bully dog programming and 66 gr EPI's. Properly set-up ported Axy's 800's will almost run with low boost turbo's. Without the porting I think you're searching for minimal gains. The only guys I know that can run EPI 66's on non-ported sleds are also running the blue/pink primary spring which is a much higher rate spring than the stock 120/320. That's kind of the same as running the stock primary spring with EPI 64's. Good luck 8,100 RPM's at elevation is not a bad thing. New belts on these sleds can also work wonders, I'm convinced they stretch a bit by the time they see 500 miles and can give you "Long belt syndrome", which there is no cure.

dktraw · Dec 28, 2017

So snow wasnt the greatest for testing but managed to get a little more outa her. With the 64g EPI weights installed and on the 60-40 angle she was spinning 8250 at 7k ft elevation. Track speed was the big improvement though. Most of the time i was 39-42 and seen 44 a couple times. So that 150 rpm was pretty big gain. Wondering now about trying some 62s to get on the pipe even more. Down at about 5k ft i was seeing 8400 and she felt pretty strong.

Griff · Dec 28, 2017

I say try the 62's, might as well try and get to the rpm SLP wants their pipe to run at.

Thanks for starting this post, very informative.

pj8556 · Dec 29, 2017

For reference, heres what Im running.
'16 155" 2.6
SLP stage 2 w/ Carls clutch kit (66g EPI, 62/40 helix, New stock springs. Pro QD pulleys.
Pulls hard, jumps to and holds 8100 rpms at 6000-7000 feet in 2 feet of powder. track speed consistently 40mph
So performance is good not great, I expected more from the touted "Carls clutching"
I may grind the weight tips to 65g to get another 100-200 rpms but it is ripping as it is
another Problem I have is heat, after a good run or two my clutches are too hot, cant touch them. so the performance is tailing off. Deflection is good. I am adding vents and having alignment checked. I have replaced motor mounts and added torque arm
youre close i think, wish i could cool things down for consistency

Wheel House Motorsports · Dec 29, 2017

Fun fact, my 2017 was never a ripper, always ran a little less weight then my 16, and now my 18.

I also did the SLP stage 2 kit and guess what?! NOTHING, same results you had. didn't pull more weight, made like 50 more RPM with stock clutching, and no seat of the pants change.

That sled wouldnt turn over 8200 unless I dropped some MAJOR weight (see 4g to get 100rpm) It ran very consistantly. Just consistantly not great. Hope that isnt the case with yours but I could never figure that thing out. Did motor mounts ,etc. Nothing made it pull better.

800poodragon · Dec 30, 2017

I put the SLP pipe on my 17 Axys 163 and had a noticeable improvement from 8250 to 8400 at 6 to 8 thousand feet. Tried carls clutching and it seemed to inconsistent and a lot of times rpm's falling off. Went back to stock clutching but left in the bearing on the clutch kit and love the way it runs now. When I go to higher elevation (like 10,000+ at Cooke) I just add a little race gas and it will see 8400 there as well.

icr · Dec 30, 2017

800poodragon said:
I put the SLP pipe on my 17 Axys 163 and had a noticeable improvement from 8250 to 8400 at 6 to 8 thousand feet. Tried carls clutching and it seemed to inconsistent and a lot of times rpm's falling off. Went back to stock clutching but left in the bearing on the clutch kit and love the way it runs now. When I go to higher elevation (like 10,000+ at Cooke) I just add a little race gas and it will see 8400 there as well.

Why would you add more octane for higher altitude?

HiWaYman92 · Dec 30, 2017

I went back to stock springs and 10-62’s for tomorrow. The snow should be good so I will report.

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HiWaYman92 · Dec 31, 2017

62’s pulled 8350, so 1-200 rpm more. 8500 on the trail... noticeably less mid range torque, but better top end. I’m thinking 62 belly busters and try either the blue/pink in the primary or black/purple in the secondary but not both. Thoughts?

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dktraw · Jan 1, 2018

Tried 62g belly buster weights today. Still only pulled 8250 and track speed was down. And same as posted above, there was definitely a felt difference in lack of torque. Put the 64g BB back in but this time with slp blue/pink primary spring. 8200 was probably avg Rs, track speed 39-41 and felt like it had more pull. Seemed to run pretty good all in all, but i still dont get why it wont pull essentially any better than stock.....i probably wont waste any more time chasing my tail. Just install the Pro sprockets and ride it now. But i probably wont recommend to anybody that they should buy an slp pipe....just not worth the money

xmk1080 · Jan 3, 2018

The slp pipe is worth the money! The 60-40.40 is just to much of an initial load in deep early season snow, with a 2.23 gear ratio you are almost hitting 30 mph when you shift out of progressive angle to the straight 40 of the helix. Toss your straight 40 back in with a black/purple secondary or the 44-40.33 from venom and you will get your rpm's back unless you have other issues with your sled.

dktraw · Jan 3, 2018

1k bucks for the pipe and there clutching and it wont pull any more clutching than stock??? doesn't really seem worth it at this point. if this pipe is that picky on clutch setup, in my mind a guy is better off with the stock pipes fatter torque curve and less finicky clutch setup. The stock 40 helix responded almost the exact same as the 60-40 helix. so far the only gain I have seen with this stage 3 kit is a 100rpm gain. and I had to come down to stock weight to even see that little bit of gain. im maybe gonna try a setup from TRS to see if that will get my power up any. but at this point ive had the SLP pipe on 3 different sleds and none of them would pull anymore clutching than a stock sled. Also I raced my body on his indy dan clutched stock 163 axys last ride out and we were neck and neck.....ive got almost 2k bucks in a stage 3 kit and custom clutching, and his 400$ clutched machine was just as fast?? hows that worth it?? Not trying to rant, just trying to be honest about an aftermarket product that may, or may not be worth blowing hard earned money at....

SRXSRULE · Jan 3, 2018

I really think that Polaris changed the tune after 16. Back when the axys came out, everyone that put on an SLP pipe seen noticeable gains and had to add clutch weight. I put 1100 miles on my 16, and rode with 5 others that also did the SLP pipe, we all added weight, and it was like 4-6 grams over what the clutching chart called for. They flat out ran awesome.

Now, last year I did the same pipe on my 17 and a friend did the pipe on a new hold over 16. All of our riding was together. He pulled more weight then me every time and I'm about 50lbs lighter then he is!

Something change in 17/18 and I dont think it has anything to do with the pipe.

dktraw · Jan 3, 2018

I have the Bully Dog tuner though and you would think that if it was a mapping problem from Polaris the tuner should have fixed that?? unless Carls just copied the factory mapping and didn't change much? Idk for sure, but I definitely cannot run even 2 grams more weight than stock

Griff · Jan 3, 2018

SRXSRULE said:
I really think that Polaris changed the tune after 16. Back when the axys came out, everyone that put on an SLP pipe seen noticeable gains and had to add clutch weight. I put 1100 miles on my 16, and rode with 5 others that also did the SLP pipe, we all added weight, and it was like 4-6 grams over what the clutching chart called for. They flat out ran awesome.

Now, last year I did the same pipe on my 17 and a friend did the pipe on a new hold over 16. All of our riding was together. He pulled more weight then me every time and I'm about 50lbs lighter then he is!

Something change in 17/18 and I dont think it has anything to do with the pipe.

I suspect there is something here. Can anyone confirm.

Also, there are some good resources at SLP and Carls. I'd rely on them to help you get the most from their parts. Good luck and do report back if you learn anything more.

xmk1080 · Jan 3, 2018

dktraw said:
1k bucks for the pipe and there clutching and it wont pull any more clutching than stock??? doesn't really seem worth it at this point. if this pipe is that picky on clutch setup, in my mind a guy is better off with the stock pipes fatter torque curve and less finicky clutch setup. The stock 40 helix responded almost the exact same as the 60-40 helix. so far the only gain I have seen with this stage 3 kit is a 100rpm gain. and I had to come down to stock weight to even see that little bit of gain. im maybe gonna try a setup from TRS to see if that will get my power up any. but at this point ive had the SLP pipe on 3 different sleds and none of them would pull anymore clutching than a stock sled. Also I raced my body on his indy dan clutched stock 163 axys last ride out and we were neck and neck.....ive got almost 2k bucks in a stage 3 kit and custom clutching, and his 400$ clutched machine was just as fast?? hows that worth it?? Not trying to rant, just trying to be honest about an aftermarket product that may, or may not be worth blowing hard earned money at....

Late last march I was running a 62-42.40 black/purple secondary spring and 63 grams(TPI heavy hitters with weight in the tip) in the primary with a slp blue/pink spring, it ran 8300 rpm all day long from 11,000 to 12,000 ft even when I was climbing some steep shoots. A stock sled will pull 8100 to 8200 with 10-60 gram weights and a straight 40 helix, now I would have to say thats impressive. But this year I changed it up a little for the deeper snow and deeper lug track, started with 60-40.40 and 10-64 gram weights and I could only turn 8000 to 8100, so dropped to 10-62 and still could only pull 8000 to 8100. I either had a problem develop over the off season or you can't load these initially as hard in the deep, I think that I may have something else going on. So yes I can understand your frustrations.

Beavis · Jan 3, 2018

Dktraw- I feel your pain dude. I’ve been fighting the same issue on my sled since last year.

I bought a ‘16 holdover 163x3 and had the ‘17 map installed before I left the dealer. Stock I couldn’t get it to pull over 8150 at 8500ft and 7800 on steeper pulls at 10k. So, I added an SLP pipe and started clutching for it. I did the blue/pink primary and black/purple secondary springs but left the stock 64g weights and helix. Still wouldn’t pull over 8150 on flat and only 7900 on steep pulls so I dropped to 62g. Still nothing - maybe up 50rpm.

Motor mounts look good, sled only has 750mi and it’s never pulled RPM since new so I don’t think it’s that. Took it to the dealer to have them check compression and re-learn exhaust valves. Everything checked out. I’ve now dropped to 60g weights and installed brand new belt, cleaned clutches and checked deflection. I’m now getting 8250-8300 at 8,000ft on a moderate pull on set up snow. Have yet to try a deep powder pull at 10k. (We need snow badly)

I would strongly suspect the 2017 fuel map being an issue but my riding buddy has a stock 2017 163x2.6 with 60g weights and that sled is noticeably stronger and pulls 8300-8400 everywhere. I’ve heard multiple people say they added weight with the pipe but I’ve only dropped significant weight to pull R’s and now track speed sucks. My ‘15 Pro pulled more weight. Frustrating.

dktraw · Jan 4, 2018

so I also ran slp pipe last yr on both of my 16s and neither of them would pull more weight than stock with the 16 map or after the updated 17 map. I also assumed it was something in the fuel mapping. that's one of the biggest reason I wanted the bully dog tuner was to get away from the factory fueling. one big question I still have is that we start out from snow park around 3k ft elevation. im running the head and tuner for 6-8k elevation. you would think that at that low elevation when I flog on it I should get DET like crazy. but that's not the case....I have never seen DET once yet. im going to do a compression test tonight and see what that shows. but I also suspect clutching somewhat just because once at elevation on climbs and sled reaches 8200 it just flat stops pulling. mid range is great and pulls hard to that point, but then just feels like it hit a wall and she just quits pulling. Ordered all the parts yesterday for a clutch setup from TRS so also excited to see what that does. very frustrating to have this many new machines that wont reach peak rpm with no real solid solution for a cure

SLP / Carls stage 3 kits

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