Snowmobile Preseason Checklist: Get Your Sled Ready for the First Ride
The first good snow of the season has a way of sneaking up on you.
One minute you're waiting for winter, and the next there's snow in the forecast, and everyone is scrambling to get sleds out of storage, find their gear, and remember what they meant to fix last spring.
We've been doing this long enough to know that the best time to find a problem with your sled is in the garage, not on the first ride of the season.
Before the snow starts piling up, here are some of the things worth checking.
1. Start With the Basics
Before digging too deep, give the entire sled a good once-over.
Look for loose hardware, leaks, damaged components, or anything else that doesn't look right. Check your throttle and brake operation, lights, kill switch, and tether if equipped.
Your owner's manual should always be the final word for maintenance procedures, specifications, and adjustments for your particular sled.
A few minutes looking things over now can save a lot of aggravation later.
2. Inspect Your Drive Belt
Pull the belt and take a good look at it.
Check for cracks, fraying, glazing, damaged or missing cogs and excessive wear. If it's questionable, we'd rather replace it in the garage than discover we should have replaced it when we're miles from the truck.
And don't forget the spare.
Make sure the spare belt you've been carrying around is actually in good condition, is the right belt for your machine, and that you have whatever tools your sled requires to change it.
3. Check the Track and Hyfax
Inspect the track for damaged or missing lugs, missing track clips, torn areas, and other signs of wear. If you're running studs, inspect those too.
Check track tension and alignment according to the manufacturer's specifications.
While you're under there, inspect the hyfax for wear. This is especially important heading into early-season riding when snow coverage can be thin, and lubrication may be limited.
Replacing a rail isn't cheap. Hyfax are.
4. Look at Your Skis and Carbides
Carbides are easy to ignore until the sled starts pushing through corners.
Check the carbides for excessive wear or damage and look over the skis while you're there. Also check for unusual play or anything loose in the front suspension and steering components.
If the carbides barely made it through last season, don't expect them to magically improve while sitting in the garage all summer.
They didn't.
5. Inspect the Suspension
Look over the front and rear suspension for loose or worn components, damaged bushings, leaking shocks, and anything else that needs attention.
Grease the appropriate fittings according to your sled manufacturer's maintenance recommendations.
Suspension problems aren't going to get better once the trails turn rough.
If you've been thinking about upgrading your suspension, this is also a good time to evaluate what you liked and didn't like about your sled last season rather than automatically replacing parts.
Not sure where to start? Check out our guide to FOX snowmobile shocks and the differences between QS3, QSL, QSE, iQS and more.
6. Check Your Fluids
What needs to be checked depends on the sled, so follow the maintenance schedule in your owner's manual.
Depending on the machine, that may include:
- Injection oil
- Coolant
- Chaincase oil
- Engine oil on four-stroke models
- Brake fluid
Also look underneath the sled and inside the engine compartment for any evidence of leaks.
7. Don't Forget the Battery
If your sled has a battery, make sure it's fully charged and inspect the terminals and connections.
A battery that seemed perfectly fine last spring can have a very different opinion about life after sitting all summer and then being asked to perform in freezing temperatures.
Better to find that out now.
8. Inspect the Clutches and Drive System
Look over the clutch area and clean it according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Inspect components for obvious wear or damage and make sure everything is operating correctly.
We like to go through our clutches off the machine every couple thousand miles. Springs are inexpensive, so we replace them while we're doing the service.
This is another good time to inspect that drive belt closely.
If you aren't comfortable servicing or inspecting the clutch system yourself, have a qualified technician take a look.
9. Check Your Ice Scratchers
If you run ice scratchers, make sure they're still there, intact and functioning properly.
They're particularly useful when riding hard-packed trails, icy conditions or other situations where there isn't enough loose snow getting into the rear suspension.
This is one of those inexpensive pieces of equipment that can become pretty important under the right conditions.
10. Go Through Your Riding Gear
Your sled isn't the only thing that's been sitting all summer.
Pull out your helmet, goggles, gloves, boots, and riding gear before the morning you're supposed to leave.
Make sure everything still fits, zippers and closures work, lenses aren't destroyed, and nothing disappeared into whatever black hole apparently exists in every garage.
If you're riding in technical gear, learn how to wash and care for it properly. They call it performance gear for a reason. It's easy to forget that your gear needs maintenance just like your sled does.
If you ride off-trail or in remote areas, go through your backpack and safety equipment too.
Not sure what to look for? Read our guide to what you should know about snowmobile riding gear.
11. Check What You're Carrying on the Sled
We like to have the basics with us rather than assume nothing will go wrong.
What you carry depends heavily on where and how you ride, but this is a good time to check your:
Spare belt, basic tools, tow strap, emergency equipment, spare gloves, first-aid supplies, survival supplies and anything else you normally carry.
If you ride remote areas, preparation becomes even more important. Your needs on a short groomed-trail ride are very different from your needs 20 miles into the backcountry.
12. Don't Forget the Trailer
Ask us how we know this one.
Everyone gets focused on the snowmobile and forgets that the trailer has been sitting too.
Check the tires and tire pressure, wheel bearings, lights, wiring, tie-downs, hitch and safety chains. Make sure registration is current and that everything you need to secure the sleds is actually in the trailer.
Nothing makes the first ride memorable quite like discovering the trailer lights don't work at 5:30 in the morning.
Do It Before the Snow Flies
None of this is particularly exciting.
But neither is standing next to a broken sled while your buddies disappear down the trail.
Or being that guy who ruins the day by overlooking something that could have been prevented.
Not to mention the brand abuse you're going to take when your buddy on his Polaris has to pull your Ski-Doo back to camp.
Getting your snowmobile ready now means that when the first real snow arrives, you can spend your time figuring out where you're going to ride, not figuring out why your sled isn't ready.
And after waiting all summer, that's exactly where the focus should be.
Need Something Before the Season Starts?
Whether you're replacing worn parts, adding storage, upgrading your suspension, or getting your sled set up for the way you ride, Sled Solutions has been helping snowmobilers get ready for winter for more than 20 years.
Not sure what fits your sled or what you actually need? Give us a call at 586-215-6849. We're happy to help.