I plan on buying a set soon to ride at Waynoka, UT Little Sahara! I want to get some tires that hook up for the drags, and hill climbs. I also want to get the best handling ones. What's your opinions on sand tires for a sport quad. Are there any sand tires that will give you good traction, and handle well turning?


Thanks,
Dan

 

I have tried Skat Trak Haulers and Sand Tires Unlimiteds Sand Skate 2's. I feel that the Sand Skate 2 is the best overall paddle tire that you can buy. I felt that they had just as much bite as the Haulers but since they are an v paddle design they turn a whole lot better. I have them and some GBC Dune Tracker fronts on my Quadzilla 500 and am very happy with them and would recomend a pair for your Raptor. If all that you are doing is drag racing the Haulers MAY get a slightly better bite, but if they do it's not enough to sacrafice the handling of the Sand Skates if you plan to do any other type of riding in my mind. Also go with an 8 paddle tire no matter what you do. Only when you get into the really high horsepower drag quads are more paddles needed. Otherwise they will actually hurt you. I seen a guy with 12 paddle Haulers on his Raptor awhile back. He was always at the tail end of a drag race. Go with the 8's.

 

Well, take your pick: EITHER best hook-up OR best handling.

Haulers are the (more or less) undisputed king of hook-up tires but they don't turn well. The V-paddles will turn better but I think there is a BIG difference between the two in traction. I would say that the haulers hook-up as much better than the Vs as the Vs handle better than the haulers. If that makes any sense.

I ride a lot of dunes and all of the hillshooters and drag racers are running 22" 10 paddle haulers. The only problem is that 22" is pretty tall for the already tall gearing on the Raptor; even with a 12 tooth sprocket maybe. The 22" haulers are rounder in profile than the 20" one. I have the 20" haulers and I still regret not getting the 22" Haulers.

Or, get the V paddles and lose races because you go the wrong tire. Also, I would think that no matter wich paddles you get you will probably want 8 paddle tires but maybe other Raptor owners could tell you for sure.

 

Like Zillaman says an 8 paddle only. A four stroke does not turn enough rpm to turn a ten paddle quick enough. I would stay w/ a 20" tire too. It takes much more power to turn paddles. Most people increase the tire size over stock when they go to a paddle, that couldn't be more wrong. In that situation you will actually go slower w/ paddles. A ten or eight inch wheel is up to you. The ten inch will look better, but the eight will soak up and ride better the and no they don't roll in the corners.

 

I have ran Sand Skate II's, Sand Sharks, Skat-Trak Haulers and Skat-Trak Edges, and by far like the Skat-Trak tires, they hook up the best.

As far as a strait or a V-paddle, the Haulers are good for strait line racing or hill climbing, but don't do well for turning. The Edges (v-paddle) hook up almost almost as well as a hauler, but you can turn alot easier.

The Sand Skate's and Sand Sharks are a heavier tire, and the paddles will actually start to bend over under heavy excelleration. The Skat-Trak tires have a harder paddle and don't flex. If you goto the dunes, watch the bikes, you will be able to tell who is running Skat-Trak tires, they throw a better roost.

I would definitly run a 20x10x10 8-paddle tire on the your Raptor, and if you havn't done it yet, throw on a 12-tooth front sprocket, it will help correct the long stretch between 1st and 2nd, and will actually let you use 3rd a little more on the hill climbs.

 

Check out this test! http://www.atvnews.com/output.cfm?id=34183 I like the results of the sand skate IIs. It's a V-paddle to get better handling, and it does great in hooking up. I will probably go with an 8 paddle 20-11-10 Sand Skate II. Thanks for the input guys!

How about the fronts? I like the looks of the razors!

Thanks,
Dan

 

I have Skat Track Edge paddles on my stock (12t c/s sprocket) Raptor. They hook up very well, much better than stock tires could ever dream of. However I have the Sand Skate II's on my Blaster. The Blaster tires move alot more sand. Also they throw significantly more into the air! I dont really have a direct comparison because unfortunately they have different bolt patterns and I cant swap wheels. However next time around I'd probably buy the Sand Skate II's. Btw, even with the edge paddles it's usually a very close run up the hills on my stock Raptor against pretty much any other quad, I dont lose by much to the piped Shee's and that by itself is good. I'll bet with a pipe I could at least match them. Not bad for a four stroke trail quad!