96 cougar 550??????

jacmmaxwell · Jun 26, 2010

Well I just brought one home for my son's first sled. It's in good shape, needs cleaned, greased, and the carb's gone threw but the guy made me a good deal.

Are there anything's too double check on these? He already replaced the jack shaft bearings.

Can I get a 1.5 or 2" track in these sleds without a drop and roll? I'm thinking of replacing the skid with something a little lighter and figure that would be a good time to put a track under it.

Oh and what is the track length?

PowderCrew · Jun 26, 2010

Double check your axle bearings. Every ZR chassis I had in those years blew 'em out. (3) BTW... I have A TON of parts from the ZRTs. Wont help in motor and body(?) but front/rear susp, tracks, skis, tunnel ext, bar risers, a mtn bar, clutches, skid plate(?)... PM me if I can ever help.

clodhopper · Jun 27, 2010

I'm assuming that it is a long track, if so, they came with a 136 inch track. they really don't have enough power to spin a longer track than that. I rode one a few times back in the day, They surprised me with how well they actually ran. they were a little on the heavy side but they all were back then.

jacmmaxwell · Jun 27, 2010

I'll go threw the bearing and check them all. I will be needing some suspension stuff, the shock shafts are pitted pretty bad and I'm sure the seals won't hold for long. I do think it needs a mountain strap and maybe a differant set of bars.

A lighter skid should help things in the weight, any other easy weight loss on this chassis? I don't want any longer of a track, just a deeper lug. It's only around 3/4" lug , a 136 should be plenty big for my son to ride.

clutch man · Jun 27, 2010

jacmmaxwell said:
I'll go threw the bearing and check them all. I will be needing some suspension stuff, the shock shafts are pitted pretty bad and I'm sure the seals won't hold for long. I do think it needs a mountain strap and maybe a different set of bars.

A lighter skid should help things in the weight, any other easy weight loss on this chassis? I don't want any longer of a track, just a deeper lug. It's only around 3/4" lug , a 136 should be plenty big for my son to ride.

I think the most you can go before smaller drivers or a drop and roll is 1 1/4 on that sled. but don't let anyone kid you that motor in not much Less than the 580 and i have seen 580s with 144 and 151 2" tracks. that motor is very durable and will Be a great starter sled.

jacmmaxwell · Jun 27, 2010

Good to hear, it fires off easy and sounds good but the pilot must be gummed up cause it takes a little feathering to get it off idle.

The clutch hits around 4,300 that seems a little high to me. Also I was thinking of gearing it down (asuming it's stock) but I was thinking I could go with a taller track if I got smaller drivers but wahl's are known to be junk and I don't feel like spending 150.00 on drivers anyway. Now I'm not sure what it has now but does anyone know of a stock replacement driver, maybe from zr or a ps that would be smaller?

firecat99 · Jun 27, 2010

I have a 96 ZRT converted to a 136 2" paddle and maybe selling the shaft out of it with drivers, cause i am going to extro/intros on my new build, the only thing i got the ZRT 800 triple mod for was the motor and track and a few other parts other then i dont plan on keeping much more of the sled

jacmmaxwell · Jul 2, 2010

Well, I suck a whole shop vac worth of needles and cones out of it. Drained the old gas and have one side of the tunnel striped of the crappy black paint. I also moved the steering post forward 3" or so and notched the hood to clear, with a 2" riser that makes the sled feel completely differant... for the good.

The seat is in good shape, but there is a gap were the seat meets the tank. There was a rusted through piece of all-thread in, how this supose attach? This really the only cosmetic trouble this sled has. I was going to remove the cover but on of the bolts that holds the cover on is rusty and spun the nut insert in the tank. Any one who has had this problem please chime in

Engine Pro 5x · Jul 5, 2010

We taught two of our kids to ride in the mountains on a 96 cougar with the 124" 3/4 lug track. These are very dependable machines but just like you I thought the track needed deeper lugs on it. Upgrade the track and it will be good. Oh yeah one more option I would add is a THUMB WARMER. The boy road the cougar the most and he complained about his thumb getting cold compared to our sleds with the warmers >>

>>.

jacmmaxwell · Jul 5, 2010

Thats a good lookin sled, our's has the 136 so for his first few rides I hope it's enough. I just can't wait to start taking him up with me.

I built a new rear section for the tunnel today, he wanted some tunnel exposed so it looked like a mountain sled... like dad's. It was a good practice project and was all scrap aluminum, some diamond plate, and some smooth. It turned out good, and most of my welds look real good... I'm still in the learning phase of welding aluminum.

Next I will tackle the seat and see if I can't close that gap at the tank up a bit.

Ultra · Aug 26, 2010

I had 2 of them for the wife and daughter. We ran 144x2" on both of them but you will have no problems with up to a 151 if you want to build the tunnel extensions. We also put cans on them to drop some weight. An updated slider would be a great idea.
If I remember right they had the 9 tooth drivers on them, I didnt want to step down the driver so we removed the front cooler and shaved about 3/8 of an inch off of the fins. worked good.

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96 cougar 550??????

jacmmaxwell

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