want lower rpm engagement in my 09 M8.....which spring is recommended?

Bocephus · Jan 10, 2012

the clutching on my 09 M8 snopro is 100% stock. i had it out in cooke city, mt a few weeks ago, and i hated the way the primary engages. i tested it several times and it will rev to 4300-4500 rpm before it will clamp the belt and start turning the track. i rode my buddies 05 skidoo 800 and i love how you can feather the throttle so the sled "creeps" along if you want it to. it seems as if it would make all of these things easier....

-loading and unloading
-getting out of a "stuck"
-pulling up to the gas pumps
-slow driving around town (like one would do in a cluttered area such as cooke city)
-backing up

i'd say i would like the engagement to be 2500-3000. i dont know if this is possible or not... i know there are dozens of springs out there. i am not 100% sure how to tell one spring from the next, or which brand to go with. what should i be looking for?

Thunder101 · Jan 10, 2012

SLP has a 120-310 I just picked up and I thought it was smooth at 34-36ish.

Arctic Cat Is King · Jan 10, 2012

Cat yellow has a beautiful engagement

Bocephus · Jan 11, 2012

Arctic Cat Is King said:
Cat yellow has a beautiful engagement

which "yellow" and what is "beautiful"?

it has a Yellow/White spring on it. the clutching decal under the hood shows it is part number 0646-229.

CATSLEDMAN1 · Jan 11, 2012

getting engaged

a good engagement on an 8 is several things.

1. the obvious is clean clutches
2. correct and error on the tight side belt deflection

3. the first easy jump on cat spring is: you want a shorter and equally stiff spring

cat gold is a good choice

cat red, although find specs and make sure you have the short stiff red

Polaris has one almost identical to the cat red

these will all give you a slow creeping 35-4000 engagement...............if you have a good belt, clean clutch's, correct belt deflection and an untwitchy thumb.

Like how they work, might have to drop a gram or two in weight to get top rpm back.

RACINSTATION · Jan 11, 2012

Speedwerx white works really good for your setup.

Firetrail · Jan 11, 2012

Spring

Get everything like deflection etc right then put in a cat gold spring and your engagement will be mid to lower 3000s.

Ski-Laxn · Jan 11, 2012

My recommendation would be the arctic cat gold. I would also highly recommend you go with MDS weights and the polaris black spring. This is a great combination.

Bocephus · Jan 11, 2012

Ski-Laxn said:
My recommendation would be the arctic cat gold. I would also highly recommend you go with MDS weights and the polaris black spring. This is a great combination.

i already have cutlers adjustable weights.

seems like the cat gold is a fairly popular choice....

mtn mike on boost · Jan 11, 2012

i use a polaris black spring because i prefer
a lower engagement.
there are a couple but the one i use is 100-340

waycooljr · Jan 11, 2012

That's what I installed in my 11' HCR was the MDS weights and the Polaris black spring. I am very impressed at how the engagement is at lower rpm's and smooth. very nice for tree riding in deep snow!!

Bocephus · Jan 12, 2012

how does the 100-340 polaris black compare to the gold cat or stock cat spring?

polaris - 100-340
yel/wht cat - 122-285 (stock)
gold cat - 75-275

alot of people are suggesting the gold cat. i cant see how this would help due to the lower first number. the second numbers are very similar.

going with the polaris black, the engagement number is about right in between the gold cat and yellow/white cat.....but the second number is significantly higher. what does this mean?

Thunder101 · Jan 12, 2012

mtn mike on boost said:
i use a polaris black spring because i prefer
a lower engagement.
there are a couple but the one i use is 100-340

is that the # of the poo spring? 100-340

DalensM8 · Jan 12, 2012

The polaris black is 100-340, but in the Arctic Cat primary its 90-320. This is what Steve at MDS told me.

Bocephus · Jan 12, 2012

DalensM8 said:
The polaris black is 100-340, but in the Arctic Cat primary its 90-320. This is what Steve at MDS told me.

the stock spring on my 09 M8 is yellow/white 122-285

Frostbite · Jan 12, 2012

The first number is the amount of spring pressure it takes to engage the clutches. The centrifigul force of the clutch weights increases as the motor spins faster. The lower the number, the lower RPM the clutches engage.

The second number is the amount of force required to collapse the primary spring and let the primary shift out. It's called shift speed and the higher the second number of a spring, the more RPM it takes to over come the spring.

If you need more RPM to reach your shift speed target, you can go to a higher total force (the second spring tension number) spring or lighten your clutch weights. I like to use higher total force springs and throw as much clutch weight at the motor to make it work as hard as possible to pull the shift speed RPM. The heavier your clutch weights though, the less "revy" your sled feels but, it will pull harder if you can get it to reach your target shift speed. I have even used clutch spring shims to reach the shift speed. In Yamaha clutches you can use up to three shims to adjust your enagement or total force specifications a bit.

Unfortunately, there is no real set standard for measuring spring tensions. So, it's often difficult to compare spring rates. Polaris springs are shorter and thus act like lower tension springs in an Arctic Cat application.

hd4rob · Jan 12, 2012

Racinstation right the speedwerx white works great in the 09s plus they are alloy, shouldn't wear out.

Eli · Jan 12, 2012

Remember the Cat and Poos springs are measured at different heights. Not apples to apples.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

summ8rmk · Jan 13, 2012

on my 09 i had the "hump" ground down on the stock weights. now it engages smooth as a skidoo. look at the stock weights and u will see where the rollers set at idle, there is a small hump the rollers must go over to reach belt engagement. that is what causes the harsh sudden engagement.

WyoBoy1000 · Jan 13, 2012

I didn't read the thread but, do your weights swing free. You can over tighten the bolts that hold the weights and cause high engagement. So take the spring out and see if they swing easy. I have heard of people sanding down the o-rings or using lock nuts, or back up nuts to hold them in place. They all work.

want lower rpm engagement in my 09 M8.....which spring is recommended?

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