[DvinePhate]

New maverick owner here. I was curious if the experienced sand guys would know. I live up in the great white north, but once a year my friends and I do a trip down to St. Anthony. My question is... when I buy paddles for my maverick, since it's only a once a year thing, will I be alright to just get the rears? And if so, is it absolutely necessary to get the same size as the fronts?

Do the paddles measure out the same as normal tires?

And if I am only running the rears do you guys recommend running in 4wd or will 2wd be sufficient?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Andy]

I run just the rear paddles with the stock Big Horns up front air'd down to 6 psi. It works great. Some buffs up front would help it to float a little better, but the stockers do fine. Infact If I was only going to the dunes 0nce a year I wouldn't even bother with paddles. The stock rears air'd down to 6 psi work very well for the occational trip, and are way fun, as they slide pretty good.

2 wheel drive is fun in the sand. you can get the car to drift in the turns pretty good. Once I head into the big dunes or shoot big hills, I like 4 wheel drive. The cars handling is more predictable.

And no...the rollout on my 26x12.5x12 paddles is more than the rollout of my Big Horns.

 

[West Texas Raider]

I've gone through this same thing. Most everyone on here will tell you that you are better off just running your stock tires. You can get paddles, but you might as well get some 12x10 wheels with the paddles,so that you can have a dedicated rear set. I personally wouldn't run sand rears with all terrain fronts, but to each his own. Also, you will just have to feel how the machine is running in 2w and 4w and go from there. I run both depending on what I am running in on the sand.

 

[West Texas Raider]

I've gone through this same thing. Most everyone on here will tell you that you are better off just running your stock tires. You can get paddles, but you might as well get some 12x10 wheels with the paddles,so that you can have a dedicated rear set. I personally wouldn't run sand rears with all terrain fronts, but to each his own. Also, you will just have to feel how the machine is running in 2w and 4w and go from there. I run both depending on what I am running in on the sand.

Oops, I ended up just sucking it up and getting a full set of new wheels and new tires.

 

[desertdog]

Welcome to the forum. If you only go to the dunes 1 time a year, you dont really need paddles. The stock knobbies will go anywhere in the dunes if you air down to about 5 to 6lbs. But if you want to run paddles , yes you can get just rears and they will work just fine. As far as 2wd vs 4wd, that is a personal preference. I prefer 4wd but many guys run 2wd everywhere. If you run 2wd it's much easy with paddles. As long as you get 26" paddles they will be very close to the stock height tires.

 

[Tbtexas.com]

So running in sand / dunes by letting air out will help prevent the constant dig it does in 2 wheel ? I run in 4 wheel in the loose sand because seems like it takes for ever to get momentum in two wheel with it trying to dig down ...thoughts .?

 

[Andy]

Big time. Lets the tire make a much wider footprint, and float on top of the sand instead of digging a hole.

 

[finally conviced her]

OP, I go down to St A once a year as well. But I just cant see bighorns making it up choke cherry so I bought a set of 14 paddle gliders and buffs. I'm by Red Deer. When are you going down?

 

[SickStick]

I would get some paddles for St. Anthony's, even if its once a year it would be worth it to me. Ya, you can make it almost anywhere with your stock Bighorns air down but when you have some of the tallest if not the tallest dunes in the country every bit helps & it will be a lot funner. Haven't been for a few years but I can't believe a stock SXS could climb Choke Cherry, too steep and a real long pull plus there's not a long enough head start to get momentum. I know they can climb to the left side of CC but have only climbed it on Quads. Can't wait to get the Maverick there, St. A's is one of my favorite places to ride.

 

[desertdog]

I dont know how big or steep Choke Cherry is but China wall at Glamis is a monster. Its about as steep as it is possible to keep sand on the face and it has to be at least 300 lf tall. The stock Maverick with knobbies air downed to 5lbs in 4wd has made it up.

 

[CWin]

I took my MAV to St. A last fall, ran the stock Bighorn's aired down, and it did really well. I also doubt a stock SXS could climb Choke Cherry paddles or not, unless the sand is packed after a good rain. The trouble is the bottom of C.C. is whooped and doesn't have a smooth transition to the hill, so its difficult to get a good run at it, especially if the sand is dry. I could go about 2/3 of the way up Devil's Dune, but you can get a good run at that one. To me it would be nice to have the paddles there, but not worth the $ for once a year.

 

[sand shark]

Rear paddle paddles will work. If you are getting rims with them make sure they are at least 8" wide.


Desertdog - checkout videos of St. Anthony's. That hill makes China Wall look small.

That place is on my list to checkout someday.

 

[finally conviced her]

IMO if I'm willing to spend 12-14 hours to drive there and 20k on a mav, then it wasn't even a question whether paddles where in the budget on not.

 

[SickStick]

I dont know how big or steep Choke Cherry is but China wall at Glamis is a monster. Its about as steep as it is possible to keep sand on the face and it has to be at least 300 lf tall. The stock Maverick with knobbies air downed to 5lbs in 4wd has made it up.

Haven't climbed china wall, my friends tell me Choke Cherry is twice as tall. Our closest dunes are Sand Mtn, Nv and they are 600' tall. The Wall there is basically straight up as gravity allows sand to stand, and I would say its at least another 100' in elevation. It's a monster.

 

[DvinePhate]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Some great information. Love this site. I'm probably going to just get the 2 tires, was thinking the 8 paddle Skat Extremes. I'd like to take a shot at Choke Cherry, but being a dune first timer, i'll probably stay away from it this first year.

OP, I go down to St A once a year as well. But I just cant see bighorns making it up choke cherry so I bought a set of 14 paddle gliders and buffs. I'm by Red Deer. When are you going down?

Our group is headed down to St. A for Labor day weekend. There's some big UTV event going on down there, and we want to to check it out. We're also staying the following week to get some quality riding in without the massive crowds.

 

[Andy]

Haven't climbed china wall, my friends tell me Choke Cherry is twice as tall. Our closest dunes are Sand Mtn, Nv and they are 600' tall. The Wall there is basically straight up as gravity allows sand to stand, and I would say its at least another 100' in elevation. It's a monster.

I dont know how big or steep Choke Cherry is but China wall at Glamis is a monster. Its about as steep as it is possible to keep sand on the face and it has to be at least 300 lf tall. The stock Maverick with knobbies air downed to 5lbs in 4wd has made it up.

I did China wall the 1st ride in the dunes with my showroom fresh Maverick. I air'd down to 6 psi all the way around, and had no problem. Ran up n down the hill 3 times then parked for a refreshing barley pop, and imidiatly had 8 or more people come over to check the Mav out. 1st guy walks up and says "I'm sold", then starts asking what mods I had. Told him it was straight off the showroom, and my big mod was airing down the tires. Second guy was like, "No way....". Said I had to atleast have an air box mod or something. I pulled the hood off to show him the stock air box. 3rd guys was standing there with his arms folded looking like he just took a pull off of a can of beer someone had put a cigarette butt in. His buddy told me he had just bought a RZR 900, piped, and paddled and couldn't make it up.:cool2:

 

[Andy]

Rear paddle paddles will work. If you are getting rims with them make sure they are at least 8" wide.


Desertdog - checkout videos of St. Anthony's. That hill makes China Wall look small.

That place is on my list to checkout someday.

It does look pretty cool. I'd give it a shot. Hopefully next season the BLM will open up the restricted area south of China wall so we can get to The Wall, and The Ceiling. Hills 6 and 7. It's been a while but as I recall they made China wall look tame.

 

[sand shark]

It does look pretty cool. I'd give it a shot. Hopefully next season the BLM will open up the restricted area south of China wall so we can get to The Wall, and The Ceiling. Hills 6 and 7. It's been a while but as I recall they made China wall look tame.

It looks like we will have more dunes to play in next season. The Judge made her ruling and upheld the BLM RAMP plan. There is a thread on Glamis Dunes. :big smile: