I have a raptor 700 and i just bought 2 rear sand shark tires on douglas .190 rims for $100( if anybody wants to know Craigslist.com). ive never been in sand before... but plan on going frequently. my question is about the fronts. Should i get sand fronts or should i use my stock fronts? whats the difference?

Thanks for the advanced replies!

Derricks700r

 

just being the cheap person I am, I ran with stock fronts for 1 year, then bought sand fronts. It helps steering quite a bit, but not 100% necessary by any means.
Try riding with your stockers if you want, then decide. Sure, better to have them, but the fun factor isn't diminished one bit if you don't.

 

Are you sure you have good enough paddles for the rear i think sand stars or huallers/extreme would be alot better as for fronts go with shark fins

 

I run stock rims and tires on the front of my 700. It steers and stops great, so I see no reason to upgrade.

90% of my riding is sand dunes, other 10% is desert.

 

Derricks,

The first question we need to ask is what kind of dune riding you intend to do. Your purchase was of sand sharks on douglas .190. This is a moderately heavy slant paddle on a very heavy rim. Now, if you plan to do nothing more than casual dune riding and could care less about performance, worry no further and just run these with your stock fronts. However, if you plan to keep up with the high performers in head to head races, dune drags, hill climbs, and the like, there are a couple of points to consider here:

1st, You have bought a slant paddle for a large horsepower machine. This gives you the advantage of being easier to slide than a straight paddle would allow without the need of a turning tire up front. The cost of this advantage is a loss in straight launch ability. Due to their slant design, part of the force exerted on the sand is in a sideways direction, meaning less in the forward direction. I think that you will probably find that on your machine, you will not require a turning tire up front for slant paddles but you will if you turn to a set of straights.

2nd, Now your next consideration involving performance should be this: you are running a moderately heavy paddle with an extremely heavy rim. (.190 is the heaviest aluminum offered) This is going to mean some major bogging compared to a lighted paddle like a hauler being run on a light rim.

Once again, if you are a casual duner, all this makes no difference to you... however, you have made the choice to buy a high performance machine and I wanted to help bring you up to speed on the performance of your rubber.

Hope this helps,

~HoundDog

 

hog thanks for in info! i think im jst going to casual thing for now.. since it take 3 plus hours for me to get to dunes (which sucks). but i think i will stick with the stockies!

thank to everyone that replied. thanks for the help

to hog: theres dunes out in oklamoha? lol j/k

 

riding the sand dunes is awsome on any tires! you will find more traction with better tires. I run haulers and front sand tires i dont know what kind. they were well worth the $ spent. dont worry about your tires now just go have fun with what you have. upgrade later when you have ridden a few different types.