Drilling holes in the gripper?

[goridedoo]

Have been going through ski rubbers on my last couple pros, they tear through right at the middle, and then a guy has to deal with polarskis and summersaults over the bars the rest of the day. I think that snow accumulates in the ski, melts as the heat from the sleds warms up the trailer shortly after the ride and then refreezes overnight, the ice expands in the slots underneath the rubber and puts too much pressure on the rubber and it splits the next day while riding. Any reason I cant just drill 1/16" holes straight through the bottom of the ski in the slots underneath where the rubber sits so that the water runs out?

 

[volcano buster]

No, I do it all the time. Angle the holes to the rear if possible, otherwise it will act like a cheese grater and scoop snow up into those holes.

 

[Cinno]

No, I do it all the time. Angle the holes to the rear if possible, otherwise it will act like a cheese grater and scoop snow up into those holes.

Sorry didn't mean to press quote. i meant this to be separate post.

I repeated problems with the grippers during the first year I bought my 2013 rmk. Kept tearing up the rubbers resulting in me going over the handlebars when the ski goes straight up while carving in deep setup snow. I all most broke a rib once that layed me out for two days.

The problem I found was the cavity below the spindle where the rubber sits is to large on some skis, a molding problem for sure. The rubber gets cut-up during the continued movement of the ski. And even it doesn't get cut it gets compressed into the cavity and the ski tip come up to far during carving. I cut a shim of aluminum the shape of the bottom of the rubber and put it under the rubber. You have to experiment with the thickness to get the ski back on. Made a big difference. The rubber lasted for three year until i sold it. Cinno

 

[goridedoo]

Sorry didn't mean to press quote. i meant this to be separate post.

I repeated problems with the grippers during the first year I bought my 2013 rmk. Kept tearing up the rubbers resulting in me going over the handlebars when the ski goes straight up while carving in deep setup snow. I all most broke a rib once that layed me out for two days.

The problem I found was the cavity below the spindle where the rubber sits is to large on some skis, a molding problem for sure. The rubber gets cut-up during the continued movement of the ski. And even it doesn't get cut it gets compressed into the cavity and the ski tip come up to far during carving. I cut a shim of aluminum the shape of the bottom of the rubber and put it under the rubber. You have to experiment with the thickness to get the ski back on. Made a big difference. The rubber lasted for three year until i sold it. Cinno

I did the same as you and cut a piece of metal to sit between the ski and the rubber, it definitely solved the polarskiing issue, but shorted the life of the rubbers dramatically.

 

[idahosledder]

Some people have done the shim thing and it helps, but from what I have experienced changing the ski rubbers out with ski doo ones seems to be the most permanent fix.
There are a few threads on here that give the part numbers.
Cheap fix that shouldn't be needed in the first place.

 

[XC500mod]

Some people have done the shim thing and it helps, but from what I have experienced changing the ski rubbers out with ski doo ones seems to be the most permanent fix.
There are a few threads on here that give the part numbers.
Cheap fix that shouldn't be needed in the first place.

Agree with this I run the doo rubbers. The problem, as stated above, some grippers can accommodate the doo rubbers and some can't. Me and my bro in law worked our butts off on his grippers to get the doo rubbers in and they absolutely would not fit. So we cut the height of them with a band saw. With my grippers it was not a problem.

 

[Teth-Air]

I have drilled holes in all skis for years to drain them out when they melt. More so the nuts on the skags don't rust.

 

[tuneman]

I use the Doo snubbers. Ya gotta trim the chamfers off of the bottoms of the snubbers and they fit perfectly. On my SBA, I have the stock snubbers with a 1/16" thick shim of UHMW underneath. Two seasons on those without issue, but I haven't looked at them lately to see how they're holding up.

 

[14RMK144]

I use the Doo snubbers. Ya gotta trim the chamfers off of the bottoms of the snubbers and they fit perfectly. On my SBA, I have the stock snubbers with a 1/16" thick shim of UHMW underneath. Two seasons on those without issue, but I haven't looked at them lately to see how they're holding up.

UHMW?
I have some old starter shims I Was going to cut to fit. I run shims already under the rear of the rubbers to even out carbide wear (helps with darting also). I've never noticed my rubber getting any more than very slight wear, never enough so they drop down into the grooves in the ski, and go "polaris ski". Maybe just running shims at rear of rubber stopping the issue?

Do you happen to know the Doo part # or are their rubbers all the same if I just ask for ski pivot rubbers?

 

[summ8rmk]

Ultra
High
Molecular
Weight

Plastic, it's what ur skis and hifax are made of

GS6

 

[tuneman]

Doo part #505071779

With that said, didn't Polaris change the shape of the Axys spindle to help with wear, or is it still an issue?

I've also heard that guys will fill the holes below the snubbers with silicone caulk.

 

[14RMK144]

Ultra
High
Molecular
Weight

Plastic, it's what ur skis and hifax are made of

GS6

Thanks!

I run shims already under the rear of the rubbers to even out carbide wear (helps with darting also). I've never noticed my rubber getting any more than very slight wear, never enough so they drop down into the grooves in the ski, and go "polaris ski". Maybe just running shims at rear of rubber stopping the issue?

Doo part #505071779

With that said, didn't Polaris change the shape of the Axys spindle to help with wear, or is it still an issue?

I've also heard that guys will fill the holes below the snubbers with silicone caulk.

Didn't look at what forum this was in (Axys), I'm still running a Pro-Ride.
I click on browse all polaris since I have several Polaris, Gen 1 Indy. IQ, and my Pro-Ride (RMK)

 

[FriscoProx]

Try these: https://www.caproskis.net/catalog/accessories/replacement-ski-dampeners/polaris

 

[AndrettiDog]

No, I do it all the time. Angle the holes to the rear if possible, otherwise it will act like a cheese grater and scoop snow up into those holes.

This sums it up. I drilled holes vertically in the wrong spot and snow shoots up in a conical shape like spaghetti! Just do it right and it gets the water out. Holes don't need to be very big.

 

[sledhed]

This sums it up. I drilled holes vertically in the wrong spot and snow shoots up in a conical shape like spaghetti! Just do it right and it gets the water out. Holes don't need to be very big.

Have a gouge in one of my skis that does this in spring snow, funny sometimes, annoying at others... also drilled vertical holes but made them small and so they did not come out on the keel, seemed to drain fine, sould have put them at an angle tho.

 

[rocks rev]

I drilled holes in the grippers I run on my Doo's works great. I'm all but positive Doo switched to the narrow rubbers this year ( like the Poo).

 

[diamonddave]

Try these: https://www.caproskis.net/catalog/accessories/replacement-ski-dampeners/polaris

The C&A will tear also in fact very quickly...The Doo will tear but not as quickly as the Polaris...

This is a ridiculous problem that Polaris needs to fix ASAP...