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Ski Shims 101, - Why, and How

104K views 42 replies 28 participants last post by  cats19 
#1 ·
OK, your sled is handling wierd. The front end seems to have a mind of it's own. You've heard me or somebody else mention these, and are wondering what the big deal is. Read on...

My Apex scared the daylights out of me when I first got it, frequently, and at the most "inconvenient" times (read that going WAY to fast). I tried these as a last ditch effort and they simply transformed it. Since, I've now used them on several different brand sleds that were misbehaving (including the Lady's 07 IQ), and to the sled, these shims have made a dramatic difference if not fixed the problem entirely. Sounds like I'm selling snake oil doesn't it?

After verifying there's no bent/broken parts in the front suspension, and your toe in (out) is properly set, try this with nothing else before you start throwing money at it. They're nearly free if you're handy, and only take a few minutes, so nothing much lost if you aren't totally happy with the results.

Here's a link by the guy that had this brainstorm if you're wondering why they work. I found it pretty interesting, but you can skip that and just believe they do if you like...

Challenge - Bergstrom Skegs, Inc.


Some pics if you'd like to try a set. It's going to take you longer to take your skis off and put thim back on than it is to do up a pair of these. You should be pulling the ski bolts to get some grease on them once a season anyway, so....

The first pics show a shim marked up on a new piece of hyfax (use any material you'd like!). There's no reason to do this to a new one, but I didn't have any scrap handy when doing the pics. Just clamp it in a vice and make the angle cut. When that's done, turn it and cut to the correct length. Total cutting time with a hacksaw, maybe 5 minutes per shim. With a sharp hacksaw blade, even less (mine are always dull!). No precision required as long as the look something like the next pics (these are Yammi. Sorry Poo faithfull, these were handy) when done. You can see I used 2 small screws (not clear, sorry, look for the rust marks), maybe an inch long to hold the shim in place. That's all it takes. Add glue first if it'll make you sleep better.

The acid test/confirmation to tell if you've done this right occurs when you have the sled sitting on pavement, and can get down on you knees and see the front carbide is clear of the pavement. You can see clearly that the carbide in back is now going to be the one to wear out first. Bergstrom has some pictures posted in that link above to illustrate this if you'd like. -Al
 

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#32 ·
I was having the same problem with my 09 Dragon Switchy, I called Bergstom and ordered a set of Tripple points and he told me to reverse my rubber bushing and shim it so the skis point more "up" If you think about it, if the ski tips are pointed down they are going to track in whatever rut is currently there, it they are more up they will stay on their own track. I did this and it was a world of difference virtually eliminated the darting with out spending money. You can see by the pics that it worked.
Strocker
 

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#33 ·
Very nice pics! Nicely illustrated. They show what needs to happen really well. That "contact patch" needs to be moved to the rear to cut the darting down. Acts like caster....

Reversing the snubber/bushing/whatever you want to call it, is ski specific. Not all will have the intended effect when reversed?

What you have going on there is a big step in the right direction, but now that you have proven to yourself this works, you might want to go back in and flip it back around and shim it? That should last you quite a while. What you have going on in the pics may not last long? When freshly shimmed, the rear of that carbide is generally touching....
 
#40 ·
Shims work great, i found that if ski bolt fits in without swearing, then it needs a shim. I bought aluminum flat bar from home depot for shims on a iq

To install ski bolt, I have used a vise grip wood clamp, and also a big ratchet strap that you hook to a arms and loop under ski.
 
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