Has anybody straightened rails? Are these salvageable?

[TheBeattie]

Hi all! New to this side of the forums. I bought a new to me 2022 Summit Expert Turbo this fall and have been starting to get real comfortable on it. This has lead me to get pretty greedy with my line choices. One of which was a mild drop across a creek draw and come out the other side straight into a low speed steep climb. The track ratcheted along the way and I got a pretty significant vibration that went away, or so I thought, throughout the rest of the day. I was going over the sled after it thawed out yesterday and noticed how loose the track seemed. Kept looking and discovered that both the rails are ever so slightly bent. So my question is does anybody think I would have success trying to straighten them?

 

[KootenayD]

It's really difficult to see how much bend you have there and in which directions but I don't see any nasty kinks. Not a difficult fix, but ideally you'd pull your skid and split those rails so it can be done properly on the bench. Have at it!

 

[TheBeattie]

It's really difficult to see how much bend you have there and in which directions but I don't see any nasty kinks. Not a difficult fix, but ideally you'd pull your skid and split those rails so it can be done properly on the bench. Have at it!

Yeah they really aren't too bad. I barely noticed the one stands off the track at the end toward the rear. and looking down the length of them its really hard to tell. I'll be pulling them out later this week and report back with pictures of them out of the sled and after I give it a try.

 

[EternalWinter]

Yes, they can be straightened. A press and time. No heat just careful work on a press will do it. Have done it on some that were way worse.

 

[BBP]

I wouldn't bother trying to fix them. They will be weaker than before & next time might leave you stranded. Based on your riding style, I would upgrade to Iceage rails.

 

[Teth-Air]

Add some cross braces.

 

[MICHRUSH]

I once broke the front curve off 1 rail-it was held in place by the hyfax and cross brace-it was a lot of work removing and disassembling the rear suspension, had it welded together by a small machine shop, worked great for the several thousand more miles I put on the sled. I had more time than money so it worked great. aluminum is easily bent but speaking for myself I would make an attempt to straiten it - you might be able to straiten it right on the machine-like a body shop does w/ bent car frames, give it some thought use your head and not a hammer I bet you'll have success ! Good Luck

 

[RBalazs]

My matryx rails are that bad and I don’t even worry about it because it doesn’t affect anything on my sled. Change them when they break.

 

[Teth-Air]

They aren't bent, they are just wavy

 

[KootenayD]

If they are bent the easy way, you don't need a press to straighten them. You can clamp a block of wood to a sturdy table and work your way through the bends by hand. When they are out of the skid, they move pretty easy. As long as the bends are gentle, I doubt you're losing enough strength to worry about it. If you can just keep the animal inside you in his cage, your rails will kick ass for years to come!

 

[turbo800]

Ya, I've successfully straightened rails on the ZX chassis some odd years ago.
It's a fair amount of work to fully disassemble the rear skid to put each rail in the press to straighten them.
Where yours are not that badly bent, I would buy some ZRP rail braces and let the fasteners suck them together straight and see how it does.

 

[Coldfinger]

I few years ago I bent my M8 162 rails.

I noticed my track was ratcheting during climbs and since we were near the end of our trip I waited till I was home to look at it.

on the machine my rails didn’t look like they were bent much. I pulled suspension and and found out the suspension was keeping the from bending more. Once the rails were free of the suspension, they had a pretty good bend.

I straightened them pretty close to perfect using a bottle jack, a few 4x4 pieces and other misc pieces of wood. I placed the rail on the 4x4 pieces and placed a small 2x4 on top of the rail on the worst bend. The assembly was under the frame of my pickup and I used that to press each rail downward.

I was surprised how much past straight I had to go while jacking because the aluminum wwanted to return to its bent shape.

After they were pretty straight, I reinforced them with aluminum angle, 6061 iirc. About a 3’ section bolted to each rail. I was able to use many of the existing bolts so I didnt have to drill any holes in the rails. The few places where I wanted to add another reinforcing bolt, I went thru the existing rail windows and cut short sections of the angle alum to use as washers on back side of rail so bolts had something to seat against.

I was looking at my G4 Summit and was going to install the same type of angle while the rails are straight but have not done it yet because it isnt as easy as my M8.

 

[bnorth]

Those can be straightened, I have done some that were a bit worse than that and bent in both planes. Add some cross shafts or rail braces after.

 

[TheBeattie]

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted pictures of the damage. Got busy with other stuff and life. Anyways ended up ordering iceage bomber rails for the sled, along with a new track but that's another story to tell. The stock rails were bent quite a bit more than I had initially thought so I'm glad I went with the replacement route. I would have spent around half just on a set of braces, and I would have been constantly paranoid about bending them again to. I'm going to see if I can get the stock ones straight just for ****s and giggles, and if it works out I'll hang onto them for my riding group to use as spares

 

[TheBeattie]

Finally got some pictures of the bent rails. I've started on straightening them, but I'm going to take my time and get them as best as I can

 

[kanedog]

Sell them on swap meet as bent rails. Guys will eat that chit up!