Sno-Grips

One of the more effective and inexpensive upgrades you can make to your sled is the addition of running board traction. It used to be that only mountain riders went to the lengths of adding some sort of boot grippers to their running boards, but take a look at many of the new sleds and you’ll see these features being integrated into the new designs.

For several years we’ve been attaching the polymer Sno-Slips to many of our sleds running board edges with excellent results, which led us to trying the Sno-Grips. Sno-Grips are mounted down into the running board and provide you with much needed traction whenever your feet start to move around during any type of aggressive or stand-up riding. They’re placed behind the heel, and pretty much give you a non-skid surface to plant your feet with confidence.

They attach with up to 15 rivets, and due to their polymer design snow and ice does not stick to the surface. In fact, this is one of the most effective methods we’ve found of keeping your running boards free of snow and ice. Our sleds fitted with Sno-Grips do not experience snow packing like other machines all do.

The polymer material is interesting stuff, it does not get slippery when wet like you’d expect. It seems to grip even better when wet, and we’ve found the traction to be as positive as metal grippers without the hazard of “cheese grater” damage. Durability has been a non-issue, and we’ve not yet experienced discoloration either.

Many sleds have some sort of traction towards the front of the running board, and the Sno-Grips fit nicely right behind this area. Before drilling any rivet holes, inspect the underside of the running board for gussets and tunnel brackets that may be difficult to drill and rivet through. On Yamaha models with cooling extrusions under the running boards, the Sno-Grips are designed differently so you can mount them without extrusion interference.

Once your sled is equipped with Sno-Slips and Sno-Grips, you get so used to the ability to move your feet around while riding that it can pose a problem when you hop on a sled not equipped. You’ll find yourself putting your feet where there used to be traction, and you’ll be slipping and sliding around; then you’ll realize how much you actually use the added traction.

Sno-Grips are available from several dealers and distributors (we get ours from High Performance Engineering 800-451-5268) and sell for $49.95 a pair. They’re available in several colors, and can provide an attractive accent to your machine. The matching Sno-Slips sell for $47.95 a pair, and are endorsed by Blair Morgan so you know they work