I'm not talking about sucking anything into the engine. I'm talking about normal use. Which one eats up a quad the worst. Bearings, chains ,bushings, shocks, filters, etc

 

i would say all of the above.

 

It's kind of a funny, but good question. Water by itself really does not do much damage in comparison to the other two. Water can eventually find it's way into the oil and fluids of an ATV, but that takes more time and exposure then the others. However, it is water that acts as transportation of the other two substances into the internals of your machine and allows them to weaken the components. I had to replace the entire rear end of my Rubicon at one point because of the combined triple threat of all of these elements. Just the thought of sand scraping away and corroding your bearings, brakes, gears, etc. is just like nails on a chalkboard to me[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]As far as which is the most corrosive and potentially hazardous material though, it would have to be:

1.sand
2. mud
3.water

 

Salt water will eat everything up quickly without a good cleaning....

 

I would have to say:

1. mud
2. sand
3. water

Simply put, mud can much more easily get into everything. It can get past seals and into axle bearings easier than sand because the particles are smaller. It also gets on your clothes and grinds away at the plastic and stickers. It also sticks to and bakes onto the exhaust. Machines that have been run in the mud usually show their age much worse.

Sure, sand is very abrasive but particularly when dry there's a limit to what it can get into.

If you throw the occasional crash into the mix, sand is more forgiving too.

 

We have red clay mud hear so it's not sandy at all. The thought of riding in sand just kills me. I can see those sand particles getting into everything oooohh.It's like my nails on a chalkboard too.


I can see where sandy Mud would be really bad maybe even worse. I'm 400 miles from the ocean so I have no clue about what salt water des to anything. Does it eat paint or metal? What about salty sand? Is that even worse!

 

definately salt water... you dotn even have to ride you machine in it just park by the beach and you can almsot watch it erode