A little swimming help?

[ezryder]

Took my first swim as a AATV owner today and gotta say I'm not impressed with my Hustlers swimming ability. Its a mid 80's 950 and running 22" Cheng-Shin tires (look just like Wooly Boogers). The front 2 are backwards for swimming, which is how they were when I got it, but the back 4 are turned correctly. Will that make a lot of difference in the water?
I drove off the local boat ramp and was maybe 15-20 ft out. Took me 5 minutes to get turned around and then I seemed to have almost zero control over direction or no forward motion, was in the water maybe 5-10 min total.
Also took on about 2 inches of water. Do the Wheel bearings seal out water, or the flange gaskets where they bolt to the outer body?
Any insights will be helpful. I'll post pics later this evening of the machine and the tires.

[jpswift1]

First off, lose those tires. They're horrible in the water and that's what your problem is. If you had some better swimming tires like Goodyear Rawhides, you'd be much, much better off. The reason you took on water is because your bearing flanges are not sealed well against the body and the bearings are old and are probably letting more water in as well. Get new bearings and better tires and there'll be a night and day difference.

[amphibious drew]

To start, that style tire does not swim well at all. Second, the rear tires are the most important to run backwards from traditional direction on the vehicle although all 3 sets are usually run that way. You need some rawhide I's, Esquire III's, chevrons, or argo tires to really swim. As for the water in the tub, you have some bad axle seals or bearings. Fill ththe tub with water to the top of the axle flanges and watch for it to leak out. That will tell you where to start.

[amphibious drew]

First off, lose those tires. They're horrible in the water and that's what your problem is. If you had some better swimming tires like Goodyear Rawhides, you'd be much, much better off. The reason you took on water is because your bearing flanges are not sealed well against the body and the bearings are old and are probably letting more water in as well. Get new bearings and better tires and there'll be a night and day difference.

He's fast

[ezryder]

Ok here's pics of the tires. I probably wasn't clear before on tire rotation. The middle and rear are turned the correct way to swim. The front two are turned as they run them on 4x4 ATV's. This is how they were mounted when I got it.
Apparently, after reading responses, these tires are my problem. They Are directional tires, and don't look much different than other swimming tires I've seen in videos. I was really shocked that I couldn't get better performance out of them.
Probably a lot of it was my inexperience.

OK, so there ARE flange gaskets that seal out water where they bolt to the tub? Wheres the best place to buy these flange gaskets? And where do you guys buy tires?

[spyder]

not just specific to this thread but does wheel speed have much to do with swimming ability? what i mean is, if you want to go faster it's just natural to give it more gas. but would that just cause more turbulance and hinder the swimability?

[Twizted1]

If you notice on your tire how the tread in the middle of the tire opens a little, that's most of your problem. Those tires just can,t move enough water. It's like being on one of those rafts in a pool. You want to get to move around in the pool. You would do it with your fingers tight together. If you open your fingers even a little bit you would still move just not as efficiently. That's just my $.02. So if you have your heart set on swimming get a new set of tires. You could always sell those. Hope my expletive makes sence.

[ezryder]

Made perfect sense Twizted. Tires are Definatly on my future "to do" list. I'll probably live with these for awhile and just not swim much. Maybe cross a creek or something. I'll probably turn the front two and try again to see if that makes any difference.
I think fixing the water leaks have priority first.
Found out while sitting in the lake thrashing around like a wounded turtle, taking on water, that the bilge pump won't pump either.
I did test it to make sure it ran before driving off in the water. Never thought to make sure it actually pumps.
So, my list of bugs to work out grows. None major so far though.

[jpswift1]

Get 3M Strip Caulk to seal the bearing flanges against the body. That's what Recreatives uses on all of their Max AATVs. That's the best stuff out there.

3M 08578 Black 1' Strip Calk, (Box of 60) : Amazon.com : Automotive

[hydromike]

You know, these tires might not be good swimmers (at all... ) but they certainly are a decent tire overall. I've had a set of these on one of the racers for several years. You know, they're not really a great tire for racing (pretty bouncy), but I still like them as a reasonably soft, reasonably durable, decent traction all-around tire.

These still look relatively new, and I bet that if you wanted to sell them to somebody who wanted a general-purpose tire you could get some good money towards some swimmers....


:EDIT::




Hey, I found of the 'Chief wearing them from the 2007 Ledges ride! There's also a picture of me in that gallery floundering around in the water, just like you describe.