Busted Springs on Arctic Cat 800s

Dear Ralph:
I read in your last issue that you had a bunch of exhaust springs break on your Arctic Cat 800s this past winter. I also remember you telling us to dab the coils of exhaust springs a few years back to dampen the vibrations that lead to spring failure. So my question is, why didn’t you practice what you preach?

Randy B.
Minnesota

In the case of the 2008 Arctic Cats, there was in fact a problem with the springs from Cat’s supplier, so we simply got a bag of ten new ones and kept an eye on the sleds and replaced them as needed. We also had a bad batch of exhaust springs a few years back on some Polaris models (one does wonder if the same bum springs found their way back into circulation?). But yes, we have over the years found that applying a dab of hi-temp silicone to the coils keeps them from sitting there and resonating and vibrating. We will even secure them with safety wire so if they do break, we still have the exhaust joints held together (a good idea on those really long multi-day runs or when you lose a few springs and want to keep the ones you have in place before the exhaust pressure opens up the joint and you lose your seal).