Anodized Rails

[Throttle Jockey]

Well thanks to the help from Lake Effect Snow Co (Superman). I had my rails and spindles anodized black to match the rest of my sled.

 

[revster]

Looks great!

 

[APEX 06]

I like what did it cost

 

[Throttle Jockey]

I don't really know the cost since we are doing a bit of a trade.

 

[sleddheadd]

Thats a great idea! I wonder how the anodizing holds up compared to powder coating. That looks really cool being totally blacked out on your sled!

 

[Nick1945]

Looks really sharp

 

[Turtle]

Thats a great idea! I wonder how the anodizing holds up compared to powder coating. That looks really cool being totally blacked out on your sled!

It depends on what kind of anodizing you do and/or what kind of powder coating you do.

Powder coating is very tough. But there is also anit-chip powder coating that our vendor has available ... which is extremely tough. But it also costs a bit more.

Regular cosmetic anodizing (which we are mostly familiar with) is pretty tough. But when you scratch it, you can see the aluminum below. Hard coat anodizing is the ultimate. The top .004" of the aluminum will be as hard as 80 rockwell ... so hard it's tough to scratch with a metal file. I had my custom rails (made by Muffin Works of course) done with the hard coat anodizing, and after 4000 miles, there isn't a single scratch anywhere. It's super tough. But hard coat anodizing is super expensive.

 

[VX1R]

Those rails and spindles look really good on your Nytro anodized.

For anyone that's wondering how the anodized parts hold up....

From my experience having the suspension rails anodized vs. powder coated, I've found that hard coat anodizing has provided to be the most durable way to go on high wear items such as suspension rails.

I totally agree with gade-thrashers comments. He's hit the nail right on the head, with a great explanation of the differences.

 

[Throttle Jockey]

This should hold up well, I have always wanted to test out anodized parts so this will be a good way to see what happens. Thanks for the comments guys.

 

[SledFreak]

Where did you get them done?

 

[Superman]

Right on. As stated above by gade-thrasher. x2

Another FYI about anodizing is over time with prolonged exposure to the suns UV rays, all colors of anodizing will fade, except gold. (something about the gold color having a man-made pigment) I assume this is why you see alot of crotch-rocket suspension struts done in gold......But for most of us snowmobilers our days are shorter and we usually keep our sleds in garages and trailers when they're not being used. Plus probably 50% of the days we do ride its hopefully overcast with snow falling. So fading shouldn't really be a big issue for sleds.

I love that picture of the skid. Those black rails really make those INNER billet wheels stand out.