interesting discovery with water speed and swamp fox tires

[mightymaxIV]

I have been playing with air pressure and conducting several experiements to try to get my water speed up. Like most people with AATV I run my tires with the V pointed backwards because I have always been told that the tires swim better this way. Yesterday as I was playing around with my Max and decided to turn the front tires around with the V facing forward. While I was doing this I got the impression to turn the rear tires around with the V facing forward also. I made the changes and then took my max into the small pond in my back yard. What I found out asonished me. The Max picked up somewhere between 1/2 and and one full mile per hour water speed! But even more important it was easier to control in the water! Control is vey important because of all the swamp areas I ride in! I was floored! I decided to get out of the water and change the middle tires so that they faced forward also. Once this was done it was back into the pond to check my water speed again. The water speed and control I had gained went away with all the V's facing forward! What! I changed the middle tires one more time facing rearward and low and behold the water speed and control came right back! Seems the big lugs on the swamp foxes lift the front tires out the water with the V facing foward and then the middle tires (with the V facing backward) pick up and move the thing right along! I don't understand all the physics but I do know that it worked for me and I am excited to have more water speed and better control! WOW!

[AussieMax]

That's interesting. I'm about to order some swamp foxes to experiment with. Did you mount the 27" swamp foxes on the standard max IV rims? They are the large lug version of the swamp fox aren't they?
Wayne

[mudbug3]

Great discovery Dan ! I know you,re really happy about that ! After all,,who don,t want faster water speed and more water control at the sticks to boot?

[mudbug3]

Dan, since you have now changed the driection of your tires with the V facing forward ,for maximum mud traction , and as a side benefit ,you now have even more water speed to boot, I can,t wait to hear how this new tire direction helps you in negotiating the swamp, you so often frequent.

[mightymaxIV]

That's interesting. I'm about to order some swamp foxes to experiment with. Did you mount the 27" swamp foxes on the standard max IV rims? They are the large lug version of the swamp fox aren't they?
Wayne

Aussie, I am running the Swamp Fox Plus 27" tire on the 12" diameter 12" wide rim.They have 1.2 inch lugs that dig into mud of whatever terrain you are in. When you mount a 27" tire on a 12" wide rim you will find you lose a lot of the ride height. With 3 1/2 Psi the tire will sit 251/2 inches tall. With 7 PSI the tire will sit 26" tall and raise your Max about 3/4" of an inch off the ground! I run mine at 7 PSI because I like the extra ground clearance and the tires seem to swim a little better with 7 PSI. I will probably drop the PSI on the middle tires to about 3 PSI or lower so I can get over the big forrest logs in this area. Not sure what will happen there but it seems like it should work well. I can't speak for the standard Swamp Fox tires which only have about a .75 inch lug but the Swamp Fox Plus Tires are almost unstopable, ride better than my 26 inch Goodyear's and give a reasonable water speed mounted as I have stated (front tires-V forward, middle tire-V backward, rear tire V forward). They are also a very tough tire. Mine still look new and If you watch the videos I have posted you will see that I take them through some pretty rough terrain. If you run in extreme terrain or like to go into impossible places without getting stuck I highly recommend the Swamp Fox Plus!

[AussieMax]

Thanks for the info Dan. It looks like it'll be the swampfox plus's for me. I find the goodyears do ride a little rough so far even with low psi in them, and with our wet season approaching, the black soil country here becomes a bottomless pit. Should be a good testing ground. I have watched all of your videos, my friends and I can't believe where your max will go. Looks like a great place to ride.
Wayne

[mightymaxIV]

Thanks for the info Dan. It looks like it'll be the swampfox plus's for me. I find the goodyears do ride a little rough so far even with low psi in them, and with our wet season approaching, the black soil country here becomes a bottomless pit. Should be a good testing ground. I have watched all of your videos, my friends and I can't believe where your max will go. Looks like a great place to ride.
Wayne

I cannot wait to a MaxIV in your neck of the woods running through black mud with lots of water. I think you will be stunned when you find out how well the Swamp Fox Plus tires pull you through the mud. It's like driving a completely different machine. When I was running the 26" Goodyears I always hesitated to go into mud or rough areas because I got stuck so many times. I would never go into an area that didn't have trees close by so I could winch myself out. Now I just go into these impossible places and the Swamp Fox tires just pull me through some impossible situations and do it without breaking a sweat. I have so much confidence in my machine now that it almost scares me after I get into an area and my Max just pulls me through. Sometimes I stop and think, wow did I really just do that?As tough as some of these areas look I have been in much worse situations without the camera running because the area was simply to rough and the terrain required absolute concentration. I think that you will find the extra ground clearance also makes a great deal of difference. My new motto seems to be that ground clearance is King in off road situations. I look foward to seeing you make your friends go wow on your own soil.

[AussieMax]

Dan,
I have a buffalo with the 26" tyres at the moment, which should be almost as capable as the max IV, a little slower and less powerful. But I have 2 maxIV's on 26" tyres, and 2 max II's on 22" tyres in stock at the moment. They only arrived about a week ago, and the interest over here is huge, so it won't be long before they are out there. I might get a max IV for myself in the future. Will definately be filming some of our rides as our terrain looks very different to yours. At the moment we have bulldust 6" deep that is like baby powder, but in a few months when the rain starts it will turn into deep soft mud that tears the shoes off your feet when you walk through it.

[mightymaxIV]

That is totally exciting! I think the best videos I have seen so far are the ones Rock Doc posts with several Argos running on the same trails. I can't wait to see your post. After you have seen what the Swamp Foxes do you'll probably do the same thing I did, Put the old GoodYears behind your shead and leave them there. I have also heard some really good things about mud bug tires (tyres). It might be really cool to see what an agressive 24" tyre like the mud bug would do on a 23 horse Max II. I would bet that this would be even better than a MaxIV if it had ground clearance from 24" agressive tyres with 1.2 inch lugs! Please someone out there put some big aggressive tires on your 23 horse Max II and lets see what one of these puppies will do!

[mudbug3]

This weekend I took two 25 inch Mud Bug tires to my friends house and layed them next to his Max II lower tub. They measure 22 inches tall with no air. They are 12 inches wide, with 1.2 inch lugs. These tires really look awesome sitting next to his Max II. With all the other modifications my friend has done to his Max II, this is one mean looking amphib for sure.

It will be a very tight fit , and we will have to reshape and modify the lower tub with a heat gun, just to make these bad boys fit. Some one else on this forum has already done this modification on his Max II,, but with the 25 inch, Good year raw hides. Look for it in the gallery pictures.

It looks like my friends Max II tub has plenty of room between each of the 25 inch Mud Bugs, to make them fit side by side.

These tires will be mounted on 9 inch tall, 10 inch wide, black powder coated, bead lock rims.