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Plastic skis on cast aluminum spindles

2K views 5 replies 2 participants last post by  derwoodk 
#1 ·
Nothing like beating a dead horse on this subject. Anyways, I have a set of saddled skis from a 01 ZR that I'm going to put on my wife's 96 Jag Liquid. I have read up on the subject in various threads about this subject. Tonight I went ahead and sawed off the bushings on the spindle to downsize it to fit the saddle. I have already gotten new 1/2" bolts to mount the skis. I realize I have to drill out the little spacers in the saddle from 7/16" to 1/2" for the bolts. Now comes the question I ask of guys who have done this, what did you do about the bushing that is left in the spindle? It is about .090 bigger than the 1/2" bolt so did you guys put a bushing in it to take up the size difference or what? Inquiring minds need to know.I dunno
 
#2 ·
I replaced the skis on my 1993 Pantera with the blow-molded ones from my Cat dealer. Got a deal on them. I had no issue of that much play in bolt. I take it you sliced the outside and inside edge of bushing to get spindle into saddle? Steel sleeve was still intact after I drilled out bolt and cleaned it out. Can you get a bigger bolt and still use your spacers after drilling them?
 
#3 ·
Yes, I sliced the bushings off both sides of the spindle like other guys have done. What's left of the sleeve and bushing is still in the spindle. The newer skis and sleds take a 7/16" bolt where as the ones I took off use a 1/2" bolt in them. The outside of the bushing that I sawed off, were smaller diameter than the part that is left after I sawed them off. That is where the bigger diameter comes into play. If I drill out the little bushing in the saddle bigger yet for say a 9/16" or 5/8" bolt, there won't be anything left of it, just a hole thru the aluminum saddle.
 
#4 ·
If you can get different saddle spacers from a hardware store to fit 1/2" bolts, is there lots of saddle to drill a bigger hole to fit the bigger spacer. I assume the spacers are steel?
 
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