Anybody know anything about snowmobile tracks?

[BlasterEaten250]

I am trying to sell a snowmobile and the other night I noticed that there is a tear in the rubber part of the track where the idler wheels ride. Do I need a new track or is this still usable? This makes me angry because the lugs are still in very good condition. What would have caused this?

[dns1764]

do all the wheels spin freely or is one frozen?

[BlasterEaten250]

They all spin freely. Could my track be too tight?

[400exrider707]

I've been around snowmobiles for more than 20 years, and I can honestly say I've never seen one do that...

I don't even know what to guess.... have you checked the tracks tension? Might be worth sending a few photos to the track manufacturer. Could be a problem.

How old is the track? What sled is it on? Looks Polaris something...?

[Pipeless416]

brandon is at school, but it's on a 2001 Polaris Indy 500. no idea how old it is, but on the outside it seems to be in very good shape. i'm sure he can tell you more when he's home.

[BlasterEaten250]

I believe it is an OEM Polaris track. I'm not positive. I bought this sled last year with 4200 miles so it could still be the original track (even though the lugs still look good).

Maybe the rubber is starting to deteriorate after 10 years of use?

[bbender85]

almost looks like something got jammed between a bogie and the track and pulled across it.. you can see a white blush streak along all the rips.

[Tommy Warren]

I think its the bearings in the bogeys.....they are either not spinning freely or they are to loose and the bogey is wobbling

[400exrider707]

Maybe that bogey is actually bent. It's clearly been hit by something since the red section is broke.

[becci4]

Is that the only spot on the track that looks like that?

[BlasterEaten250]

Originally posted by becci4
Is that the only spot on the track that looks like that? Yes. I will try to check out that bogey and see if the bearings are bad or if it bent.

Judging by the length of the tear, it looks like it was around the bend of the back bogey when it tore. So maybe it wasn't even moving. Maybe it tore from being too tight on the back bogey.

[hondaking52]

probably age like you said or you picked something up and it wore it out a bit, looks fine to me though, and a stuck bogey wouldn't cause that, and to check the tension jack the sled up and you should be able to stick about 2 fingers between the track and the rails. and as long as the cords and lugs are not ripped it should be perfectly fine..