Carbides causing bent A arms some more than others?

[skibreeze]

I have bent a few A arms where some people claim to not have any issues. Well my fix was to order some hard weld bars w/o carbides. Today I picked up my 14 and went to swapping them out along with the bars on my 13. I knew that the 13 had a good 1 1/2" gap between the hard weld on both sides of the carbide, creating a "catch" about 3/16" tall. This was my reasoning for ordering bars w/o the carbide. What surprised me on the 14 was the fact that the hard weld went all the way to the carbide, thus not creating the recess where the carbide can really bite into a rock.

Is this a change or just a variance in how the bars were made? Something to look at if you are bending A arms or breaking the upper ball joints.

 

[icr]

I haven't compared the two but I put wear bars on all my sleds for that reason. You'll notice a difference immediately loading onto trailers or sled decks as well as moving it around in the garage without dollies.

 

[skibreeze]

I'm hoping it will save me about $500 in A arms, not to mention the ruined days. Sounds like it will help.

 

[wjl]

Took out my carbides on the 2013 and MIGed the entire length this summer.

 

[philsummers21]

Interesting thought.

 

[backcountryislife]

So with that little change in configuration are you going to keep the carbides then? I was thinking about going to wear bars only this year, but you've got me thinking that maybe just adding some material in front of the carbide might be a solution.

 

[Yamadoo04]

My question is this. Should they even put Carbides on mountain sleds in the first place? I just picked up my new sled and unloaded it off the trailer into the garage and now i have huge scratches in my floor. I have never had that with any of our other sleds. Have had many Yamahas a couple Skidoos and now Polaris. Its also cutting grooves in my trailer which I have never had happen like this before.

Now, should I just run the sled down the street for a few miles to wear them out or should I buy different wear bars?

 

[meathooker]

ive noticed a huge difference with aggressive carbides vs worn vs wear bars. a nice new sharp set of aggressive has stopped me dead in the tracks flying over the bars with what i thought was minimal ski pressure on the rock.

 

[Xrider]

For years now the first thing I do is to replace the factory carbides with regular cheap steel wear bars. Carbides have no place on a mountain sled. You can turn just fine even in an icy parking lot. Saves front ends and also trailer floors, shop floors, driveways etc.

 

[sledneck_03]

i put wear bars on my iq. its a dream for unloading and loading... never noticed the difference on the trails.

 

[skibreeze]

So with that little change in configuration are you going to keep the carbides then? I was thinking about going to wear bars only this year, but you've got me thinking that maybe just adding some material in front of the carbide might be a solution.

Just from what I saw on my 13, I had already ordered the wear bars for both sleds. I was surprised to see the difference between the 13 and 14 bars.

 

[Yamadoo04]

Also where do I purchase some wear bars without the carbides for cheap to fit these skis?

 

[skibreeze]

Woody's makes them, they make the stock bars as well. I took my 14 bars and finished welding the small gap closed and then took them to the bench grinder to round them off a bit. I put them on the sled my cousin will be riding this year, so we will see how they work.

 

[cateye5312]

Ya know I never gave it much thought but now that you mention it - I know I've knocked carbides off the bottoms of skis before and never noticed the difference. I do get tired of them gouging my garage floor not to mention anything else they come into contact with. I might try some hard bars as well. Shadetree Powersports or JRGrahams both stock them.

Haha, my nephew hit a cattleguard once with a set of aggressive carbides - boy was that a show stopper! Luckily no one was injured in the making of that little blooper!

 

[FCR112]

I've bent plenty of A arms with both carbides and hard weld wear bars. Sno-stuff, Woodys, and I think the last one's were stud boy... In my experience it hasn't made a whole lotta difference between the two.

Totally agree, grind down the 4" carbides at the least. They are just plain dangerous when new both on the mtn and for the garage/driveway.
I really like them best when they get a chance to catch on a fresh piece of aluminum


Looking forward to seeing how the 14's work, right after I grind down whatever section is razor sharp carbide from polarry.

 

[rmscustom]

I just cant see the carbide catching on something to cause an a-arm bend... All the bends I've had were from an side impact to the ski in a counter steer position or a direct impact to the arm. Never from a carbide catching... Taking the edges off or removing the carbide do make life easier around the garage or loading/unloading with a trailer or deck though.

 

[3beans]

A few years ago I was coming down a hill on my xp and the carbide caught the tip top of a rock and mad me hit the bars but didnt stop the sled, this was the last ride of the year! 3mo later I'm in my garage "riding" and I noticed my left ski was 2" farther back than my right????? How did this happen????? Called ins company and dropped the sled off at the dealer, get a call back and I took out both a arms, s mod, e mod, and the pyramid support! Cost progressive $2500!

 

[RoffRider]

one thing i would think is cool is for the powder only guys an aluminum wear bar would work good, weigh less, dont rust, and just put the normal ones back on when the snow gets scarce in the spring time

 

[RoffRider]

Ya know I never gave it much thought but now that you mention it - I know I've knocked carbides off the bottoms of skis before and never noticed the difference. I do get tired of them gouging my garage floor not to mention anything else they come into contact with. I might try some hard bars as well. Shadetree Powersports or JRGrahams both stock them.

Haha, my nephew hit a cattleguard once with a set of aggressive carbides - boy was that a show stopper! Luckily no one was injured in the making of that little blooper!

on my water skipping sled i just left the old worn out carbide on there...ripped it right off at the front of the carbide and took off half of the whole metal bar only driving through little gravel and mud

 

[sledneck_03]

Also where do I purchase some wear bars without the carbides for cheap to fit these skis?

https://www.denniskirk.com/woodys/top-stock-hard-surfaced-wear-rods.p031359.prd/031359.sku

I see these dont work for the gripper but same idea.....