Super Swomper Report

[Russh]

I finally got out to play in the water!!! new tires--red spring--950 huslter. Now keep in mind I am about 220 pounds and a friend of mine in the back seat is about 240. The Rock River has flooded alot of fields here 'perfect training grounds' In mud and water 1 to 2 foot deep was not even a challenge, Big logs no problem, if the nose of the unit starts over it , we could kroll over it!! In deep water, we had problems!!! As long as i kept out of the throttle 'just a little more than idle' we did move very slow!!! If I gave it the gas the tires would litteraly pull the back end down takeing on water!!! OK don't do that. Now the scary part, in a fllooded field 1-1 1/2 foot of water, there is a very steep hill at the end,'aha a challenge!!!!' DON'T DO IT says Dany my back seet driver. From a dead stop the machine went right up the hill with no effirt, at about 10' up a small log was enough to make me panic ' fear of a role over' I pulled back into 'neutrol' and down the hill we go at rocket speed, Big spash, we're in the water again!!! To finish the story , we are both soaked , Dany walked back to the truck, pist off . I LOVE MY AATV Dany says he has to get one!!

[ygmir]

Pics would be great of this.........
sounds like fun, though.......

[boncrshr]

Hey Russh,

Thanks so much for the info.....due to this I will probably go ahead and try the TSL Vampires, I will post up a report when I get to swim it. But in reality, as long as you get a little forward motion, that will be good enough to get you out of most spots. You have me excited to try out my red clutch spring! Only downside I see on the Vamp's is perhaps a rougher ride, and they supposedly have good lateral traction, so I wonder how they skid steer??

Did the river Nazi's see you?

[mudbug3]

I finally got out to play in the water!!! new tires--red spring--950 huslter. Now keep in mind I am about 220 pounds and a friend of mine in the back seat is about 240. The Rock River has flooded alot of fields here 'perfect training grounds' In mud and water 1 to 2 foot deep was not even a challenge, Big logs no problem, if the nose of the unit starts over it , we could kroll over it!! In deep water, we had problems!!! As long as i kept out of the throttle 'just a little more than idle' we did move very slow!!! If I gave it the gas the tires would litteraly pull the back end down takeing on water!!! OK don't do that. Now the scary part, in a fllooded field 1-1 1/2 foot of water, there is a very steep hill at the end,'aha a challenge!!!!' DON'T DO IT says Dany my back seet driver. From a dead stop the machine went right up the hill with no effirt, at about 10' up a small log was enough to make me panic ' fear of a role over' I pulled back into 'neutrol' and down the hill we go at rocket speed, Big spash, we're in the water again!!! To finish the story , we are both soaked , Dany walked back to the truck, pist off . I LOVE MY AATV Dany says he has to get one!!

Russh ,


I know the very first time I drove my Max IV into a pond , I was a little nervous , but that feeling soon past as I watched my Max IV swim across the pond at a impressive speed ( 5 psi in all the tires ) . At that particular time I was running the factory Good year Terra tires . These tires are the very fastest in the water and the Argo Frontier tire is a very close second . I later bought some used GBC Gator tires to install on my Max . When I got the 26 " Gator tires installed on my Max IV , it looked really impressive for an amphib . I had been told on the forum , that the Gators would ride like stones,,,so I ran them at zero air pressure , because they were 6 ply and I have bead lock rims.

Hmmm ,,I thought to myself ,this is not as bad as I thought , as I drove my Max IV down an ATV trail . I took my Max IV down some very muddy ATV trails and jeep roads , and the Gator tires performed great !


My next test for my Max was a large pond . At that particular time , I had all the Gator tires facing backwards , thinking this would give me the best water speed . Since I had lost my initial trepidation of driving into deep water with my Max IV ,,I had no fear of driving down a shallow bank into the pond . When I was about 15 feet from the bank , it was then I noticed that my Max was going side ways , instead of forward , when I gave it the gas .

I then put my Max into reverse and tried to swim back to the bank . This worked a little bit better ,,but not much . When I finally got my Max IV back on dry ground , I decided to change my Gator tires to the foward position , at 3 psi . In this tire postion ,the Gator tires would paddle " VERY" slowly if I used very little throttle in deep water .

I then tried Gators on the front and Gators in the middle of my Max IV ( facing foward ), with the Good year ,Terra tires on the rear , facing backwards . This tire combination proved to be exellent for mud , and also enabled me to make it across the pond . I later found out that this tire combination would not work if the water had a mild amount of current . I now have Gators in the front ( facing fowards , for climbing out of the water ) and the Good year , Terra tires in the middle and rear , facing backwards . This tire combo works well .

[mudbug3]

Hey Russh,

Thanks so much for the info.....due to this I will probably go ahead and try the TSL Vampires, I will post up a report when I get to swim it. But in reality, as long as you get a little forward motion, that will be good enough to get you out of most spots. You have me excited to try out my red clutch spring! Only downside I see on the Vamp's is perhaps a rougher ride, and they supposedly have good lateral traction, so I wonder how they skid steer??

Did the river Nazi's see you?

boncrshr ,


Dan and I both have changed to the red spring and we both love the low end torque it gives us for climbing hills with extra weight . The Vampires are harder to skid steer because the side lugs are not tapered like an amphib tire . They also have side lugs that give you an advantage when climbing out of rutts . The side lugs also make it harder to skid steer , but this can be over come with more throttle . The Vampires ride -->VERY good <--- at 2 psi , but Dan told me that he had to use an 1 1/8 aluminum spacer to prevent rubbing of the inner tub when I made turns . 3 psi might be a better choice if you don,t have the tire clearance .The Vampire tire will probably be your best choice in a ATV tire in that rim size .

[Russh]

tire pattern

the tread on the swomper's is strait acrost the tire. and they are big and thick. I hope this means long life!