Grippers and C&A Ski Pads/Rubbers...Be Careful

diamonddave · Jan 30, 2014

The full perpindicular Gripper ski issue will not be solved for long with the C&A ski pads.

Which leads me to wonder what happened with the stock ski and rubber? I never had an issue with the Grippers on the IQ-RAW Chassis either with a stock spindle OR with the Holz spindles.

And the Pro Spindle is supposed to be carbon copy of the Holz spindle.

Is it possible that the pocket in the ski for the rubber pad is deeper than it was on the prior chassis? Maybe a deeper pocket for ease of assembly line procedures :wink:

???

I understand the spindle changed but I'm convinced something else changed also. I'd love to see meaurements of pre-2011 Grippers.

I don't want to call out Polaris on what should be a simple fix but using the stock OEM Polaris ski pads/rubbers is dangerous and in my opinion is not safe. Mine were shredded after only 200 miles.

The C&A in the pictures below lasted five good hard rides before the perpindicular ski occurred.

In the first pic, I wasn't able to hold a full perpindicular position and snap the photo at the same time.

I really like the Gripper ski but I'm concerned about possible injury.

Below are pics of the C&A pads/rubbers. I believe Skibreeze had the same results.

byeatts · Jan 30, 2014

diamonddave said:
The full perpindicular Gripper ski issue will not be solved for long with the C&A ski pads.

Which leads me to wonder what happened with the stock ski and rubber? I never had an issue with the Grippers on the IQ-RAW Chassis either with a stock spindle OR with the Holz spindles.

And the Pro Spindle is supposed to be carbon copy of the Holz spindle.

Is it possible that the pocket in the ski for the rubber pad is deeper than it was on the prior chassis? Maybe a deeper pocket for ease of assembly line procedures ???

I understand the spindle changed but I'm convinced something else changed also. I'd love to see meaurements of pre-2011 Grippers.

I don't want to call out Polaris on what should be a simple fix but using the stock OEM Polaris ski pads/rubbers is dangerous and in my opinion is not safe. Mine were shredded after only 200 miles.

The C&A in the pictures below lasted five good hard rides before the perpindicular ski occurred.

In the first pic, I wasn't able to hold a full perpindicular position and snap the photo at the same time.

I really like the Gripper ski but I'm concerned about possible injury.

Below are pics of the C&A pads/rubbers. I believe Skibreeze had the same results.

Grind down the two ribs and use Doo rubbers. Thats the fix.

diamonddave · Jan 30, 2014

byeatts said:
Grind down the two ribs and use Doo rubbers. Thats the fix.

I just picked up a set of the REV rubbers and by my measurements if a person does do the grinding down of those ribs, there will be slop between the rubber and the spindle.

05900 · Jan 30, 2014

I wouldn't grind anything..might be tough but better fit..imo

rugbynitro · Jan 30, 2014

http://www.snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=360697

As stated by several people in the above thread, the 2007 REV Rubbers are a drop in solution that corrects the stock rubber in every way. They are a tight fit but definitely worth the effort. Only one poster that I can find didn't find it effective and he said they were still folding but that they were not splitting.

After using them on my 13 Pro 163 my trail riding, button hooks, boondocking and downhill u-turns have vastly improved. The skis just work like they should.

Oregonsledder · Jan 30, 2014

I'm running the C&A rubbers with no mod to anything right out of the package. I don't know what you guys are doing but they work just fine and .. yes I push my skis into the positions that would test the fix. I swear some people have problems with the simplest things !! LOL... no haters now LOL

byeatts · Jan 30, 2014

diamonddave said:
I just picked up a set of the REV rubbers and by my measurements if a person does do the grinding down of those ribs, there will be slop between the rubber and the spindle.

grind the rib down ,then I set a square piece of belting in which gives a flat surface and tightens up the ski perfect. That was on Doo spindles, not sure but I think that works same for poo spindles. There are pics of this install On doo talk under XP/XM section search "Ski Test"

diamonddave · Jan 30, 2014

Oregonsledder said:
I'm running the C&A rubbers with no mod to anything right out of the package. I don't know what you guys are doing but they work just fine and .. yes I push my skis into the positions that would test the fix. I swear some people have problems with the simplest things !! LOL... no haters now LOL

Thanks for the feedback.

Those are pics of the C&A's above. It is a simple part and was never a problem before the Pro Chassis.

So a little more investigating...seems we have a machining issue.

byeatts · Jan 30, 2014

diamonddave said:
Thanks for the feedback.

Those are pics of the C&A's above. It is a simple part and was never a problem before the Pro Chassis.

So a little more investigating...seems we have a machining issue.

C&A work till the soft rubber breaks down.

Oregonsledder · Jan 30, 2014

diamonddave said:
Thanks for the feedback.

Those are pics of the C&A's above. It is a simple part and was never a problem before the Pro Chassis.

So a little more investigating...seems we have a machining issue.

I never said it wasn't a force fit, but that is what I wanted.

granto · Jan 30, 2014

A buddy of mine changed his skis on his 2012 doo freeride so i took his rubbers and put them in my grippers. So far i have a few hundred miles and they are still nice and tight in there. Not to mention they had 2000 miles on them when i got them. I would try the doo rubbers seems the c&a are not that much better over stock ones.

skibreeze · Jan 30, 2014

DD, you are correct, I ordered 8 of the C&A rubbers for my sleds and every single one has torn even worse than those you pictured. Even my Polaris dealer knows that the stock rubbers are crap. I have not tried the Ski Doo rubbers yet. If those don't solve the problem, I might experiment with extending the front part of the spindle to improve contact area and better leverage.

pulltype_polaris · Jan 31, 2014

Funny how my dealer said it was normal and was my riding habits. I said its normal to go over bars on a hard turn around? Rev rubbers fixed it so far for 500 miles. Still tight. Really notice the difference when you're going across a meadow and skis dangling in the air aren't flopping around anymore.

bigchevrolet · Feb 4, 2014

Do any 2007 rev rubbers work? Are they the same for all 07' skidoos?

BILTIT · Feb 4, 2014

Any rev chassis should work, here is the part number from the above linked thread on this issue. I have 400 miles on mine and they are working great.

Doo part#505071779

rugbynitro · Feb 4, 2014

bigchevrolet said:
Do any 2007 rev rubbers work? Are they the same for all 07' skidoos?

Not sure which model REV (I assume it was the Summit) but this is the part number.

Doo part# 505071779

Install and enjoy much improved ski handling.

diamonddave · Mar 5, 2014

Next time anyone has their skis off, could you guys check the ski bolt hole and place the bushing in it and look to see of one side is oblong like the pics in my post above.

The amount of oblong is going to allow the ski to flex and tear up the rubber.

Another person reporting the same thing O.S

jakey-boy said:
Between two sleds we went through 3 sets of stock rubbers this year, one set of SLP (didnt last a half a ride), 2 sets of C&A lasted about 3 rides each.
Have about 10 rides each on both sets and they are still working perfect. Must do mod for any pro and its only $20. Even if you have never noticed an issue with the stock ones I guarantee you will like the doo ones so much better just makes the front end more predictable.

I dont understand why polaris wont address this issue. Someday someone is going to get seriously injured from those worthless stock rubbers and they will have plenty of people to back them up in how dangerous they are in a case against polaris.

mountainhorse · Mar 5, 2014

HDPE will self extrude under high loads... the oblong hole is inevitable if you have to "crank" on the ski to get the bolt in.... IMO.

.

Sheetmetalfab · Mar 8, 2014

I agree with mountainhorse. Have had mine do that a few times, last time I heated up the area carefully and pushed the plastic back down around the bushing. Seems to be holding up good.

*The holes stretched out after my stock ski rubbers tore and the ski could flop vertical and bring me to an abrupt halt in deep snow.

diamonddave · Nov 8, 2014

Seeing Mike's thread made me feel compelled to bring this back up.

Grippers and C&A Ski Pads/Rubbers...Be Careful

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