From day one the paint on my running boards have been peeling and Polaris and their bs warranty wants to send me a can of spray paint to touch it up... so out with the old in with the new... Looking for any info and thoughts on the skinz protube boards
Anybody have any reviews on the skinz protube running boards on the axys
- Thread starter sledder22
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They are awesome on any sled. I have paint coming off mine also. Had ice stuck to them that made them slick a couple times. Just kicked them off. That was the stock boards. Not a huge deal but mine might get air frames. If you do get them be careful how much traction you put by footwell so you don't stick a boot.
I thought the protube boards came with the traction screws installed since they are the new style?
B&M fab makes a nice set of boards and is an active forum member. They have my vote for this option. (And clean welds vs "others")
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B&m is out of the office till the 15th and I didn't see any for the axys on their website. I was looking at skinz cause wps stocks them and I could have them by the weekend
I lied... Just went to bite the bullet and order them was told the skinz wont be available until feburary
I've got about 600 miles on a set and LOVE them. We have them in stock if you're still looking.
I've also been kicking around the idea of doing the short skinz boards on my axys. Looks like they might make the drop brackets more prone to bend if you have a hard landing. I may be wrong but just my observation from pictures lol. Any info with people running the short ones would be appreciated. Thanks.
I'd be interested in hearing shorty reviews.
I know Matt Entz, Chris Burandt and many other guys who spend a ton of time on the snow ran them last year. FWIW.
The boards do not come pre-drilled, this is left for you to decide how much traction you want and where you want it.
I personally ran 3 sets of Skinz boards from 2011 to 2015 and they all started to bend. The inner tubes were a smaller Wall thickness than the outer. Now they worked awesome for keeping snow build up away and much better traction. For me I did not know I could find something better till I gave B&M a chance and now I will buy nothing else. The design is better, they are stronger, the welds are better, the customer service is much better.
Now I still liked Skinz boards but for the price and they kept bending... No thanks, but thats just me.. I have heard many people say they have never had an issue.
Now I also have never ran the Pro tube and they do have the larger outer tube. After standing on a set the extra strength of the bigger outside tube was outweighed by how it felt. The transition felt very weird and was not comfortable for me while standing on the outside which is where I live. Now many say they love the extra lip because it tells them where the edge of the board is while ridding but I have never had trouble.
The new traction cleats are cool idea and I love how you can change the color but they fill up with ice very quickly compared to screws and become slick IMO. They do mount nice but they did not make me happy once I went to them.
Also just for info when installing traction screws it is my opinion to install fewer screws right near the front of the board where the toe hook is. This will allow you to still slide you foot out quickly when needed. If you install to many in this area it can aid in ankle injury as your foot will have a hard time sliding out.
Both Skinz and B&M make a much better product than stock and I would look no further than these two companies but B&M has my vote.
I personally ran 3 sets of Skinz boards from 2011 to 2015 and they all started to bend. The inner tubes were a smaller Wall thickness than the outer. Now they worked awesome for keeping snow build up away and much better traction. For me I did not know I could find something better till I gave B&M a chance and now I will buy nothing else. The design is better, they are stronger, the welds are better, the customer service is much better.
Now I still liked Skinz boards but for the price and they kept bending... No thanks, but thats just me.. I have heard many people say they have never had an issue.
Now I also have never ran the Pro tube and they do have the larger outer tube. After standing on a set the extra strength of the bigger outside tube was outweighed by how it felt. The transition felt very weird and was not comfortable for me while standing on the outside which is where I live. Now many say they love the extra lip because it tells them where the edge of the board is while ridding but I have never had trouble.
The new traction cleats are cool idea and I love how you can change the color but they fill up with ice very quickly compared to screws and become slick IMO. They do mount nice but they did not make me happy once I went to them.
Also just for info when installing traction screws it is my opinion to install fewer screws right near the front of the board where the toe hook is. This will allow you to still slide you foot out quickly when needed. If you install to many in this area it can aid in ankle injury as your foot will have a hard time sliding out.
Both Skinz and B&M make a much better product than stock and I would look no further than these two companies but B&M has my vote.
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I only use BMfab boards now. I've had skinz boards on 3 sleds of mine. I don't like their slick plastic cleats in the middle bars. I think the reason they went with them is that the tubing they use there is way too thin, and the traction screws don't have enough bite into them, so they just strip out over time. I chased stripped screws in the middle on all the sets I had. BM uses thicker tubing there which doesn't strip out. While I like the idea of the shorter boards, since I've never had my feet back that far on the stockers, I don't like the idea that the suspension brackets will lose structural rigidity there with short boards. I broke both my rear suspension brackets last year with the stock boards and had to make plates to strengthen and fix them. Just a log hit under the track that wasn't real bad. I have BMfabs limited boards on my axys. Way better at not holding snow over the stock boards, especially at the rear and front.
I did though take mine off this summer and had them powder coated gloss black instead of the matte flat black that was on there last season. The matte just holds snow/ice more than gloss. I have semi gloss on my cat BM boards and they held WAY less snow/ice over the matte on my axys. I'm sure the polaris cooler design didn't help, but it was a combo of both. I was able to not have to take the traction screws out of my boards and have the powder coater go right over them after sand blasting. Still have all the traction on the screw heads and the powder coat securing and blending in the traction screws to the boards looks good too.
I did though take mine off this summer and had them powder coated gloss black instead of the matte flat black that was on there last season. The matte just holds snow/ice more than gloss. I have semi gloss on my cat BM boards and they held WAY less snow/ice over the matte on my axys. I'm sure the polaris cooler design didn't help, but it was a combo of both. I was able to not have to take the traction screws out of my boards and have the powder coater go right over them after sand blasting. Still have all the traction on the screw heads and the powder coat securing and blending in the traction screws to the boards looks good too.
Mmmm Mmmm mmmmmmm Them B&M LE boards!!!
I forgot about the screws coming out! Frustrated me to no end! I had to keep finding bigger screws until I had to drill new holes, which looked less than good....
I have yet to have a single screw even come loose on the B&M boards.
We've had a least a dozen Airframe boards in use, some are still being used that are 5 years old. Never have we had a set bend but everything has a breaking point for sure.
