Ski-Doo is having problems with their Pilot Skis????

craze1cars

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http://www.dootalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74483

In my researching whether I want 6.9 Pilots for my Attak, I did some fishing around DooTalk. Came across this thread full of people complaining about Pilot failures/weak spot/demanding a recall or redesign/all that usual stuff people like to cry about when something breaks. Thought I'd share for those of you running Pilots.

From another thread, I learned that many of their Summit riders are ditching their Pilot 6.9's for Simmons and liking the improvement.

Seems that Simmons are pretty universally favored, rarely see anything bad said about them. I think that's what I'll do.
 
I personally think the Pilots were rushed to market when a federal court forced Doo to stop using the precision ski (federal court ruled they were a patent infrigment on Simmons). R&D was most likely not adequate.
 
I have the pilots,and bud also has them...we LOVE how they feel light in steering and get rid of darting..and basically work overal very very good on the apexs....

I did read alot about how some were having issues with them on dootalk too..personally i havent seen ONE BIT of wear....i beleive any plastic ski if run too much on roads/dirt ect will wear out....the pilot does have a vulnerable spot on outer part of ski infront of carbide,however this area only would wear out when run in dirt IMO....we have had amazing conditions here locally so mine are perfect.

I think simmons are amazing ski overall,however i have heard they are heavy steering and also can push in softer snow in cornering the same way the precisions used to...

If you ride in decent snow most the time,i highly recommend pilots.We love ours.

Dan
 
Simmons do NOT dart like a precision. The rigidity of the precision caused snow/ice to build up in the tunnel, which caused REAL SIGNIFICANT pushing, plus, their tunnel is not as deep (might as well be a 2x4 with a couple of bars bolted on), so they don't dig in as well. Simmons skis are flexible, so the ice breaks out before it has a chance to form.

Simmons skis do float higher in the snow than a standard ski, as do all BIG skis. If the surface snow is loose, there can be some additional push. There is a little known add-on for the simmons skis that fix this, it amounts to a plate mounted to the side which the snow pushes against.

As for heavy steering, you have twice the penetrating surface, you have twice the steering. It steers harder because it ACTUALLY STEERS. If you want to reduce it, loosen off the ski springs, loosen off the limiter strap, tighten center spring (if your skid has one), shim the skis, set transfer higher, or some combination of the above.
 
I saw a Ptek 800 this past weekend that had a set of broken pilots. He said they work great but there is definetley a weak spot wear the ski loop comes back down into the ski/carbide area. It cracks.
I purchased a set of the Apex mountain ski's, they are identical to the Powder Pros I ran on my F7 a few years ago which performed Awesome! Cost is around $235 which includes all the longer bushings/bolts.
 


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