Messing around with some home made skis

[Gee]

One of the things I just love about this hobby is making stuff up that might work for one of my rcs. Taking something that was never meant to be used for the RC and making it work. It almost more fun then actually running them. Sometimes.... Anyways I play with lexan a lot in making stuff for the Rcs. I even made a complete rustler out of lexan one long winter. Chassis, arms, and shock towers all out of 3/8" lexan. It lasted a long time. I've made lots of other things from lexan that worked and lots that didn't work. Several of the items where copies of item made and for sale. But I wanted to see if I could make it myself. More times then not I ended up buying the products for sale that were already made. Lexan is easy to work with just like wood but stronger and you can shape it with some heat.


Anyways got the urge after a foot of snow fell a while back to try and make some skis from crap I had laying around the garage. This is what I came up with. I didn't use the strongest lexan I have on the proto types I came up with. I didn't want waste it on something I wasn't for sure it would work or even use one done with. I used some cheap stuff for the test build and already broke one off. I've never seen the Skis that are made for the rc even though full force rc is only 35 miles away, but they have always been on the list of items to try out someday.


Here's some pictures of what I threw together.











I could of gone out and bought some better brackets or what ever but I like the challange of making something out of the crap I already got over flowing from the many junk drawers I have.


If anyone has a set of the skis that can be bought. I am curious as to how long they are. I just took a guess at a length for the ski and where to mount them. I am open to any suggestion on lenght, attaching them, or any improvements or ideas on the setups. It's just fun to share ideas on the rcs, a lot of mine are spin offs of other people great ideas already. This may just give others ideas on a set of skis for them to make.

 

[chevy]

Nice ski's that a good idea, I think one idea is make them more easy/faster to remove off the wheel, then when your driving you don't have to cut the motor just pull your rig up and remove them, I noticed the ski's made for the baja are skinnier than your set, don't know if that hurts or helps performance? Im thinking the rampage might do better with wider set, also the limiting of travel is a good idea maybe try to incorporate a spring or mod a swaybar kit to add some positive resistance, i mean as the ski gets pushed upward it starts to push back keep the ski planted on the snow, one question I have do these skis effect turning ??

 

[Gee]

Thanks Chevey some good advice and ideas. Buying the skis already made have always been on the back of my mind. Just was not convinced that they would be worth the money. That's one of the reason I tried to put a set together. To see how they would do. Unfortuanately I didn't get to really put these to the test before I ran it into the brush pile and broke the one side. I am still unsure about how well the turned the baja, They did turn it but sometimes it didn't seem like enought. It should help it out in the deeper snow if you don't let stop and get high centered. I only had the baja out once in the snow prior to this test. It was on the plowed road but when ever the front tires touched the deeper stuff the fun was over. Usually sucked it in and you were stuck. I was hoping the ski would help eliminate that and allow it to keep moving as long as you didn't let it stop. Our snow is fading fast for now but more is expected. The new snow may motivate me again to do a little more on them.

 

[dunerrunnner]

Good idea man, go foward on that.