By stan gipson ( - 63.166.146.238) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Anyone have any experience with crossing river or stream and having major problems driving up onto sand bars. I am a new owner of a Max IV and the past couple of times I have attempted this I entered and crossed O.K. but sink in the sand and have to be winched out when trying to drive out on the sandbar. It seems the wheels dig out and the bottom of the unit drags.??????

By Fred Sowerwine, Montana's Max dealer (Fred4dot) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Stan, You didn't say what engine or what tires. A worn out set of 26" tires (lugs worn off) are going to work best and you have to remember the rule, "don't ever spin your tires". If you are on real sand, you shouldn't have much problem once you learn what your tires are doing and adjust accordingly. If you are talking about silt, that is another situation entirely and you probably won't be able to go except maybe with tracks. I try to stay out of stuff that doesn't have any vegetation (usually no bottom). The 600T (18hp Briggs) Max IV is the easiest to drive and not get much wheel spin - it is really easy to dig six holes real fast in the soft stuff!

By max factor ( - 24.195.242.119) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I do alot of water travle, when you get stuck in that stuff put in reverce stand up spred your feet as wide as you can and rock side to side and give it gas. this will help break down the high senter efect and usualy get you out.

By Bud ( - 167.230.38.107) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I am by no means the expert that Fred is, but you may also want to air your tires down to 1.5 - 2 psi. A wider foot helps a lot, combined with no wheel spin.

Bud

By shanefor1 on Unrecorded Date: Edit

to any one...

what psi would you lower the pressure to before the tyres lose thair shape.?

how would 1.5 psi affect driving on dry dirt or rocky trails?

By lcater on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I doubt lowering tire pressure from the normal 2.5psi would have much impact on wet sand, and you would probably pop the tire off the rim on a rock. I off road in trucks as well, and we lower to around 14psi but would kill for the the type of ground pressure given off by an aatv.

By maxindetroit on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Shane, driving on wet sand or dry dirt with 1.5psi should be no problem, but watch it on the rocky trails, you could bend a rim, or worse.
Jim

By Motown's (Bigwolf) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

During this summer I have done quite a bit of riding through sand both loose and packed, wet and dry. I have riden on sand trails and hills and riden through the very loose and dry sandy scramble areas. I also have also taken the Max through a couple of shallow river crossing that were very sandy and other spots that were very muddy. In fact My buddies pond on his farm is all sand around the banks, and it is a fairly steep climb to get back out of the water onto shore. I have to say that I have not experienced and form of traction problem at all. I keep my tire pressure at 3.5 to 4 P.S.I. year round, and that seems to handle every situation that I have been in so far. I am running the 26" Goodyear Super Terra Grip tires. They seem to be a very good all around tire for me at this point in time.

I am also hesitant to drop the air pressure in the tires lower than 3.5 P.S.I., for fear of denting rims on rocks and so on.

By Fred Sowerwine, Montana's Max dealer (Fred4dot) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Gary, you should try lowering your pressure to 2 PSI. You won't believe the difference in the ride and increase in traction (some say you can lower tires on the k-rims to 1 PSI or lower without popping beads). You have to be pretty reckless or have a heavy load to worry about bending rims at 2 or so PSI. I run the old style rims at about 2 PSI with no problem I've had them at 1.5 PSI, but I think that is pushing it with old style rims (chance of popping beads). Of course, I do slow down when I am going over rocks, and stuff that pokes in.

By Motown's (Bigwolf) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I will have to admit, when I changed out my roll cage back to the factory stock roll cage, I noticed a significant difference in the ride and increased bounce. The stock factory roll cage is much lighter weight than my custom made roll cage. With the big heavy custom roll cage installed, it smoothed out the ride real good. Now with the lighter factory cage installed I am back to bouncing again.

I will have to try dropping the air pressure down to 2 P.S.I. as you suggested. That will probably help smooth the ride out once again.

I really do like that 26 inch Goodyear Super Terra Grip tire. As I mentioned before, those tires are very agressive and provide excellent traction in all the terrain conditions that I have tried them in. I have not even come close to getting stuck in the Max IV with those tires on it! Knock on wood!

By dt5428 on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Hey Gary by the sounds of it you should mount axles and tires on the top of your roll cage also.LOL Glad to hear you did not get hurt to bad.

By Timothy Schotanus (Mudbuster) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I run the tires on my max 4 at less than 2 psi and have never lost a bead. Those k-rims work well and the low tire pressure really helps smooth out the ride, especially on the front axle. I should mention that my rims do have some battle marks but that may be just because I drive like an animal sometimes.

By Fred Sowerwine, Montana's Max dealer (Fred4dot) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Mudbuster, my rims have a few battle scars on the edges, too, but that is because there is not much overhang of the tire and as one drives through the rocks, etc, they get dinged up. That would happen even if we had high pressure tires. I still say the secret to keeping beads mounted is to have clean bead areas free of any lubricant (just use water as lubricant when mounting).

And yes, Gary the 26" tire is the only way to go with a Max IV. I personally wish RI would get a 9" K-rim made and go back to the 25" Rawhide III as it gives a very nice ride and is about the same outside diameter as the 26" tire (about the same traction, too).