Might have another problem!

[wisc79intruderguy]

Hello all I bought this 1980 440 invader it had a grouser bar track on it that was replaced with a block style rubber track my question is, did 80 invaders come with grouser cleated tracks? I thought 78/79"s were and had the 4 rear idlers my 1980 has only 3 rear idlers on the all rubber track the tunnel says mfg 79 why would a 1980 invader have a grouser cleated track any way and should I be looking for a 4 idler skid? Just curious I paid 500.00 for this sled and lots of things aren't adding up!

[DougKauer]

I had a 1980 340 Invader and it had the grouse track with the three idler wheels on the back. If you have a all rubber track it should have four idler wheels on the back of the suspension. Kawasaki made a replacement track and the four idler wheels as a kit replacement for the grouse track and three idler wheels. Hope this is helpful.

[wisc79intruderguy]

That's what I thought ill have to get a hold of the guy I bouht it from and see if he's got a four idler skid for it I don't know if its a kawi track on it does it matter as long as its a 121 by 2.52 by 15?

[DougKauer]

That sounds right.

[wisc79intruderguy]

The skid track or both thanks Doug.

[rminier]

 The track is indeed one of the most commonly used...as you said, 121" x 15" wide x 2.52 drive pitch. I think "gixxer6" on here is running a track with a 1" lug very successfully, which would have a lot more traction than the original tracks....which had maybe a 1/2" lug.....out of the millions of tracks with those dimensions, there may be a few oddballs on the spacing of the track clips side to side. As long as your clips are centered with the slide rails you should be fine.
 I don't want to lead you astray, but if it were me, I would try running the sled with the 3 wheeled rear axle, before expending too much effort.
 Granted, the 4 wheeled axle provides a little more even tension to the track.......but my '97 SkiDoo MXZ 670, with well over 100 HP, came with 3 rear axle wheels, as do thousands of other sleds......perhaps Kawasaki erred on the side of caution when the change was made away from the steel bar tracks.

[wisc79intruderguy]

Hey minier do you know what I can use for a set of wheels in front of the back idlers that's where its the slides are wearing the most thanks as always!

[wisc79intruderguy]

The skid isn't centered over the inserts either I've never seen this

[Interceptor398]

Are you able to post pictures of this?

[wisc79intruderguy]

I'll try but there's like an inch of insert showing on either side all the way up and back the rail on the side I've seen a lot of sleds but never this! Any way I found a four wheel skid for it from another kawi I'll measure inserts side to side with the new skid. I might have to look for a kawi made track anyone got one?

[rminier]

 Intruderguy, read my first post on here regarding rapid hyfax wear....I just re-posted. Everyone probably thought I was crazy.
 Now, 2 years later, I have removed all doubt....they know I'm crazy.
 Look at the picture of the aluminum rail. You see how the bottom is slightly offset to the side?
 The 78-79 skids had a single part number for the aluminum rail...39105-3501....meaning both sides were identical.
 Later skids had TWO different part #s.....a left and a right rail.
 I think the earlier rails were dead centered, and did not have this offset...therefore a mis-match when lining up to the replacement rubber track windows.
 The proper track windows should be exactly 8 3/4" center to center. My rubber Kawi track, my '83 Vmax, and my '97 MXZ are all that same, exact dimension.
 The older aluminum rails just didn't match up to that dimension.

Although....the earlier rails had to match up to the original steel bar track windows???

[Interceptor398]

Good post, useful info!!

[rminier]

 Hmmmm....this is bugging me. If I'm right, the original steel bar track had to have a narrower distance between the track windows.
 Does anyone have one that you could measure the center to center distance between the windows? I would bet it is more like 8" center to center.
 From my experience, the 121" x 15" x 2.52 pitch x 8 3/4" track window width is the most common track in the world....which is the dimensions of my replacement Kawi track.
 Kawasaki had to be applauded for issueing a recall for the original steel bar tracks.
 Why did they feel compelled to do this?....they certainly weren't unique in the industry in using those tracks??
 It had to cost them a small fortune to replace the tracks and pay the dealers for the labor to install the replacement tracks.....right when they were new to the business and interest rates were going thru the roof and the industry was suffering from over production.
 Were the replacement tracks from a different source?...Yokohama....Camoplast???
 Kawasaki went to the trouble of changing the rear axle to 4 wheels with a slightly different diameter when they issued the recall.....why wasn't the window spacing addressed, also?....if that is actually a true statement??
 What do you guys think?

[Interceptor398]

It was a legal issue, a few people got hurt from holding up the back of the sled and getting hit by a bar coming loose.

[wisc79intruderguy]

I thought goodyear made the belts and kawi usa put in the bars etc i'm sure it didn't help them financially had to be in the tens of millions of dollars to do the recall! 2 or 3 years later they were done. Well any way I got my new skid with the four wheels and xtra carrier set for my invader I'm putting it in and am going to be done with it! I'm tired of the rsin and this sissy winter we had hope to ride after my install. Thanks Minier for your observations and all for your help!