Painted Tunnels?

bkpa · Mar 18, 2014

How many of you are getting the RAW tunnel on your 2015? I am really torn on this. Maybe you guys who have painted tunnels could chime in? How do you keep them up? I remember the 90's when that was all we had and the paint came off. It seems that I get a lot of "boot shine" as it is now and think that I would really scratch up the painted tunnel.

They do look trick though...

jakey-boy · Mar 18, 2014

Cat & doo have been painting them for the last 5+ years and I've yet to see a used sled with paint chipping. Hopefully polaris uses a similar paint.

I remember the old days when the paint was always chipped off but I think they have improved since then.

Definitely worth it even if it does chip off in 10 years for the appearance and lack of snow sticking both.

AndrettiDog · Mar 18, 2014

I wanted to see one in person. Maybe at the SneakPeak. I just don't get why Poo didn't do the whole tunnel. All the pics I see are just the sides painted.

Jaegerc · Mar 19, 2014

On all the weight comparisons everybody is quick to point out that the Polaris gains the most snow weight and the Cat/Yamaha chassis gain the least. The biggest thing they point to is the powdercoated tunnel and skid.
If this is truly worth the 30-40lb of snow weight difference they are quoting in tests then it's completely worth it. I was actually considering stripping the tunnel off as a summer project and sending it to my powdercoater. Seems like a bit of work but for 30+lb of riding weight it's worth it.

Indy_500 · Mar 20, 2014

AndrettiDog said:
I wanted to see one in person. Maybe at the SneakPeak. I just don't get why Poo didn't do the whole tunnel. All the pics I see are just the sides painted.

My guess is they didn't want paint on top of the heat exchanger. A look at my 05 xc sp I used to own, it had black painted tunnel and under the seat on top of the heat exchanger all the paint was burned off.

kylant · Mar 22, 2014

Jaegerc said:
On all the weight comparisons everybody is quick to point out that the Polaris gains the most snow weight and the Cat/Yamaha chassis gain the least. The biggest thing they point to is the powdercoated tunnel and skid.
If this is truly worth the 30-40lb of snow weight difference they are quoting in tests then it's completely worth it. I was actually considering stripping the tunnel off as a summer project and sending it to my powdercoater. Seems like a bit of work but for 30+lb of riding weight it's worth it.

I rode Thursday with a Polaris rep. Snow was soft, slushy spring snow. I was on a demo ride with him. I rode his pro most of the day, he rode my Proclimb with a powder coated tunnel and short cooler.

I checked several times during the day. The Pro had NO snow build up on the cooler. My Proclimb had a nice 1”+ thick layer of slush caked on the tunnel.
I now don’t believe the hype or the videos about how the Proclimb carries so much less weight than the Pro. I saw just the opposite...

goridedoo · Mar 22, 2014

kylant said:
I rode Thursday with a Polaris rep. Snow was soft, slushy spring snow. I was on a demo ride with him. I rode his pro most of the day, he rode my Proclimb with a powder coated tunnel and short cooler.

I checked several times during the day. The Pro had NO snow build up on the cooler. My Proclimb had a nice 1”+ thick layer of slush caked on the tunnel.
I now don’t believe the hype or the videos about how the Proclimb carries so much less weight than the Pro. I saw just the opposite...

Lil different in spring snow, the Pro runs much hotter, and melts all the snow off. In midwinter, colder days, more pow, when the pro runs at normal temps it collects wayyyy more snow.

goridedoo · Mar 22, 2014

And yes the paint on the other current models holds up well, on the sides of the tunnel anyway, I know on the Doo boards it starts to peel after awhile. Who knows though, metal lace rings may be hard on it, my Klim boots have offset laces so you don't have to worry about that. I would think piece of clear vinyl on the wear prone area would be a sufficient solution.

kylant · Mar 22, 2014

goridedoo said:
Lil different in spring snow, the Pro runs much hotter, and melts all the snow off. In midwinter, colder days, more pow, when the pro runs at normal temps it collects wayyyy more snow.

so how does the cooler not melt off the snow during colder days?? doesn’t make sense to me...

but if you say so....

i find it hard to believe the Pro holds 100+ lbs more than a powder coated Proclimb tunnel

rmscustom · Mar 22, 2014

goridedoo said:
Lil different in spring snow, the Pro runs much hotter, and melts all the snow off. In midwinter, colder days, more pow, when the pro runs at normal temps it collects wayyyy more snow.

But the Yamacat video was done on spring snow:face-icon-small-sho lol

sledheadd · Mar 22, 2014

It's all propaganda, single out where the competition has the advantage then try and debunk it !!!! All manufactures do it, it's basically admitting that poo has a major weight advantage. IMHO

goridedoo · Mar 22, 2014

kylant said:
so how does the cooler not melt off the snow during colder days?? doesn’t make sense to me...

but if you say so....

i find it hard to believe the Pro holds 100+ lbs more than a powder coated Proclimb tunnel

In powder conditions the sled runs cooler... and there is constantly more snow hitting the tunnel... therefore sticking to it. On spring days my tunnel is constantly bare, and my sleds running hot. On pow days, my tunnel is packed with snow, top, bottom, sides, inside, and the sled runs a pretty constant 125.

goridedoo · Mar 22, 2014

rmscustom said:
But the Yamacat video was done on spring snow:face-icon-small-sho lol

That video seemed a lil fishy, there was like 8" of snow sitting on top of the skis? Never seen that before. And the amount of snow packed in the skids looked pretty unrealistic. Who knows though I guess.

Danny Dangles · Mar 22, 2014

Im considering powder coating my 12' this summer, are there any issues heating up the glue with the baking process?

sledneck_03 · Mar 22, 2014

sledheadd said:
It's all propaganda, single out where the competition has the advantage then try and debunk it !!!! All manufactures do it, it's basically admitting that poo has a major weight advantage. IMHO

Boom!

Polaris shoots them selves in the foot with the power to weight ratio thing. Its dancing around the truth.

Hopefully this 800 ho is reliable and is dynod at 160 hp to quiet the babies.

04proxr800 · Mar 24, 2014

Paint technology is amazing these days, the paint definetly won't chip but will wear
Out from constant rubbing (gas tanks, accesory bags) and will scratch obviously. You could always clear wrap it to protect it or wrap it if it starts to look bad!

04proxr800 · Mar 24, 2014

The nice part is there is not polishing to be done!!! Just wipe clean!!

GoBigParts · Mar 24, 2014

goridedoo said:
That video seemed a lil fishy, there was like 8" of snow sitting on top of the skis? Never seen that before. And the amount of snow packed in the skids looked pretty unrealistic. Who knows though I guess.

Most people at least move their feet around on the boards every once in a while to brush the snow off that collects near the back. So that snow most likely would be gone. My sled has a wrapped tunnel so I get very little to no build up on the boards and against the tunnel.

Danny Dangles · Mar 25, 2014

The only time I have seen a pro gain 120lbs of snow (or whatever was claimed,) was when it was caught up in an Avy.....That video was ridiculous.

Anyways what kind of paint do you guys recommend using, I would like to paint my tunnel but looking at it, it makes more sense to just wrap it.

cateye5312 · Mar 25, 2014

Danny Dangles said:
The only time I have seen a pro gain 120lbs of snow (or whatever was claimed,) was when it was caught up in an Avy.....That video was ridiculous.

Anyways what kind of paint do you guys recommend using, I would like to paint my tunnel but looking at it, it makes more sense to just wrap it.

I'm in the process of wrapping mine with gloss black right now. It's a friggin' job. Looks cool though - I just don't have enough patience to get it perfect. Paint would be SO much easier!

I went to my local sign company and bought a 5' x6' sheet of their best gloss black vinyl.

Mossy Oak Graphics has some great how to videos on their website about applying it.

Thought briefly about trying to do it all in one piece - now I'm doing it in 5 pieces.

Painted Tunnels?

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