Guys,

After long consideration I am getting ready to order 25" Sur-Traks on Douglas .190 rims with reinforcing rings for my Scram. I originally wanted to go with 589s (weight 22 & 26 lbs. respectively) but I feel the extra weight is not worth the performance loss.

Sur-Traks work excellent in the conditions I ride. (lots of trails, mud, sand, water crossings etc.) My buddy has them on his modded Sport 400 and he goes everywhere the 4x4s go. I am a little unsure of going with 25" tires but really want the clearance. Has anyone tried the Sur-Traks in 25" size?

Price I was quoted from Rocky Mountain was $50 & $55 for fronts and rears respectively. Price on rims from Douglas direct is $92.40 per rim. Is this competitve? I would prefer a package deal where the tires are already on the rims but have had trouble finding good deals on packages for Polaris bikes period. I will do the reinforcing rings myself. I have a buddy who is a welder and he has done everybody else's rims.

The weight of the Sur-Traks is great. My fronts will be around 18lbs. and the backs are 21lbs. Combined with Aluminum rims, they will weigh no more than what I have on my bike now. (489s and stocker Polaris rims). The 489s are supposedly 14 & 16lbs. respectively but I have no idea how much the stock Polaris rims weigh. Guess I need to weigh them.

An aside, I thought my rims were aluminum but found out on Sunday that they are steel. I was riding a water trail at a good clip and hit a submerged stump. It dented my front rim good and I saw where paint had flecked off....definitely steel. So whoever I told in an earlier post that my 2000 Scram came with aluminum rims stock; I was dead wrong. Guess I shoulda used a magnet earlier. lol

I know Sur-Traks are only 2-ply and may be susceptible to sidewall trouble. I justify this risk by keeping my tires and rims as light as possible to prevent CV joint/hub damage. Worse comes to worse, I will buy replacement tires as needed. That extra 3" of clearance is going to be a big hairy deal where I ride.

I am also going to clutch my tranny to these tires as they will NOT be coming off (unless I am going in for the bi-annual servicing hehehe) I originally thought of doing the clutchwork myself a la Bigfoot or sumpin' but have since decided to let the dealership do it. It will cost a bit more but this way I know it will be done the way I want without a bunch of trial and error.

I also have the service guys on the lookout for an Explorer tranny so I can have low range in my Scram. They have done it another Scram see: www.bertsdirtworks.com I haven't decided for sure on this mod yet as it is pretty expensive.

Any comments are welcome,

Regards,

MrMan

 

Does anybody have any advice at all? Even a good long flaming w/some bashing to boot will do! hehehe...

I just hate to spend $600+ blind w/just my drunken riding buddies advising me. None of them have 25" tires on their Scrams either so I don't want to have something that will screw up my bike.

I just want to be God of the mud and water crossings.....is that so wrong? lol

Regards,

MrMan

 

I cant comment to much on this but I know how ya feel on not geting any replies. My last post went unanswered for far also. OH well maybe they are all tired of thinking. :>)

Are both the front and rear tires going to be the same size? that is supposed to be a no no, on the polaris scrambler as far as the 4x4 is concerned. But i think some people are doing it.

My other concern is like yours...the 2 ply rating on a heavy quad. handling and rim bashings are bad enough with the stock tires, but now you will be adding more sidewall and i dont think you will be saving much weight if any with the aluminum rims cause you are adding more tire. Another tire that you might consider is the bear claws, yes they are heavy, but they wont roll and they have great traction I hear. Easteregg on this forum has them and can fill you in a bit if you are interested I would also like to have a low gear in my scrambler!! Good luck. gj

 

Well, I decided against the Sur-Traks. I just don't want to risk screwing up my bike w/same size tires on front and back. Unfortunately, Sur Traks don't come in 24" rear tire size. Oh well.

Thanks for the info GJ. After reading your post I took a surf through the archives here and elsewhere. I also did some research on the Bearclaws. They honestly don't seem that different from the 489s I have right now except for size.

I think I will just leave my bike alone and concentrate on getting another 4-wheeler instead of spending all the $ on mods. Maybe I will just get Pro-Wedges for the back and leave it at that.

Regards,

MrMan

 

MrMan, When I got my Scrambler I wanted to do the same thing. Many have done it with 25" Bearclaws front and rear. They stated no apparent problems with the 4x4 system. It is better on the 500 than the 400 that is why I decided against it. Plus I ride more sporty now than I did back then.

If you do it definately do a bit of clutch work. I have had good experience with a simple EPI clutch kit.(springs, weights, helix) It, on my 400 that is, gave me 10x more low end grunt along with improved midrange. This could be great for turning those tires in the mud. If the effect is similar on a 500 it could be the thing for you.

Check out BertsDirtWorks. He has some super-monster Scrambler 500's and could maybe give you a couple ideas.

Bearclaws are an excellent tire for what you are looking at doing. I run them on both my quads. Lightweight, great traction, smooth ride.

Hope this helps.

 

I just re-read your post and the Suretracks resemble the Bearclaws...therefore a good choice.

By the way, my 2000 Scrambler does have aluminum rims?! I think they switched rims 1/2 way through the year...

 

If you want to keep the unsprung weight at a minimum, maintain your present gear ratios and acceleration try the Pure Sport Realtors in 22x12x10 on the rear of your machine. I have seen these tires in swamps, on dunes and on the trails.
They will do a great job under most conditions.

Their mud performance is very good.

Also for even better mud performance for a few pounds more try the "Mud Machines" in 22-12-10

http://www.tiresunlimited.com/pure_realter.htm

 

If power slides and 4 wheel drifts are your hot button, stay with the 489's.

 

Well I may not be able to give you much advice on the 4x4 aspect but I have just put new tires and rims on my trailblazer and noted some interesting changes.
I had purchased for the front douglas .190 wheels 5x10 vs. stock 5.5x10 and six ply pure sports bandit xcr's with this combo it raised my ground clearance 1.5 inches. Not to sure how they would work in the mud though.
On the rear i went with the puresports realtor in a 22x12x10. These tires are excellent in the mud and water, hook up good in trails and hardpack and are reversible for sand.
All i can really tell you is that these have worked out very well all around for me but this is on a 250TB also.
Have you taken a look at the spider tracks now that itp is producing them? I believe they are 4 ply but not to sure on sizes.
Good luck with the search though.

 

I wonder if you aren't getting a lot of replies because we just don't know. Anyway, I am facing the same delima with my quad because I am due for some new treads. I already have the Douglas rims which are outstanding....after much careful consideration I am going to stay with stock treads. I can't really complain about their performance and I figure Polaris did all the research to find out what the best size and ratios were. Just my two cents worth.