Guys,

I am going to try ice racing for the first time this winter. They have utility class ice racing at the local winter carnival in Saranac Lake, NY. I will only be doing one, or two, races. Do the ice screws that you put in your tires work ok, or do you really need to have them studded?

 

Sheet metal screws work okay, 3/8" - 1/2" depending on how much tread your tires have. Official screw in "studs" are supposedly hardened and cost more, but they look the same, and mine didn't seem to last longer than sheet metal screws (slotted hex head). Most utility mud tires I've seen have hard rubber and not many get ripped out. If they do get ripped out you can put more, for less weight on each stud, which is less traction but losing studs is less traction too. I used 18" holeshots with 4 studs per **** and it works great. A tip - a rock hard tire will get more traction with studs than running less air pressure, I did okay once I got that figured out.

Rod

 

Killefitt,
You have to be careful when installing ice cleats you must use the ones that screw in from the inside with a nut on the outside to keep them on. If one of the screw in types from the outside were to come off in a race it is like a bullet when it comes off it can cause irreputable damage. I am sure you would not want to be on the recieving end of a flying ice stud!!!!!!!!!

 

Hey Brent,
My grandma lives in Sprague. If you have reason to be that far south for a weekend let me know and I'll make the trip to meet you.

 

I wish I lived that far down south. Thats a long ways down, probably 14 hours from my place. I doubt I will ever be down that far south.

 

Alltoys, not to discourage anyone from racing, but the only guys that run proper tires are the quads racing the 6+ hour endurance races. They have extra layers of rubber inside the tires with the studs that bolt through it. Us 8 lap racers are mostly farmers with mudtires and sheet metal screws and yup lots of studs get ripped out, I'm pretty sure I heard at least 2 tink off my helmet, but no one has taken one off the tip of their nose yet, hehe. Not too different then getting little stones kicked up by cars when you're on a motorbike. A full face skidoo helmet would be a good idea though.

Rod
http://www.qrab.ca/

 

Killefitt,
Sounds like fun at least with your tire stud combo it is easier to run an ice race like you say I have had a few ice screws tink off my quad and helmet. I found the only real cure for this is get out front LOL. I did rather well with my hot rod 650 last year although I did not attend enough races to get stay in the point race. 4x4 on ice with studs is a lot of fun especially in the corners the front end pulls the quad around. You must let me know when you will be around Red Deer for a race I am about 2 hours away from there so I maybe able to attend at least in a cheering way. Good luck in your races!!!!!!!

 

I used to ice race my Jeep... it was the "cleanest"fun you could have... I had 4 short car tires each with 80 - 2" carrage bolts, ground to a point... we drag raced &raced circle track, but never course raced...I'd like to try it on a quad sometime

 

<FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #d4d0c8">Yup an afternoon with a drill in the livingroom while watching TV and you're ready to race. My 18" Maxis razrs had 4 studs per ****, and they worked quite well, and I never lost any studs at all so this winter I can try running a few less to see if I lose any. A 650 4x4 would do okay at the 8 lap races, they are every bit as fast as a stock 400EX, which is what a lot of us raced. Pretty much stock Banshees and Raptors were the fastest ones. The guys at the 6 hour races though are getting pretty serious with radically lowered machines with 60+ hp, it would be harder to be competitive there. Check the web site for race info, I think Rimby would be the closest race to you, if they happen anyway.

Beatle, in Winnipeg where I'm from they used to ice race little Honda and mazda beaters which looked like tons of fun, I haven't seen them do it out here yet though.


Rod

http://www.qrab.ca/</FONT>

 

There is a lot of ice racing just east of Leduc on some little pothole lake. They race everything there. Usually start after Christmas and run till late Feb