Wanted: ski/snowboard builds

[RagnarKon]

On a related note, this is my first winter, I’ve got Sas. Any recommendations for winter tires? Like most that hit the mountains in the winter, we’re frequently driving in winter storms and immediately after.

I've read on this forum that the Sasquatch Goodyear Territory M/Ts are actually decent in the snow. Cannot confirm or deny since I don't have them. But they may be okay?? Not sure. I do know they're not 3-peak rated, so if you ski in Canada that may cause some issues.

Anyway, my favorites:

- BFGoodrich KO2
- Falken Wildpeak A/T3W
- Toyo Open Country A/T III

BFG KO3 launched earlier this year but they're hard to find at the moment. Assuming they're as good as the KO2s, that will likely be my next tire. Another tire that was recently released and really perked my interest was the Wildpeak R/T's. I know next to nothing about them though, just became aware of them a few weeks ago.

I've got the old crusty 1996 Yakima ski racks too. They were quite at home on my 96 Impreza outback. I put them on the bronco and suddenly the racks looked old and decrepid.

I'm pondering a roof box. The Thule pulse alpine looks like it would work. I've got a 2 door and big long skis. The skis only fit if between the front seats in the bronco.

I love these Yakima ski racks... but yeah... it's time to retire them. They came out just prior to the snowboarding era, and it's obvious they did not design the racks with snowboarding in mind. Combine that with the fact that they're basically held together with a few zip ties and copious amounts of WD-40 and I think it's time.

I also am looking for a roof box, but hesitant to commit on one until I've decided on a ski/bike rack and an awning. With vehicles in the past I've had one set of boxes/mounts/racks/etc. for winter fun, and another almost entirely seperate set for summer fun. Really trying to avoid that with the Bronco if I can and stick with gear that is as universal as possible—I would like to be able to have a 2-car garage that I can actually park two cars in. But admittedly that makes finding the right gear more complicated.

Sponsored

 

[harpo]

I've read on this forum that the Sasquatch Goodyear Territory M/Ts are actually decent in the snow. Cannot confirm or deny since I don't have them. But they may be okay?? Not sure. I do know they're not 3-peak rated, so if you ski in Canada that may cause some issues.

Anyway, my favorites:

- BFGoodrich KO2
- Falken Wildpeak A/T3W
- Toyo Open Country A/T III

BFG KO3 launched earlier this year but they're hard to find at the moment. Assuming they're as good as the KO2s, that will likely be my next tire. Another tire that was recently released and really perked my interest was the Wildpeak R/T's. I know next to nothing about them though, just became aware of them a few weeks ago.


I love these Yakima ski racks... but yeah... it's time to retire them. They came out just prior to the snowboarding era, and it's obvious they did not design the racks with snowboarding in mind. Combine that with the fact that they're basically held together with a few zip ties and copious amounts of WD-40 and I think it's time.

I also am looking for a roof box, but hesitant to commit on one until I've decided on a ski/bike rack and an awning. With vehicles in the past I've had one set of boxes/mounts/racks/etc. for winter fun, and another almost entirely seperate set for summer fun. Really trying to avoid that with the Bronco if I can and stick with gear that is as universal as possible—I would like to be able to have a 2-car garage that I can actually park two cars in. But admittedly that makes finding the right gear more complicated.

I decided to just clean up the ski racks, sanded the rust off the steel parts and oxide off the aluminum and threw some paint at it.

Good enough and just fits in the garage....

 

[RagnarKon]

I decided to just clean up the ski racks, sanded the rust off the steel parts and oxide off the aluminum and threw some paint at it.

Good enough and just fits in the garage....

NICE!

Make sure your binding are facing down I guess haha.

 

[harpo]

NICE!

Make sure your binding are facing down I guess haha.

Yes the bindings would hit, but since it is a tiny detached 2 car garage, I usually unload first, then put the car in the garage. Interior of the garage is 16'8" wall to wall, just enough room to pull one car in forward and one car in backward with a few feet in between.

I do regret not making the door taller. I built the garage about 8 years ago and the initial design was 2 ft wider and 1 foot taller. My lot is super narrow and when I was laying it out I didn't like the sight lines so I narrowed it up, changing the door from 16'x8' to 14'x7'. I'm glad I shrunk the width but wish I kept the 8' door height. At the time I didn't expect to ever have an SUV.... The Bronco just hit all the right nostalgic notes for me.

Even at 8' I'd probably need a low profile box.

 

[Durangatan]

Even at 8' I'd probably need a low profile box.

Check out SkiGuard. Their DC is in Denver. It is the only box that doesn't look like a plastic garbage can on a vehicle. They can even color match.

Carrying skis out in the open is a no-no if you care at all about your skiing experience.

 

[Busyhands]

We have a 4-door Badlands Sas with the Soft top. I have been looking for a ski rack solution that does not involve the hitch so the tailgate door is easily opened without any hassle. No one makes a spare tire rack anymore it seems. My garage door header is relatively low sow a soft top roof rack won't work either as there would not be enough clearance. So I came up with a solution for inside. I got a 4 ft by 1 inch square piece of aluminum. Spray painted it black and attached it to one of the headliner mount locations just behind the front row seats with a screw/bolt on each end. A strip of velcro on it and the rear roll cage, and patches on the top of each ski. Works great!! I am 6-4 and my skis are 185 length, the 2nd pair of skis are much shorter than mine. The skis fit perfectly, the velcro prevents any movement and/or rattling. The soft top clears everything when opening/closing. The skis are easily loaded and fit into position without having to open the top. Interested in anyone's thoughts. Pics attached.

That’s rad

 

[Irritated Jones]

On a related note, this is my first winter, I’ve got Sas. Any recommendations for winter tires? Like most that hit the mountains in the winter, we’re frequently driving in winter storms and immediately after.

I felt like the stock tires did super well during last year’s season. Never had an issue and I was up at Purgatory for most of the big snows. And we purposely tried to do dumb stuff in it. Never felt like we were in a bad spot in it even at high rates of speed. I was really impressed at how well the Bronco handled the snow.

Regarding ski transport and such. I never found an adequate solution last year. Looked at a putting my Yakimas on top with a roof rack. But my older style garage won’t allow the rack to stay on all the time I don’t think from my measurements. So I went the ship them to the lodge via FedEx and just used the shuttle most days. First day we took the bronco to get first chair, I use 180s so still have a bit of a length issue. I had a large blanket and we wrapped the skis in it to protect them and the plastic in the Bronco. Also driving with the rack and skis on top would have probably have trashed my mpg even more. 85mph down westbound I-40 with a 45mph head wind was pretty terrible in a blue box.

 

[Fridge]

On a related note, this is my first winter, I’ve got Sas. Any recommendations for winter tires? Like most that hit the mountains in the winter, we’re frequently driving in winter storms and immediately after.

We haven’t had a lot of snow up here in saskatchewan yet but we put Nokian Hakkepolitta’s on our Sasquatch and they seem to handle the ice pretty good,We are a snowboard family and figured with our Prairie winters that can last 5 months and our yearly trip or two to the Rockies we wouldn’t skimp on tires. would hate to bang it up after waiting over a year for it. We have a hard top with factory rack so we went with a Thule XT, still going to be be a lesson for my wife and 2 young kids who are used to cramming the box of our superduty for one week trips.

 

[harpo]

Check out SkiGuard. Their DC is in Denver. It is the only box that doesn't look like a plastic garbage can on a vehicle. They can even color match.

Carrying skis out in the open is a no-no if you care at all about your skiing experience.

30 years of skis in the rack haven't ruined my ski experience or skis yet

My drive is short and the skis live in the house so they do dry out quickly.

 

[HolidayDog]

If you are hauling skis always put them in the vehicle or in a roof box. Road grime is terrible for ski bases and thus your ski experience.

I am planning to buy the grey Thule Motion XT XXL….this will fit four+ pair skis/poles in winter and our camp/raft/fish gear in summer. My family will transition from a Sienna to Bronco…..so it’s going to cramp our style for sure.

For bikes in the summer I’m planning on the Kuat Pivot2 with the 1up USA hitch rack or Kuat NV2.

 

[Durangatan]

30 years of skis in the rack haven't ruined my ski experience or skis yet

My drive is short and the skis live in the house so they do dry out quickly.

Consider this… A binding is a relatively precision piece of equipment. It is calibrated to your height, weight, age, perceived self reported ability, and boot sole length in mm. Road grime is not friendly to it.

As a full time instructor I have two identical pair of skis - Stockli Laser AX - as my daily driver. I work on one pair for 5 days while the other goes home for a tune.

As a masters level racer, race skis are tuned daily.

I’m 30 minutes to the hill and none of my skis ride outside.

 

[SkiSquatch]

And with several thousand dollars in skis and I do the bulk of the tuning, skis are never exposed to the elements.

 

[Durangatan]

I felt like the stock tires did super well during last year’s season. Never had an issue and I was up at Purgatory for most of the big snows. And we purposely tried to do dumb stuff in it. Never felt like we were in a bad spot in it even at high rates of speed. I was really impressed at how well the Bronco handled the snow.

Maybe it depends on what you are used to?

We just had about a foot where we live. I took the Bronco out in our private community (Sas with stock rubber). Compared to my S series Audi with studded Nokians I thought that it was absolutely miserable.

On my daily drives to Purg I can push the Audi, regardless of weather. The Bronco doesn’t inspire that level of confidence.

 

[Durangatan]

On a related note, this is my first winter, I’ve got Sas. Any recommendations for winter tires? Like most that hit the mountains in the winter, we’re frequently driving in winter storms and immediately after.

I’d look at what people are using regionally. I’ve probably logged 1,000 days of skiing on the East Coast, 1,000 in the Intermountain Rockies, and 1,000 in the Coastal Ranges.

While teaching at Baker I had a VW wagon with Michelin Ice X on them It rocked in the warmer, wetter snow. Not so great on ice.

Here in the Rockies, I am frequently traveling to PSIA and USSA events, in addition to teaching. The studded Nokians are amazing on those hard frozen, sub zero road surfaces in the AM. However when it is 35 degrees on my way home, and the road surface is slushy, they swim around a bit.

Currently driving an Audi SQ5. The Bronco doesn’t go out in snow.

 

[Durangatan]

Either way, box or old rack, I need to add a step or something so I can reach the box or rack.

The rear tires on my base Sas make for a perfectly acceptable step.

For a box, check out REI. Lots of people “rent to buy” them - they use them for a week trip and return them. If you have a relationship with staff they may sell you a used one at fire sale pricing.

Sponsored