I've been thinking on this topic a bunch over the past weeks, really contemplating what to do with my expert turbo 154 thats on the way. With the new 34 front end, I see no use for the t motion anymore, even with the 36 front end, you just look where you want to go and the sled follows.
On my past sled, 165 freeride, I used just the cheap washers to lockout t-motion. I tested on snow, putting in and taking out the washers a few times so I could feel the difference in the same conditions, on the same slope. I legitimately thought the sled performed better locked out, it just felt more sharp and precise to me, where as the t-motion feels a bit sluggish and wants to move around on you at times where you want a clean edge on snow. I remember doing the upgrade to a XP back in the day, but those sleds we so different, they were hard to get on edge and it did make a difference. fast forward 10 years with a gen4, better balanced sled, and now a 34 inch front end and I swear it just not needed.
Looking at options, I see 4 or 5 routes to lockout the rear end. I'm looking for input that people have on these options:
- Cheap washers - they wear out, and I have seen a few that end up breaking the lower pivot arm. its the cheapest route, so thats the only positive. $50
- Munster style heim joint replacement. seems a bit more solid then the washers, probably locks it slightly more, but still can have the lower pivot arm issues as the cheap washers. $70
- With the washers or the munster setup, there is always the option to add the ZRP pivot arm, which looks super solid, and i think would not cause any issues. +$100
- Zbroz style arms - this setup looks even better for lockout, but have heard of a few failures. if you see a failure here, it could be really bad as rumor is the arms can drop into the track and shred a track. makes me nervous. $150
- C-motion. as stated above this is full OEM, so quality is good and no failures noted yet. Just jumps in price - $330
- Skins Kit. Basically like C-Motion, but adding some more bling. Cost jumps to almost $500.
So, with those routes, what do people think is the best option? Writing it all out now, I think the munster kit with the added ZRP lower pivot is the best/cheapest way to go that will do a good job of locking out t-motion for a fair price, with limited to no failure risk. I like the Zbroz kit, but if any failure happens here you are out like $1500 for a track that could get shredded.
Thoughts from the internet??\