Well, we finally sold our 03 z400. We had two, one for my pops and one for me. My dad is 300 pounds and wanted something a little more suited for his size and after riding his buddy's baja ds he knew it was the quad for him.

We are going to glamis for the first time in november, a little before thanksgiving, and he wanted to get his ds before we went down there. WE have been to pismo, oregon, and dumont but never glamis and im looking forward to it

Here are my questions, First off what size paddles should he get, Ive been reading on here and the general idea seems to be get 22 inch tires. He doesnt want v-blade paddles, so he either wants haulers or extremes. Wich of those should he get and how many paddles should he have on the tire.

My second question is, Ive read that you have to trim your heel gaurds for the 22 inch paddles, does triming them gurantee you will have clearnece, or does it just help, and does anyone have pics of some trimed ones so i can get an idea on what to trim.

Thirdly, ive heard you have to gear down with 22s, and my dad being a bigger guy will most likely want to gear down even more. What gear changes do you recomend for the dunes, and it would be most preferable to keep the stock chain length.

Any help will be appreciated, and i cant wait to get a ds. He is going to get an 05 x. We will most likely be getting in about a week. Im glad he is getting it, but mainly im glad cause ill get to ride it sometimes

 

The 22's are a must for the DS. If you are mainly stock to mildly modded go with extreme 8 paddle. It helps the DS from sinking in the sand on take off. You will want to change the front sprocket to a 15t to bring the gearing back after the 22's. You might have to trim the ears off the stock heelguards, but check it and see.

 

JMAC on the money with those mods, probably 8 paddles will suffice or nine work good if your going to pipe and jet it. I got buy the heel guard clearance thing with using a heat gun and bending out the ends just a tad.

 

JMAC is correct. You wont HAVE to gear down - even a bigger rider can run 22" paddles with stock gearing no problem, so if you don't have the time or desire to gear down don't worry about it at all. 1st gear is pretty low and generally speaking riding the dunes is a 2nd / 3rd gear affair - so with the slightly taller gearing, he will be in 2nd a little more - no big deal. (I have 15 tooth front sprockets on both of my DSs.) If you do get the 15 tooth sprocket, be sure to get the ron woods sprocket as it will last much longer than the cheap $12.99 units. Also be sure to pay the extra $5 and get the locking washer that goes with it. I figure each one is good for two uses, so you wont actually NEED it, however they will be $8 instead of $5 if you buy it from the dealer.

As far as trimming the heel guards, when you look at them you'll see that about 2" of them stick out beyond the rest of the quad on either side. This is what you trim or as Bombastic did 'bend / heat / move' forward. I cut them off of my 2001 DS, I did a perfect job on one side, and a not-so-good job on the other.

As far as Glamis goes - if you though Psimo was fun, and you enjoyed Dumont (which is much more entertainment than Psimo) then Glamis is just that much better. The dunes are great, and the best part is that you can ride for hours and never hit the same dunes - you can't do that at Dumont & certainly not Pismo.

 

I am sorry for cutting in on this thread, but everyone says you HAVE to run 22" tires for the sand. I was wondering why. I have always run 20" tires and love them. I am a big guy, and they give me lots of hookup, and I have only been stuck a few times and they were all my fault. I tried a friends ds with 22", and even with a 15 tooth front, it just wouldn't pull the tires the way I like to ride. I have a 15t and 20" sand stars, and just love them. Anyway, just wondering.

Justin

 

Im with you Justin , I run the 20" Extreemes 10 paddle with a 17/40 or 16/38 combo.

 

I sand drag alot and for max hookup Id go 22" with 8 or 9 paddles and gear the front down one. Yeah also I agree with the others gotta cut the ears off the heelguards. Good luck on your trip.

 

everyone talks about running either 20",22", or even 23" paddles, I would like to know if there is anyone that has run a 15/40 setup with 21" sand Geckos?

Is it worth my while changing to a 15t front sprocket with my 22"?

 

I've never run the Gecko's on my DS, but I have them on my wife's soon-to-be-for-sale Blaster and the kid's Kasea 90's.
If you haven't purchased the Geckos, I'd recommend you don't. It is an extremely heavy tire.

I ran stock gearing (16/40) with my 22" Extreme Haulers but found it's a bit too tall. I'd say it would be worth your while to go to a 15t while running 22's, IMO.


DHO

 

I actually made a mistake, I have 21" Geckos not 22", and I got my Ron Woods 15t sprocket in the mail today, should I still run it with the 21" paddles?