I always ran in 2wd in the sand in my 900xp, and in my Funco 2wd is the only option. 4wd in the sand is a little dicey as it can catch an edge and flip you when you are carving a dune. I prefer 2wd and steering with my foot. I could do it on my 900xp that had half the power and suspension of the X3 Max and the FUNCO which had a lot of power. I can't wait to see what the X3 does.

 

My Skats just are not holding up. 100 miles over Halloween and both fronts required a can of insta-flat.
Last weekend another 100 miles and one rear went flat after a Patton Valley ride.
I do love these Skat 31.5" Skinnies but I need something that will hold up to running over the sticks poking out of the sand.......I'll be out for 7 more days in Glamis over new years.
What will hold up in this X3?
I never had any issues in my ATVs.......

 

I have no complaints with my 32" Sandcraft Skats. Put another 190 miles or so on them in Glamis this weekend, including a trip down to Duner's Diner. This is my favorite sand set up so far.

They make a 31" set up, but you will have to go to a 15" wheel. If you want to stick to the 14" wheel call Fullerton or Skat and have them make you a 30" set up or see if they can make you a 31" set up for a 14" wheel.

 

Anybody running these yet ? 14” wheel

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Real similar to CMS 14" but the only downfall is they are typically zero offset
7" wheel is 4+3
8" wheel 4+4
10" wheel 5+5
Would be nice if someone made a 5+2 to keep the cars close to factory widths. My last set of 31"skats 12pdl extreme on 14"cms wheel's weighed 103lbs all four mounted...

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Pretty sure he was referring to skats new paddle design on those tires. Talons are same height as extremes but wider.

 

Anyone know the weight or if they run true to size?

 

Amer-seal

 

I will give that a try. After watching the video it seems like it might do the trick.

 

Wondering if anyone is having problems with their belt running 32” paddles on stock X3 XRS? My local dealership said it is to hard on the belts and suggested to only run 30” to save the belt. I like the look of the 32” but would like to not be breaking belts.
I’m considering the CST 32” sandblast as they are in my budget. Any advice on this is much appreciated.

 

Are you breaking belts now? Breaking belts are more about driving styles than anything else, IMO. A stock X3 should turn 32s no problem, but a tune and possibly clutch work will be even better.

 

The car is new only 8 hours so far and no broken belts. Going to glamis in 2 weeks and the last thing I want is to break a belt because I purchase the wrong size paddles. I do see a tune and clutch work in the future but that will have to wait.
Thanks for the input!

 

Get the Lightest tire and wheels you can afford basically. I run the 14" wheels since they are light and stock rims work well to. and use Xtreme Tire carcass from Tim Kelly since he makes them as light as possible. Rotating mass is the Killer of these small cars Performance. My entire crew runs them and we rarely have any belt issues.

 

I will definitely have a spare belt and tools to change it.
Those Xtreme tires are nice but why out of my budget right now.
Does anyone have any input on the cst 32” sandblast?

 

Members have them, and use them. Good tires for your budget, IMO.

 

Never thought about the razor and scotch brite pad. Awesome advice thanks! Really is incredible how much forum members help out us newbie’s. Thank you all for the info.

 

ok, im trying to get ready for Glamis (first time) sand paddles, recommendations and size?28?30?32?

thank you in advance for your help

 

I recommend you start using the search function and read. Its been debated till the cows came home and went out again.

 

so in the last year it looks like 32" tires are def the way to go but we are still all over the place on paddle count and which blade to run

 

Driving style plays a big part in what's best for a person . I like a lot of of tire spin in 2wd so the car is very loose, and fun (for me). I have modified 30 inch cst's, and have drag raced a few with the big paddle skats and not seen much difference out of the hole. On top end the smaller paddles seem faster.

 

32’s seem to be the choice for the Xrs guys,I purchased 30’s for my Xds because did it want rubbing issues.I have since heard that other Xds guys are running 31.5s with no issues.Not sure about 32’s on a Xds.


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another forum guy here with a DS switched to 32" late summer but he was running 28" STU which were def to small and sand would come over the hood on his easily. I know he keeps it cranked up but not sure about if hes hitting top of his fender.

 

I’ve been happy with my 10 paddle 30’s.But a little more ground clearance would be nice.


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Ya I think those 31.5’s would be perfect,If I could have a do over I would be running those


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thats the down side is do overs cost $2k each. I'm at 2.5 sets so far which is 5k!!!!

 

32 sandcraft on a DS no rubbing. If you plan on doing a tune I wouldn’t waste money on CST. Had 30’s on before and car pulls so much hard with the 32’s when dunking. I have stage 3 power tune for reference.

 

Currently I have warlock 30’s on my x3 Max but I’m looking to buy some Skat 31.5 or 32.
But first I’d like to see pictures of them side by side to see the difference.

Anyone know where I can find a pic of Skat Warlock 30, 31.5, and 32” to see the difference?

 

30 on 7" rim vs 31.5 on 8"

 

I've attempted to find it in this thread and search but what is a warlock Skat? The company you order through?

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Nevermind I found it! Sorry. The carcass. Got it.

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Based on picture above...

I think they are different carcasses though and that makes a difference in their size (rollout).
The left is a “China Skat” from FSS. The right is the “Warlock” Skat created personally by Jesus (at least that’s how the story sounds around here .
I want to see the ones on the right in 30, 31.5, and 32.

 

I do believe in Matt’s picture they are both from extreme just different sizes .

 

That is a huge difference in size if they are both from Extreme.

 

aren't most of the 4 seat guys running the 32" with either 10 or 11 wide rear on 8" front for best flotation?

I don't recommend my setup unless you want to hill-shoot

 

Nope,, 10-11”. Rear. 7” fronts

 

8 and 10 for the extremes and 8 and 11 for the sandcraft for my max

 

I haven't been on these forums in a long time but recently bought a 2018 X RS and of course needed paddles. I read every thread on paddles I could find to try to make the best decision I could. I knew I only wanted Skat Traks. I have been duning a long time and using the internet even longer. I have learned two things - Most people over-paddle/over-tire and on the internet everybody is an expert (especially if they are trying to sell you something).

First thing I did was measure the roll-out on my stock bighorns. 90.5 inches with tires fully inflated. That gave me a baseline to work with because I didn't want to gear up too much when I put the paddles on. Seems he trend is to go with 32" 100 to 105" rollout tires with 10 to 12 paddles. Seems like gearing up 10% in the sand would be hard on the belt and not let my engine rev as it should so I decided to go with a bit smaller tires from Sandcraft. 31" 10 paddle extremes with 94" rollout. I also didn't buy into the "smaller rims is less rotating mass line" and went with 15" rims for less sidewall flex. I don't spend all day hill shooting or drag racing - I dune - hard and fast. I set my ride height to 16" which leaves plenty of droop.

Long story, short - I decided to not get carried way with rollout or paddle count and raised suspension to get to a reasonable duning ride height.

So, how does this setup work - I have no idea but I will find out after Christmas when I take the new X3 to Glamis.

Here's a couple pics (tires were a bit low on air at the time):

 

I haven't been on these forums in a long time but recently bought a 2018 X RS and of course needed paddles. I read every thread on paddles I could find to try to make the best decision I could. I knew I only wanted Skat Traks. I have been duning a long time and using the internet even longer. I have learned two things - Most people over-paddle/over-tire and on the internet everybody is an expert (especially if they are trying to sell you something).

First thing I did was measure the roll-out on my stock bighorns. 90.5 inches with tires fully inflated. That gave me a baseline to work with because I didn't want to gear up too much when I put the paddles on. Seems he trend is to go with 32" 100 to 105" rollout tires with 10 to 12 paddles. Seems like gearing up 10% in the sand would be hard on the belt and not let my engine rev as it should so I decided to go with a bit smaller tires from Sandcraft. 31" 10 paddle extremes with 94" rollout. I also didn't buy into the "smaller rims is less rotating mass line" and went with 15" rims for less sidewall flex. I don't spend all day hill shooting or drag racing - I dune - hard and fast. I set my ride height to 16" which leaves plenty of droop.

Long story, short - I decided to not get carried way with rollout or paddle count and raised suspension to get to a reasonable duning ride height.

So, how does this setup work - I have no idea but I will find out after Christmas when I take the new X3 to Glamis.

Here's a couple pics (tires were a bit low on air at the time):

View attachment 226753

View attachment 226755

They look like there won't be much sidewall flex, they look. Stiff.

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I strongly considered the 32" tires and the extra 1" of ground clearance that it would get me (considering the 94" rollout I have is really a 30" tire). I also considered belt life and gearing and the type of duning I do. I added a little pre-load on the shocks and feel the ride height is about right while being pretty close to stock gearing.

Personally, I don't want to sacrifice belt life or or over-gear (especially in the dunes where tall gearing is not desirable) all in the name of 1" of extra ride height which can be managed with suspension tweaks. I managed almost 4000 dune miles on my Xds Turbo with tiny little 84" rollout Skat Traks.

Like I said earlier, I read everything I could on X3 paddles and 99% of the discussions seemed to focus simply on going bigger and getting more ride height while ignoring the mechanical aspect of gearing and belt life. I bet if we had to shift and didn't have CVTs we would be thinking about rollout a little differently....


I decided to jump in to share my thoughts on the subject. I'm not here to push one vendor or bash other tire vendors that supply products for our hobby and I'm not here to parrot what other are parroting... Just my perspective on what I chose and why. I'll know next week how they perform and am happy to report my findings then.

 

@Wyoduner Sure that's great and all but you still have zero seat time with them. I have never even had mine at the dunes yet as I just bought my XRS but usually when the vast majority run something it's for a reason. The weight on a 14" vs 15" is minimal sure but it's still added rotating mass. To say, "I don't buy it" is kind of silly when rotating mass isnt really an opinion but a fact.

Having said that I will probably be going with a 15" setup for the reason of side wall roll in the corners. I prefer handling over straight line speed as well but I believe I'll be going with a 32" warlock 12 stag extreme.

Not arguing your reasons as everyone is going to buy what they want with their money.

Coming from the bike and quad world it's exactly the same discussions on paddle choice. Everyone has their reasons for what they buy it's just finding what you're happy with.

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