Stryke ski shimming questions

[Sledroll]

Can you change the shims without taking the ski off the spindle ?
Do you need to take off the carbide to get the shim on ?
For more bite , do you increase the front shim ?

 

[ksiesel]

You do have to take the ski off the spindle in order to remove the shim. They are bolted in place with the 2nd and 3rd carbide bolts so you can leave the 1st and depending on carbide 4th in place when changing shims.

From what I gather, if you want more bite in loose snow, you add shim height to the rear to load the rear of the ski. Adding shims to the front is said to make it more precise (twitchy and dart more if you go too far).

I’ve not had a chance to play with them on snow yet, only in the garage.

 

[Sledroll]

You do have to take the ski off the spindle in order to remove the shim. They are bolted in place with the 2nd and 3rd carbide bolts so you can leave the 1st and depending on carbide 4th in place when changing shims.

From what I gather, if you want more bite in loose snow, you add shim height to the rear to load the rear of the ski. Adding shims to the front is said to make it more precise (twitchy and dart more if you go too far).

I’ve not had a chance to play with them on snow yet, only in the garage.

So I changed the front shim without taking the ski off .
Only removed the nut holding it on , pulled out the old shim , and then pressed down on the ski tip and slid the thicker , not the thickest one , in and bolted it on .
Took it out for a ride , and the change did not have a noticeable affect to the steering .
It will even out the wear of the carbide runner , as that back was wearing a lot more than the front .
So what incremental adjustments can I now do , to increase the bite of the ski ?
I have never adjusted the skid straps on any previous SW or Apex with Tuners and Snowtrackers .
I just looked under my sled , while sitting on a flat cement floor , and noticed the skid straps are not tight .
It looks like that is due to the 1.5 " studs pushing up on the skid .
Should this lead me to tightening up the straps one hole , and thus putting a little more pressure on the skis ?