Finally got a chance to ride and fiddle

2012 HCR; awesome sled stock but I want more LOL.

After the first ride I tore it down again for a couple of days to make it more for my riding needs.

First thing I need is tighter steering (like others have noted too). AC made this one tough to modify. To get any real gains you will need to lenghthen the arm in the front that the ties rods connect to. I added .75 " by making a bolt on bracket. This is not for the weak at heart because now you have to modify the bulk head with a BFH.
This will take you to the same turning radius as a modified and blueprinted M chassis steering. Lenghthening the front arm allowed me to shorten the arms on the spindles too (tie rods won't hit the shocks now) by .75". This will require you to grind the spindles for clearance with the A-arms but now you will have tighter than tight steering radius lol, and that really helps me start my pivot turns in the tight trees.
Blue-print the steering (make the top and bottom steering stops hit at the same time) and your done.

Which takes me to step two.

I found (like many) that the PC gets up and planes well but for me that is just a bit boring and limiting. So I started on the rear suspention.

First thing I knew I wanted to do was get the sled to sit higher. Couldn't do it on the M chassis and still have steering (because of bump steer) but on this one you can. When I modified the steering I planned for enough clearance to allow me to run a longer (stock lenghth shock) with the narrow front end when it shows up.
In the rear I wanted quicker and more drastic weight transfer. This can lead to trenching that the stocker doesn't do so you will need to use your thumb a bit more to control it. What it will do is allow me to do pivot turns easier that I need to do to get to the places I find myself trying to get to LOL.
I moved the bottom mount of the middle shock .45" forward on the rails. This will allow you to use the full limiter strap and still leaves an eighth in. of shock travel at full bottom This also ramps up the shock rate to help when the routes I take get really whooped and hard (it's so soft at the beginning of the year LOL).
On the back shock I did what I always do to help the shock ramp up quicker and allow me to run the least preload for the quicker transfer I like.
This years skid is a lot closer to what I like. AC sort of went half way there(even though it looks the same). Keeping in mind that I wanted to lift ride height and that the skid geometry is different, the new rear mount holes and sissor stop locations are different from the M-chassis.

Yesterdays ride was a grin. Almost looped it on a roller LOL. U-turned my sled around a tree. Can't wait for the narrow front end, pipe and can, finish seat mod, get rid of the stupid losey goosey adj. riser, stupid mud flap, stupid front grab bar, and maybe a few more things.
But, you know for all the little things I think are stupid, this sled has left me with the biggest grin ever. It's an awesome package that's nimble, stable, smooth and DOMINATING (the deer were scattering from their day beds LOL). I really just can't wait to start riding full time. My blood needed an all new ride. I was just together with the M-chassis for too long and it seemed like the same old same old every year,every night.

Didn't take pics but will (for those few weirdos that like to modify a perfectly good sled LOL) when the narrow front end comes in (Dec. 7th, last cat-tracker date, about the approx. date of the pipe set showing up for me too). That'll be just about the time I come home from the last stint of work that starts tommorrow.

I'm sure going to be bitchy at work for this run LOL.

I can't wait for SLP (like their product) to finish their 600 Poo and get back to the PC 800. Last I talked to SLP, it sounded like Jan. 'til they were done and that means late Jan. at best for up here. Speedwerx is shipping soon!

The 800 HO is hard to beat stock, so I'm getting one for the weight savings and the added exhaust restriction that every Cat 800 needs that rides over 5000'. Had my pick of another brand too but after a little research I found out the guys who ran the Speedwerx pipe last year in this area needed to add a couple of grams. We'll see.

I traded my wide front end for a 40 incher off a Sno Pro and then traded the airs for spring shocks off a standard but I'm pretty sure if you just double up on the shock spacers in kit you will be able to use the shocks you have. Just make sure the guy who installs the spacers for you sets the nitrogen piston hieght and valving to the 40" specs (in the parts and shop manuels).

Been reading about some other ideas on the steering changes. Here's my opinion after doing my measuring before my modifications on the PC steering. Like I said before, this is not a necessary mod unless you ride tight stuff and need to do smaller radius turns or moves. Many will be just fine with the stock set-up.

Just grinding the top stops (bottom ones are just fine) will allow you to use all the steering that AC built into the spindles. But, the bars end up turning so much that they become gut pokers and the stock length tie-rod arm starts to "over cam" and bump steer (ski changing angle with the movement of the a-arms) becomes an issue.
Changing the length of the upper steering arms on both the steering shafts eliminates the bar problem but still leaves the issues with the tie-rod arm at the bottom.
By the way, taking out the lower tie-rod arm requires taking apart the whole front of the sled and I don't want to go there or I would have welded my extension on.

Lengthening the bottom arm on the lower steering shaft is of no use because the stock set-up uses all the movement possible in the narrow bulk head.

The camming over (very little linear movement for the extra degrees of rotation) of the tie-rod arm is the "bottle neck" of the system if you want the tightest turning radius ( I always modded my M-chassis too). I like to be able to turn my sled in a complete circle on a single lane road without spinning my track.

The other ways will be different a-arms and spindle to allow a new lower shock location and shorter spindle arms or take the bulkhead apart and install a new lower, longer tie-rod arm. So be carefull with what they start to sell.

I did take cell phone pics as I was building and I'll try to post them. Wasn't going to because the quality will lead to many questions. For those that know how to build it will be plenty If the previous posts dimensions weren't enough.

For the others that can't build you will have to wait for a "kit". But, unless it lengthens your tie-rod arm by .75", shortens your spindle arm tie-rod mount point by.75", and requires that you grind your spindles to make room for the extra movement you will just be getting a few, not very useful, degrees.