18 Yeti ski Skag Bolt WTF???

[POLZIN]

last night my buddy and I were trying to put the finishing touches on his new build and one of the items was the new longer center skag . So this seems simple enough until you try to get to the front skag nut which is 15MM but a 15MM socket will not fit into the hole ? This may be the dumbest design I've ever seen and I've been a machinist for 30+ years so that's saying something.


Im guessing ill have to turn a socket down to get in there ??


Has anyone else run into this ?


It seems that Yeti engineering is bi- polar some really clever ideas and some really stupid stuff like this.

 

[teal_210]

Are you re-using the 18 ski bottom? They upgraded mine to the 2019 version. The 2019 skag also takes a smaller nut, so it's all good once you get the 18 skag out.

I used a torch to get the plastic soft enough that i could hammer a 15mm in there. Also had to hammer it back out once I got the skag off. My 18 ski bottom was broke so I wasn't too worried about making it worse or catching it on fire. Crappy design for sure!

 

[POLZIN]

This is a brand new kit never seen snow so I sure hate to get rough with it and it’s not mine either.

 

[n16ht5]

I had to find a thin walled socket and heat up the plastic with a torch like he said.

 

[POLZIN]

I’ll just turn a socket to fit. Pretty ****ing ridiculous . Did they fix that on the 19 ski?

 

[Sheetmetalfab]

I’ll just turn a socket to fit. Pretty ****ing ridiculous . Did they fix that on the 19 ski?

Wouldn’t it be easier to cut the plastic so a regular socket will fit?

That’s what I did with my 17 yeti ski.

 

[Norma Stitz]

Huh, I seem to remember it being snug but not interference. Maybe my sockets are just ****ty enough

 

[POLZIN]

Wouldn’t it be easier to cut the plastic so a regular socket will fit?

That’s what I did with my 17 yeti ski.

14 mm socket barely fits. 15 mm will not fit even if we cut the plastic. Which is a ridiculous thing to have to consider . Who designs this **** a 3rd grader?

 

[Sheetmetalfab]

14 mm socket barely fits. 15 mm will not fit even if we cut the plastic. Which is a ridiculous thing to have to consider . Who designs this **** a 3rd grader?

I just ran a hole saw down the hole slightly larger with no pilot bit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[tillbuilt]

There is no need to cut, heat or any of this. Use a 15mm deep chrome SnapOn socket. A little WD40, and a flat blade screw driver tapped into the gap between the aluminum spindle block and the plastic rib of the ski. This will give you the clearance you need to get the nut in and out. No problem.

 

[Chadx]

What does yeti use/do/recommend? If it was as much of a pain for them as it for those commenting , I assume they would change it. So are they using something slightly different than the average person and that is why it's going unnoticed? Something as simple as a thin wall socket or a specialty tool?

 

[POLZIN]

What does yeti use/do/recommend? If it was as much of a pain for them as it for those commenting , I assume they would change it. So are they using something slightly different than the average person and that is why it's going unnoticed? Something as simple as a thin wall socket or a specialty tool?

No kidding! They change their ski every year apparently you would think they would have this on their list of things to fix.

 

[teal_210]

No kidding! They change their ski every year apparently you would think they would have this on their list of things to fix.

The 19 ski/skag uses a 12 or 13mm nut (can't remember which), so it's no-longer an issue. The 18 set-up is a head scratcher for sure. Not sure what they were thinking.