Fast-Trac Air Lite XL Stud Backers?

[AXR]

Has/Does anyone use the round Fast-Trac Air Lite XL Backers? I have a cpl friends that use them on turbo cat's and a few others that have them on 800 cats. They all seem to recommend those over the aluminum backers. The site says they are made of DUPONT polymers. So that sounds durrable if it's anything like the dupont sliders. My friends claim they have never had a problem with them breaking/cracking.

I am 99% sure I am going to do 144 mega-bites up the middle vs changing the track to the ice attack. So now I need to pick my backers. Either woody's round aluminum or the air lite's.

 

[steiner]

Used them on my Attak. Only had 108 up the middle and it took 8ooo miles before I had a pull thru. Other than that never lost a stud , nut or backer.

 

[Mighty]

Ask SJ how they took out his heat exchanger on his Turbo cat. For the few oz's in weight you save I wouldn't chance them. It just takes one well placed hit on a rock to crack one.

 

[WVTurboLTX]

I've been running them for years with no issues at all. 6k miles on an 800 doo and 4k plus miles on 3 different vipers. In my experience the track dry rots before the backer has an issue. I beat the snot out of the doo in horrible conditions for years and never cracked a single one. I'm talking stumps, fallen trees, big rocks. That whole sled fell apart from the abuse and the studs and backers were fine.

 

[RacinJason15]

Fast trac anything are great. Quality product. I use there double plastic backers. I've never had one break. Thousands and thousands of miles on these. Never an issue.


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[uprider800]

Glad to hear the good reports as I bought these studs at the snowshow in Milwaukee.


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[Smokum]

IMO, they are the best studs and backers on the market. I would suggest using their studs as well. Uncle has been running them for 20+ years on countless sleds and never once had an issue. Every sled I have bought used with metal backers always have loose studs. Never had that happen w/ the Fast-Trac stuff. The studs are stainless steel and also have a Torx head in the stud, which makes stripping one out a rare occurrence.

No matter what stud or backer you use, put a drop of blue Locktite on each stud for added holding. No issues getting them back off if you ever need to (I stripped a track I studded when I parted a sled and they came off no issue)

 

[**sj**]

they are very nice studs (fast trac) ....and for a casual cruiser the airlites are OK....you do get more stud deflection and therefore with the thinner head have a greater chance of tearouts (really so if you under stud)

if you are general cruising they would be fine in numbers ...like 144-168 minimum...

if you are going to run them...get them tight...and like smokum said...thread locker even with nyloc nuts...

if you are adding power...will dead dig hard takeoffs...etc etc.. I dont recommend anything plastic...period...

for the record...I and a buddy ran the SB pro lite backers ...and he threw one into the exchanger...I caught my broken ones in time..they hooked like a banchee but plastic and brute power dont mix..

IMHO the most rugged stud combo is snow studs warthogs.....we punished them and even under studded for the power and Ive never seen one fail..

 

[dsimonRX1]

they are very nice studs (fast trac) ....and for a casual cruiser the airlites are OK....you do get more stud deflection and therefore with the thinner head have a greater chance of tearouts (really so if you under stud)

if you are general cruising they would be fine in numbers ...like 144-168 minimum...

if you are going to run them...get them tight...and like smokum said...thread locker even with nyloc nuts...

if you are adding power...will dead dig hard takeoffs...etc etc.. I dont recommend anything plastic...period...

for the record...I and a buddy ran the SB pro lite backers ...and he threw one into the exchanger...I caught my broken ones in time..they hooked like a banchee but plastic and brute power dont mix..

IMHO the most rugged stud combo is snow studs warthogs.....we punished them and even under studded for the power and Ive never seen one fail..

Do you like how they hook up?

 

[Smokum]

they are very nice studs (fast trac) ....and for a casual cruiser the airlites are OK....you do get more stud deflection and therefore with the thinner head have a greater chance of tearouts (really so if you under stud)

if you are general cruising they would be fine in numbers ...like 144-168 minimum...

if you are going to run them...get them tight...and like smokum said...thread locker even with nyloc nuts...

if you are adding power...will dead dig hard takeoffs...etc etc.. I dont recommend anything plastic...period...

for the record...I and a buddy ran the SB pro lite backers ...and he threw one into the exchanger...I caught my broken ones in time..they hooked like a banchee but plastic and brute power dont mix..

IMHO the most rugged stud combo is snow studs warthogs.....we punished them and even under studded for the power and Ive never seen one fail..

My self and my group that run Fast-Trac's are far from the "casual cruiser" category. I also ride here in Southern Wisconsin as often as conditions allow and the trails are thin on snow quite often, so they get extra abuse that way too.

I am not familiar w/ SB Pro lite - do you mean SP? How many studs were you running, how much length over the lug, and how many horse power? Those all make a difference too.

Under studding can be a major issue, especially if you go more than the recommended length over the lug. I did not buy a SW this year, but if/when I do it will have more than 144-168 studs as I feel that isn't enough even for stock power. I had 240 (192 center and 48 outside) in my 137" Cat Turbo - overkill for stock but I was planning to bump the power, but never got to it.

I'm certainly not trying to discredit what SJ has said, but based on my experience I have no reason not to recommend them. It is one of the few aftermarket products we have had great luck with across the board so we keep using them.

 

[**sj**]

Do you like how they hook up?

Im not knocking them.. actually ran them for years...they are nice studs...240 is a nice quantity...theres definately stregth in numbers!

(Stud boy Pro lite backers ...because mighty mentioned something errant in an earlier post)

A stainless stud doesnt have the carbon content and therefore apples to apples doesnt wear as well...other than that what i do like is the no shoulder design allows you to get a tighter capture on the tracks matting...

personally Id run them with an aluminum backer..plastic and power dont mix...regardless of who makes it ..

and in quantity they hook up well...

by comparison , heres my setup 192 1.630's with lake racer style carbide studs....sled ran 240+h.p....of many setups on carbide trail studs..this hooked best ; )

(the guy that bought the machine is going with a bigger lug track and is selling the track and studs)

 

[Smokum]

Im not knocking them.. actually ran them for years...they are nice studs...240 is a nice quantity...theres definately stregth in numbers!

(Stud boy Pro lite backers ...because mighty mentioned something errant in an earlier post)

A stainless stud doesnt have the carbon content and therefore apples to apples doesnt wear as well...other than that what i do like is the no shoulder design allows you to get a tighter capture on the tracks matting...

personally Id run them with an aluminum backer..plastic and power dont mix...regardless of who makes it ..

and in quantity they hook up well...

by comparison , heres my setup 192 1.630's with lake racer style carbide studs....sled ran 240+h.p....of many setups on carbide trail studs..this hooked best ; )

(the guy that bought the machine is going with a bigger lug track and is selling the track and studs)

I'm confused now - did you actually break a Fast-Trac backer then or were they Stud Boy backers?

 

[**sj**]

sorry for the confusion..no...I HAVE broken the airlites in the past...not experienced the xl's too much..and YES have broken the stud boy pro lites.. so IMHO if you plan on hard launches, understudding etc.. and/or will be turning it up...stay away from plastic...although my guess is the airlite xls are one of the tougher ones...

 

[WVTurboLTX]

I've run the aluminum backers with tall aluminum nuts and it was a disaster. The backers and nuts wore on each other and loosened up and you couldn't tighten them because they siezed to the studs. Had to cut them out with bolt cutters after only 2 seasons.

The XLs are tough as nails. I'd be impressed if you could manage to break one. Since they are bigger and thicker they flex less and help support the stud better keeping you from breaking the ends off. Plus when you tighten them they squish ever so slightly keeping tension on the stud. I've never ever had to retighten studs on any track I used them on.

Like I said before I ran them om my XRS that had a 1.5 track with 1.8ish studs. I beat that thing in conditions that are far worse then most people would ride in. I'm talking spinning it over downed trees and riding at speed over huge rocks and never managed to break a single backer. The track would always fail from age first.

 

[AXR]

Awesome. Thank's for all the replies. Time for a stud topic now lol.