I went to the sand dunes near Delta, Utah last weekend. It was a riot even though it was wet and still had snow on the north faces. My brother loaned me some old paddle tires he had that was missing a couple of the paddles already. By the end of the day, I had taken off 3 more on each tire with my 400EX. I only rode in the sand...wet sand and the snow and not on the road or other similar hard surfaces. Question: What would you recommend for paddle tires especially with regards to durability?

Thanks,

Brad

 

If your on a stock 400, I'd say get some sand sharks, sandstars, or geckos....

 

You will get the least amount of ride time on any paddle that is welded on. V's turn better. Extreme Haulers are very good, but you will pay the price for them. Haulers are the best for pure speed. I've ran 5 or 6 different styles and brands. A heavy paddle like a Dune Hopper or Gecko is terrible compared to others. I run Sand Devils. They work very very well and the cost is the cheapest of all paddles. They are a little heavier then a Hauler, but will outlast them by 4x. I did runs on Choke Cherry Hill w/ Haulers also and felt no difference compared to my Sand Devils. Sand Devils only come in a few sizes so your limited on what you can get. A good choice for you is a 7 paddle due to our elevation. An 8 will work, but I don't think as good. A 21 or 22" tire will hillshoot and drag race better then a 20" tire. They tend to roll your quad when you corner and a 20" tire won't. A 20" tire is better for jumping and turning and makes the machine sit lower. If you jump or pound through whoops an 8" rim is better so the side wall of the tire can soak up some of the impact. A 10" rim will bend much eaiser in these situations, but they do look better...Some tires that are made for sand are a complete waste of money.

 

The new ITP Sand Stars are INSANE. Awesome hook up, turning. EVERYTHING. There a lot like the haulers but think they will last longer.

 

I also just ordered a set of paddles. I went with the sand devils because they look like a very good tire and the paddle height is not to high. My friend has the sand stars on his yfz and they work great. A guy on the ex riders forum said the sand stars were horrible on his 416EX. He was saying he could not hill shoot well because they hooked up so well that he did not have the power to pull them. He said he ended up cutting the paddle height in half and then they seemed to be about perfect. Kinda makes since to me.....the guy with the yfz is pushing around 45hp compared to a 416 that puts out I'm guessing around 33-34hp. Just something to think about.
James

 

Sand Sharks - great all around tire, will work great on any 4 stroke, nice price. Get them from Rocky Mountain, you will be happy!

 

Sand Sharks are the best tire for the money. I put 7-paddle 20x10x10 Haulers on my son's stock 400EX and he says they work great. They don't seem to load the quad down.

 

If you've got $400 burning a hole in your pocket, I think the custom cut Sand Tires Unlimited Mini-Desert Traks would be a good choice. Also about a 3 month wait at Fullerton.

 

Kenda Dune Runners are also a good choice. Very durable and affordable plus they hook up very well[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Why would a taller tire work better for hill climbs? I can understand in a drag race, they would give you more top speed when there are no gears left, but it would seem to me that you would want to gear down (ie smaller tire diameter) for a hill climb, since you never hit top gear anyway...is it more of a floatation issue?

Also, what about the number of paddles? Do fewer paddles mean more or less traction? I was just re-reading the notes for the paddle-battle, and they said that fewer paddles meant more traction because each paddle had to push more sand... That seems like BS to me... it seems to me, the more paddles you have, the more total sand that you would push per revolution of the tire...? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]