Man, That stinks !. I'm not too sure about the welding part, but be sure to check with your dealer to see if it's covered by warranty ?. When I get to see you this Saturday at my house.....See if I have the same problems as you're having. I dunno

 

Same thing happened to mine. Had it replaced on warranty. Not an issue though, you dont HAVE to fix that. I told them not to bother, but thet did anyway-now I have to polish all over again!! I would check a few things though-skid rail cracks, idler arm straightness[at the "t" up top], popped rivets.

 

I've seen a ton of cracks like that in F-cats. NO REASON to worry as they won't get any bigger than that. PURELY cosmetic and you never see them anyways. Lots of warranty $$$ to replace a tunnel. No wonder why sled prices are so high. Leave it and forget it.

 

If warrenty covers it, let the dealer worry about it. Thats why warrenties are wonderful things!!!!

 

I can't say much about the F-Cat tunnel cracks, but I also have heard it's no biggie.

Might be an idea to drill a small 1/16" hole at the end of the crack and not worry about getting it welded?

Hey, it's cracked anyway, so a tiny hole certainly won't make things worse. The hole should help prevent the crack from continuing.

 

Hey guys,

Thanks your help. I have a guy coming on Thursday to weld the crack for me and then I will put the bracket on because I want to have the strongest tunnel out there

Thanks alot for your help.
I was little nervous to take it to the dealer because I was like man that's alot of parts to take it off and I am sure the dealer would forget one thing to put it back together and I am not going to risk that and I have lost trust for the dealers.

I will take pictures when it's all done okay

Take care,
Dusty

 

That tunnel update bracket is like puting a bandaid on a broken bone...waste of time if you ask me. I does nothing to increase strength...I would say your best bet is to do what AG said and just drill a small hole at the end of the crack.

 

howd that crack get there? jus from riding?

 

mine was the same way when i pulled the seat. i made some aluminum brackets, bent em to form the tunnel bend and riveted them on strong as hell now. thumbguy

 

03 f7 snopro and 03f5 both dont haev cracks...whats causing yours?

 

Originally posted by lars74@Oct 26 2005, 05:15 PM
mine was the same way when i pulled the seat. i made some aluminum brackets, bent em to form the tunnel bend and riveted them on strong as hell now. thumbguy
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[/quote]

Can you HONESTLY say you notice a difference in actual strength of the tunnel?

Originally posted by f5_slednecks_rocks@Oct 26 2005, 05:45 PM
03 f7 snopro and 03f5 both dont haev cracks...whats causing yours?
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[/quote]

He probably didn't DO anything besides ride the sled...HARD...the crack in the tunnel (in those spots) is extremely common with the weak Firecat tunnel (IMHO).

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

All the plates do is cover up the cracks, aluminum is sensitive to repetitive stress, the problems are caused by a lack of stiffness in the chassis.
The bulkhead cracks seem to be much more common on those sleds that have the '03 left side brace or left side brace bolts either loose from the factory or have worked loose over time, the best thing for this is to install an '04 left side brace, and keep an eye on the bolts that hold it on.
The tunnel cracks are most common on 04 sno pro sleds if you look at the fishbones and see black around the rear rivets, or rivets missing you should pull the seat and take a look, bolts in the upper holes help, I believe the longer braces used on the 05's will help also, but they are a PITA to install.

Krom[/b]

This is a quote from Krom (a Cat Tech) over on HCS. Take it for what its worth. This response is regarding the Sway bar update and tunnel update kits. As you can see he is definitely not SOLD on them either

 

Originally posted by sledsearcher+Oct 26 2005, 05:58 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (sledsearcher @ Oct 26 2005, 05:58 PM)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-lars74

@Oct 26 2005, 05:15 PM
mine was the same way when i pulled the seat. i made some aluminum brackets, bent em to form the tunnel bend and riveted them on strong as hell now. thumbguy
<div align="right"><{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Can you HONESTLY say you notice a difference in actual strength of the tunnel?

Originally posted by f5_slednecks_rocks@Oct 26 2005, 05:45 PM
03 f7 snopro and 03f5 both dont haev cracks...whats causing yours?
<div align="right"><{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[/quote]

He probably didn't DO anything besides ride the sled...HARD...the crack in the tunnel (in those spots) is extremely common with the weak Firecat tunnel (IMHO).

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

All the plates do is cover up the cracks, aluminum is sensitive to repetitive stress, the problems are caused by a lack of stiffness in the chassis.
The bulkhead cracks seem to be much more common on those sleds that have the '03 left side brace or left side brace bolts either loose from the factory or have worked loose over time, the best thing for this is to install an '04 left side brace, and keep an eye on the bolts that hold it on.
The tunnel cracks are most common on 04 sno pro sleds if you look at the fishbones and see black around the rear rivets, or rivets missing you should pull the seat and take a look, bolts in the upper holes help, I believe the longer braces used on the 05's will help also, but they are a PITA to install.

Krom[/b]

This is a quote from Krom (a Cat Tech) over on HCS. Take it for what its worth. This response is regarding the Sway bar update and tunnel update kits. As you can see he is definitely not SOLD on them either
<div align="right"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
[/b][/quote]


before you could push down on the rear of the tunnel with seat removed and see the flex on the ends where the problem was, after i installed braces theres no flex what so ever, rock soild. i dont know how long it will last, but its more solid now at least theres no more visual flex ,

 

I have no idea how it got cracked. Sometimes I do ride hard on the trails but I am not a jumper myself and I rarely jump at all. I guess one of those LARGE morgal cause this while I was flying on tops of them. Since you tell me that bracket is worthless but I went ahead to do it because it was a CHEAP to buy only 3 bucks to fix it then sorry ass.

Lars,
Do you have any picture of your homemade bracket?

Thanks again

Later,
Dusty

 

there is actually brackets u can buy right thro arctic cat. dan @ ods would probly have some, but i wanted to make my own, the aluminum i used was about twice as thick as the actual tunnel aluminum, i dont have a pic, but it was real easy to make a set of these. its probly i would say 2 1/2 to 3 inches long with 2 rivets on each side. makes sure u check all the rivets in the cooler. i hade a few that were way loose i hade to replace. same with the rivets on the tunnel supports a few of them were loose also. once i got the brackets on and all the loose rivets tacken care of it seems real solid. i bought the sled just recently and decided i wanted an 05 seat upgrade and thats when i found all the loose spots

 

Here are some pics of AC's bandaid fix bang your head

 

Originally posted by sledsearcher@Oct 26 2005, 09:03 PM
Here are some pics of AC's bandaid fix  bang your head

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[/quote]

Is that off of your sled? I am wondering why my doesn't have those foam strips on the edge of the tunnel?? I dunno Did you put that on or is that 05 tunnel?

 

Not my sled, but the foam strips were added to help with the icing under the seat problem. It better seals the tunnel so you don't get the annoying leaky-icy mess. Works quite well.

Like I said I am not sold that this is anything but a bandaid. I just drilled a hole at the end of the crack to stop it from cracking anymore.

 

man that sucks, i looked under my new 05 and they have a piece there to strengthen it alittle

 

Be sure to drill a hole at the ends of the cracks to prevent them from growing any longer.

 

yup drill and braces.. should do the trick.

 

Just remember to disconnect your ecu if you are having any welding done on the sled.