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Stay away from terra alps

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B

Brock

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,044
Location
Ontario
Country
Canada
Years Snowmobiling
30+
Snowmobile
Polaris
I'm so pissed at terra alps it's not even funny .

First of all, his head cover and domes were and are my nightmare. They don't seal properly and compression ratio he has stamped and what I wanted isn't 12:1, it's 12.7:1. The press in fitting for bypass wasn't even pressed in and no loctite sealant. Wtf??

Last year breaking sled in at jaws on Dyno , the head starts leaking while on Dyno. I had to take it all apart and fix it costing me 2 hours of Dyno time . Got a few det clicks on Dyno too. It's the 12.7:1 domes that were supposed to be 12:1. Using 91 octane I got det clicks on Dyno .

Then I take it out in the trails to ride and it does nothing but det . It's cuz of the 12.7:1 domes using 91 pump gas that were supposed to be 12:1 domes .

I asked terra alps to send me a new head cover and domes . I never received a head cover until a month later and still no domes. I'm pissed .

Toke the head assembly to iantomassi and he fixed it. On my dime of course . That's a 3 hour drive for me one way and the cost to fix terra alps stuff that's totally wrong. So two trips .

Plus I had to buy more gaskets now and coolant and install it all over again . All my dime and my time.


Now, our Quebec trip .We drove 9 hours to get to our spot . First half an hour I'm there it decides to over heat pissing coolant from over flow and over heating. It's cuz of combustion gasses getting in coolant because the terra alps head cover doesn't seal the domes properly when torqued to spec. I over heated it and got coolant in my motor.
I'm so pissed it's not even funny. So we're there for 7 days and 6 nights and My sled is down the first day. I went and bought new gaskets at a Polaris dealer , more coolant and installed . Everything torqued to spec and all new gaskets and coolant. Still pushes combustion gasses in coolant. Now I'm really mad .
Got a stock head shipped up but didn't arrive in time on our last day.
Me buddy haulin had an extra sled to ride and he let me use that the hole trip. Thanks to haulin for that as it would have been a long stay without riding.

Brought it home. New gaskets again, more coolant and installed my stock head. It runs fine

The terra alps head doesn't seal and puts combustion gasses in coolant which is not good.

Now I gotta get this fixed on my dime again. So more travel time, more cost to fix and more of my own labor again.

This guy is a total asshole and I can prove it by showing texts he sends me.

I'm so pissed at this guy it's unbelievable.

Totally unprofessional, he's a dickhead and his stuff doesn't work . This has cost me a lot of time and money. Now I gotta take my motor apart and rebuild cuz of coolant getting in. This is fawkin bullshit.

Beware of terra alps nightmares.

Rant over
 
Geeez..That just burst my bubble of doing one of their 840 strokers this summer..Dang.... Any other shop doing the torque twisting strokers with stock bore that are reliable? That combo seems to match what Im looking for to a tee.. But I am not paying for services from a bad shop.. Been there done that.. A real money pit..
 
That's too bad. Thank you for the heads up.
 
Bell said:
Geeez..That just burst my bubble of doing one of their 840 strokers this summer..Dang.... Any other shop doing the torque twisting strokers with stock bore that are reliable? That combo seems to match what Im looking for to a tee.. But I am not paying for services from a bad shop.. Been there done that.. A real money pit..
Click to expand...
Go to iantomassi track and trail. These guys are professional and know their stuff. They build the fastest race engines in the world . Top class guys and shop. Talk to jerry or flav
 
Does anyone know if Doug flannery does any work on the h.o. engine? He does wonders to the old xcr 800 triples. I know this because I have one!
 
Brock thanks for the tip on Iantomassi track and trail.. Is MUCH appreciated. I will check it out. My first reaction was to go with RK tech 858 till I learned more about strokers being available. My plan is to just buy a complete new engine so when I sell that sled I dont give away my investment.. Even though the percentage of return on investment is only measured in huge smiles and free beer at the end of the day. lol .. Dang expensive way to get a free beer!! :)
 
Horrible Brock. Not to mention the performance investment and anticipation of that when you are building it just to be crushed I'm the end. Seems we have heard some unexpected results from some performance shops lately. Caputo is putting one together should be interesting to see what comes of that one.
 
Hey Brock... sorry to hear about you luck. That really blows having to rebuild an engine for some crappy workmanship. I remember saying a few choice words about some minor dealings I had with Terra alps in the past a little while ago. I guess now you found out first hand what I was talking about! I guess you could always go back to RKTek for some help with the head now!

Sorry again for the shit luck. I sucks to be taken for a ride like that. Good luck and hope you get it sorted out.
 
I agree doc.
This is really the first time I've heard of issues with their products.
Which sucks, but shit does happen.

However, it sounds like the customer service needs some help.
That is a problem, and they should have taken care of the issue.
 
It's not just one persons statement doc, imfaster posted his experience with Ted on here too. This is were me and you will disagree. I know you don't like it when me and Tim dis Ted, but we do it cuz it's our experience with him.

Terra alps stuff is not 100% . So it takes a seasoned tuner or engine builder to figure all the glitches out . Teds stuff would be a nightmare for a guy that doesn't wrench. Look at my domes?? I asked for 12:1 and when I cc'd it it was 12.7:1 . It has 12:1 stamped right on the domes but it's not ??? To verify this , another race shop cc'd my heads too. This is why I was getting det codes all the time . Compression ratio was to hi (12.7:1)for my elevation and 91 octane pump gas.
Teds solution was to detune my motor by taking away timing and adding fuel?? I didn't buy a modded motor to detune it with a pcv. That's bullshit!!! . Also the squish was way to tight . So I toke my head cover and domes to iantomasi to fix as ted wouldn't do shit for me. My dime of course .

Also his leaky head cover . The head cover not sealing domes properly. All this is getting fixed by me. I asked for new 12:1 domes back in November 2016 and still haven't gotten anything.

The guy is a jerk. He's stubborn and throws temper tantrums on the phone. I could go on and on. But I won't .

To date, teds stuff has cost me hundreds of dollars to fix myself, all my time and labor to fix figuring it out. Getting another proven race shop to fix his stuff . This is bullshit. No one should have to experience this . I've kept pretty quiet the past year about terra alps. I'm done, I've had enough.

You can't say his product is good when you have to take the time, knowledge and money to figure it out.
 
I debated responding to this post for about 1 millisecond. My INDY motor is built by Ted and it hauls ass with not one problem. The customer service from him has been nothing but top notch.
Brock I feel your pain and noone should have to go through this. Unfortunately theres bad dealings with all manufacturers. I know of 2 other guys who went to Ted to have their engines prepped for this current Sledding season and they are grinning ear to ear.
I will continue to support Terra Alps and reccommend him based on my experience!

We cant just boycott one shop because someome posts a bad experience with them. If I said SLP sucks with their porting, i wouldnt expect everyone responding to follow my beliefs and not support them as well.
 
Seems as though the head cover is out 0.003"-0.004" from being perfectly flat.

The domes are out 0.003-0.004" from being perfectly flat

The base thickness of domes vary 0.003"-0.004"

That is NOT quality and why combustion gases were getting past o ring into coolant .

Good race shops don't let this kinda work out the door , period! When there's a failure , try and get money back from an aftermarket company ??

This is all my dime and my time .

Service is Everything!! I don't get any from terra alps
 
I'm curious as to how these parts are out of spec.
Assuming everything is cut on a CNC machine, seems like they should be perfect.
Not saying that anyone is right or wrong, just odd.
The 12.1 to 12.7 domes is definitely a problem. Probably run good with some good gas tho.
 
Ottawaair said:
I'm curious as to how these parts are out of spec.
Assuming everything is cut on a CNC machine, seems like they should be perfect.
Not saying that anyone is right or wrong, just odd.
The 12.1 to 12.7 domes is definitely a problem. Probably run good with some good gas tho.
Click to expand...

I would like to know this as well ??

This is the fourth time taking terra alps stuff apart to fix it .

The head o ring stays in place , never cut or pinched. It's cuz of the warped head and domes the combustion gases pass into coolant .

It's getting fixed again on my dime again at a reputable race shop .

So a warped head cover, warped domes and the 12:1 stamped on it is 12.7:1 . The terra alps domes are thin in spots to were the ridges on outside are cut for coolant turbulence too. This just keeps getting better . :Banghead
 
I got my head cover and domes fixed by a precision machine shop that knows their stuff .

The problem with the terra alps head system is it's not perfect and won't seal . It's the process of the cnc operation that made it this way . Things weren't done properly and passed through . I can guarantee I'm not the only one with a terra alps head and domes that aren't perfect .

I'm not here to waist anyone's time. I just tell it like it is and the plain truth.

Number one problem was the head cover was out 0.003-0.004" from being perfectly flat .

Number two problem was the head cover pocket were the dome sits in wasn't perfect either and out 0.003-0.004"

Number three problem was the domes weren't perfectly flat either and out 0.003-0.004"

The domes ridge was uneven thickness by 0.003-0.004"

So, when you place the dome in head cover the dome doesn't stick out past the proper distance to get a great seal with everything being out
.

This cost me a planned trip of 6 days . I rode the sled a half an hour the first night . I will never buy or refer anyone to Terra alps , ever .
I still haven't seen my 12:1 domes I was promised in November 2016 either. The quality of work isn't there or the service. This cannot be denied as I went through this and am tired of taking terra alps stuff apart and putting it back on after a reputable shop fixes it.
Live and learn. Next time I will be going to a reputable shop in the first place
 
IMG_0191.JPG
It just keeps getting better
 
^^^^
Yep, it's a chit show as I expected
 
That post on fb got deleted as guys started attacking personally and terra alps got it deleted . Terra alps through lots of personal attacks but whined later .
I guess the truth can't be told and the terra alps cheerleaders can't take it and attacked me personally. Meh, I have big shoulders.
When stuff doesn't work as advertised, I'll expose it. I don't care .
To bad friendships got skewed over this fucktard
 
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