Plastic Suspension Wins Snow Goer Award
August 28, 2008 by SnowGoer
About 15 years ago, a snowmobiler from Illinois wrote a letter to Snow Goer asking a simple question: Why was everybody on our staff so in love with plastic skis?
Plastic was weak and fragile – it was the material used in cheap toys, not snowmobile skis, the writer said. Plastic skis were destined to break and would destroy the handling of a sled, plus they wouldn’t last a whole season, he insisted. Use plastic skis, he warned, and the next time you have a hard landing your ski might snap right in front of the spindle and spear into the ground. He’d seen it happen, he claimed, and then proudly announced that he was sticking with steel skis forever.
Time obviously has proven that particular grumpy old man wrong. How foolish he looks now, right?
On April 16, 2007, the never-afraid-to-take-a-risk crew at AD Boivin introduced a product that to some was about as stunning as plastic skis were in the late 1980s. It was an all-composite rear suspension called the ZX2. It featured plastic rails, plastic arms and geometry unlike any skid in the snowmobile market.
While our society seems a bit more open to new ideas than it was when plastic skis were invented, the doubters still showed up on Internet message boards.
“That thing will snap in cold weather,” some snipped.
“It won’t last,” others claimed.
Plastic, some apparently still believe, is weak and fragile – it’s the material used in cheap toys, not snowmobile suspensions. Sound familiar?
For challenging the status quo and offering leading edge designs in its ZX2 rear suspension, AD Boivin Design of Levis, Quebec, is the 2008 Snow Goer Aftermarket Innovation Award winner.
Fresh Thinking, Again
Denis Boivin and his partner and brother Alain have never been afraid to take risks.
Denis, a mechanical engineer, has brought many innovations to the snowmobile market. He started challenging the status quo as an engineer at Bombardier years ago and is behind the Expert rear suspension and the Snow Hawk snow bike, among other products.
He first came up with the idea for a plastic rear suspension in 1998. A few prototypes were created, but Denis could not come up with a plastic that was strong and stiff enough. The idea was patented, then shelved but not forgotten.
While the idea sat, plastic composites continued to evolve in all markets. In fact, Boeing’s new 787 airliner is built almost entirely of composite, and internal engine parts like connecting rods are being made out of plastics in high-end race engines.
In 2005, Boivin found an ultra-high molecular weight (UHMW) composite that made him dust off some of his earlier plastic suspension designs, and after two years of testing he showed the ZX2 to the world last spring.
So what are the potential advantages of using plastic in the rear suspension? First, it doesn’t have welds, and anybody who has ever snapped a rear suspension part knows that the welds are usually the weak spots. It’s also lighter.
As a 121-inch suspension, the ZX2 weighs in at 52 pounds, making it up to 30 pounds lighter than some current rear suspension designs. Plastic is one reason, smart manufacturing is another – the ZX2 uses just 51 parts, compared to more than 150 on some other suspension designs.
Plastic also flexes, absorbing and sharing some of the energy of a bump.
There’s more to this suspension than the plastic material, however. The actual geometry is also innovative, using no front-arm shock, opting instead for parallel rear arm shocks. Suspension adjustments are also made differently on the ZX2 than on traditional designs, starting with a unique revolver system.
Finally, plastic and the manufacturing of a composite rear suspension is also affordable. Once the molds are made and paid for, the actual components can be produced affordably, allowing AD Boivin to introduce a cutting edge rear suspension complete for $1,299.
The Real Test
In its first winter on the snow, sales of the new skid are going well, according to AD Boivin officials. There are more than 300 of them on the snow and, other than some shock adjustments on the long-track versions, it has been very well accepted.
As this issue of Snow Goer went to the printer, we had just received our own ZX2 rear suspension for a real-world test ourselves. Check back next fall to see full ride evaluations on this unique design.
In terms of innovation, the real test will be time. Plastic skis were cool in the late 1980s, but they are now the norm due to their inherent advantages (lighter weight, durability, lower drag coefficient, etc.) over steel and aluminum skis. Steel skis now seem so archaic.
Twenty years from now, are we going to look back on the steel and aluminum rear suspensions of the early 21st century with the same sort of nostalgia as we do now with steel skis? We think it’s entirely possible.
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I’m in the process of updating the shocks on my 2007 Ski Doo MXZ Renegade 600ho sdi and was curious if you’ve done your review of the AD Boivin ZX2 rear suspension. Please get me any input you can to help make my decision soon. The product looks very intriuging. Thank you for your time.
Donn Lesch