Aftermarket Aluminum bushings for the Polaris Gripper Skis?

LoudHandle · Aug 26, 2015

Aftermarket Aluminum / Titanium bushings for the Polaris Gripper Skis?

I had always assumed that the bushings in the Polaris Gripper Skis were hard Anodized aluminum. They are not! They are Zinc Chromate? coated steel like most of the fasteners.

My question is; Does anyone know of an aftermarket supplier of Hard Anodized Aluminum or Titanium replacements?

Thanks in Advance!

Short of that

Are there any Aftermarket Manufactures / Vendors willing to step up and Produce / Market the replacements?

SNWMBL · Sep 9, 2015

I'd take a set of Ti ones Dan.

tuneman · Sep 9, 2015

Considering the amount of abuse those bushings get and the number of ski bolts I've bent, I'll take the steel bushings. Hard anodized aluminum wouldn't cut it for me.

alt · Sep 9, 2015

LoudHandle said:
I had always assumed that the bushings in the Polaris Gripper Skis were hard Anodized aluminum. They are not! They are Zinc Chromate? coated steel like most of the fasteners.

My question is; Does anyone know of an aftermarket supplier of Hard Anodized Aluminum or Titanium replacements?

Thanks in Advance!

Short of that

Are there any Aftermarket Manufactures / Vendors willing to step up and Produce / Market the replacements?

depending on volume I would be more than willing to produce them in titanium. By the way I have your bolt order ready when you are just let me know. Thanks!
Dan

ak · Sep 10, 2015

I will take a set if you make them Dan.

alt · Sep 10, 2015

ak said:
I will take a set if you make them Dan.

Sounds good ak. I see the stock bushings the cheapest I could find were $32.97 each.....thats not even close to any part of reasonable, what the heck! Let me see what we can do them for but I know I can be "WELL" below what the stockers are even in titanium.
Dan

geo · Sep 11, 2015

I picked up a 5 gal bucket of huge used ty nuts and bolts after a mill shut down many moons ago. Don't know the grade of ty but have used them to make many bushings and spacers over the years for suspension, spindels, skis and such.

Much stronger than 6061 and seems to wear forever.

Useful bling IMO.

jokerman · Sep 12, 2015

Dan, I'm in for 2 sets if you put them into production; just send a pm;Thanks

LoudHandle · Sep 12, 2015

Dan, I'm good for at least two sets. Likely more than that.

They are machined from 1 1/4" round stock, 1.015"-1.020" Overall length, The part that presses into the ski plastic is 0.625" Diameter and 0.900" long (with a 1/16" chamfer on the leading edge), The bolt hole is 0.394" or 10mm. The shoulder is a skim cut under the 1 1/4" diameter (with a 1/32" chamfer on both sides) and varies in thickness from 0.110"`0.120".

I'm sending you a few sets so you can confirm dimensions prior to committing to production. Should make today's mail run out, you should see them by Tuesday or Wednesday.

mountainhorse · Sep 12, 2015

LH... going to this "Nth" degree with the bushings... have you made up Ti wear-bars for the skis and gone with lighter spindles as well?

What about lightening the skis with something like a "Carl's Cut"... and ti bolts for the ski loops?

.

LoudHandle · Sep 12, 2015

mountainhorse said:
LH... going to this "Nth" degree with the bushings... have you made up Ti wear-bars for the skis
Yes, Dan made a run of those a few years ago for us connoisseurs of quality lightweight parts

and gone with lighter spindles as well?
I have the Titanium material in my possession to make my PRO spindles to the AXYS geometry with my own personal twist.

What about lightening the skis with something like a "Carl's Cut"...
I have not cut them yet, but I will if I see there is a benefit with my upgraded chassis geometry, I have gone to the The AXYS geometry but a full 2" instead of the 1 1/4"-1 3/8"i n order to fit a full sized driver in them and still have room for snow evacuation / room to run a 4" lug and only have to downsize to an 8 tooth driver

and ti bolts for the ski loops?
The tip bolt I did replace with TI, the cross bolt I upsized slightly and replaced with Aluminum.

.

Reply Answers in Blue

mountainhorse · Sep 12, 2015

When do we get to see this bad-boy?

LoudHandle · Sep 12, 2015

mountainhorse said:
When do we get to see this bad-boy?

Short answer: When they are done!

Being forced out of my job and starting over at a new one has taken it's toll on my time and financial resources. I have three Jorgen'ized PRO's in various stages of build and hope to get them on the snow this year, but that has been my goal since late 2012-2013 when I saw the new patent drawings for the AXYS. But life has a way of pushing back, and my plate is pretty full even without the sled builds.

mountainhorse · Sep 12, 2015

I'm in the same place quite often... projects that get pushed back because of "life happening"...

Sincere good luck to you and those sweet sled builds!

.

LPIdaho · Sep 12, 2015

#26 and #13 are also steel fyi:

Sheetmetalfab · Sep 12, 2015

A 5-10 thousandths oversized bushing would be a sweet option for after 1000 miles.
The plastic stretches and the stockers get loose.

SNWMBL · Sep 13, 2015

mountainhorse said:
LH... going to this "Nth" degree with the bushings... have you made up Ti wear-bars for the skis and gone with lighter spindles as well?

What about lightening the skis with something like a "Carl's Cut"... and ti bolts for the ski loops?

.

I made 7/16 .035 4130 wearbars for my grippers and run aluminum washers & nuts along with aluminum loop hardware and 4130 tube spindle bolts. They are also cut. My skis are sitting at 5.2 lbs including the rubber & spindle bolt. I want them under 5 lbs. Ti bushings will get me close, I'll shave the knobs off if I have to.

Glad you started this thread LH. There's a few people chasing grams in the sledding world! It all adds up.

geo · Sep 13, 2015

If you want to figure out your gram loss pretty close...

My rule of thumb for homemade weight loss, without design change (which is usually a greater difference) is 25% lost replacing steel with ty and 50% using aluminum.

Side benefit as SMF pointed out can be a tighter sled.

Chasing grams is a good hobby IMO.

POLZIN · Sep 13, 2015

Have you guys found a source for these bushings etc? If not I would be happy to produce them.

Sheetmetalfab · Sep 13, 2015

If you are building sleds or chasing grams one of these is handy.

These too.

Aftermarket Aluminum bushings for the Polaris Gripper Skis?

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