Help me make up my mind!!

[geez150]

I can not for the life of me get off the fence on studding my stock 1.25x137. Here in Western NY the conditions are iffy at best a lot of the times and here are my concerns. 1, pulling a stud and sending it into the heat exchanger. Best case scenario track is shot and you get exchanger welded, worst case you blow the motor and the machine is junk. And concern 2, even in stock form on snow will studs actually make it hook any better with this kind of power? I guess I am just trying to weight the risk versus reward factor of studding my sled for trail use, not for lakes and or ice. Also not interested in studding just for safety and or braking. If I were to stud it would be solely for traction on a performance standpoint. Also if I do stud it will be all in the center and 144 at most. Anyone out there start the season unstudded and add them throughout last year? Thanks for your opinions guys.

 

[krm]

Your not concerned about safety !!What about the other people out there riding when your out of control .??2 ply track ,so no issues with pull outs .

 

[AnythingButLast]

I'm from WNY. I ride from Eden south to Chautauqua Lake. And then a lot in tug hill and old forge for trips per season. I've never not run studs and would never not stud one of my tracks for our trails. They range from choppy to groomed to icy on any given ride as I'm sure you're familiar with. 15 years and not a single failure on my sleds due to studding. Have 192 studs in my Sidewinder with a big tuneup in it. Sure in non set up snow they aren't doing much. When it's groomed and crisp it's night and day. Catch ice or a good hill and it's even better. Just install them to the proper torque and then after the first ride take the time to go back and recheck the torque on em. Then I just do routine visual inspections every so often. Had plenty of friend over the years against studs untill i convinced them with my sleds that failures aren't just waiting to happen. Also helped when theyd get stuck and slide on the ice chute in zoar valley and id stop mid hill and then start moving again like it was on flat ground. Not to mention the added safety in stopping power added

 

[Conedodger]

Same boat, I'm going to run 500/1000 miles as is first and see what I think. the other consideration is the same icier conditions where they help you stop and go, they also help create snow for the same heat exchangers to stay cool. Where you ride matters a bit too, some places are more prone to the icier scraped off conditions.

Safety is relative. Can't overdrive the thing, 10% slower is often faster in the end. something we see over and over racing off road. Know your equipment, capabilities, conditions, visibility. Drive accordingly.

 

[geez150]

Your not concerned about safety !!What about the other people out there riding when your out of control .??2 ply track ,so no issues with pull outs .

I'm not worried about safety as I don't ride out of control so that is a non issue. As stated above was only looking for info if studding would actually help me get more power to the ground. As of right now unstudded if I punch it out of a corner or down a straight it spins as one might expect, I have to roll on the throttle easier to get hook up and just wondering if that would go away with studs or if I would still just be blowing the track out either way studded or not.

 

[XP123]

I'm from Chautauqua County and I have been using studs since 1989. I switched to pre studded tracks back in 2009 and they are now my preferred choice. If you want ultimate traction then you can stud confidently using double backers.mthe last time I studded a track was on my Apex. I put 144 down the center using double backers. 7 thousand miles later the studs looked new and I had no issues whatsoever.

 

[hibshman25]

I never stud any of my tracks. I'm considering something like an i grip screw stud just for some bite on an icy corner. I think MrSled did a review and install on one of his sleds.

 

[Doc Harley]

My first 500miles was with no studs, was fine. Little loose, But expected.
Give it a try without and see how it goes.

I ended up putting 144 @ 1.375" down the middle. Did it help for safety, god yes. Did it help traction on a hard launch. God no.

 

[SounderMN]

I had the same concerns with my Viper. I don't want a studded track. But, in the interest of safety, I ended up fitting an Ice Attak track. After buying it, and selling my almost new stock track, it cost a little more than studs. But, you don't feel it there, don't see it there, and don't have to worry about studs pulling out or causing damage. I highly suggest it as an option to consider!

 

[geez150]

My first 500miles was with no studs, was fine. Little loose, But expected.
Give it a try without and see how it goes.

I ended up putting 144 @ 1.375" down the middle. Did it help for safety, god yes. Did it help traction on a hard launch. God no.

Yeah I probably should have mentioned that I already have 1300 miles from last season unstudded, so I have a good feel for what that is like. But seems your experience is what I thought might be true. That studding this sled really won't help any if at all on snow on the trail, from a performance standpoint.

 

[XP123]

The pre studded tracks give me the safety I want on hard trails with icy corners and icy hills. I won't ride without them and right now I have an ice attack on my Winder and it is the best one I have had yet.

 

[SounderMN]

Yeah I probably should have mentioned that I already have 1300 miles from last season unstudded, so I have a good feel for what that is like. But seems your experience is what I thought might be true. That studding this sled really won't help any if at all on snow on the trail, from a performance standpoint.

I didn't add the studded track for performance. It's for safety in those icy corners or for stopping on the lake or icy road crossings. The pre-studded track does make it a lot harder to move the sled in the garage. Gotta put it on dollies or you'll wreck the floor.

 

[KnappAttack]

Of the thousands of miles and 45 years of riding I've done, I have only put a hole in one heat exchanger in my life and it was easily weldable. I've also blown one track out at 132 MPH on a turbo RX-1 that only ballooned the entire tunnel.

I'll take studding all day long.

 

[Soldier'spapa]

I'm not worried about safety as I don't ride out of control so that is a non issue. As stated above was only looking for info if studding would actually help me get more power to the ground. As of right now unstudded if I punch it out of a corner or down a straight it spins as one might expect, I have to roll on the throttle easier to get hook up and just wondering if that would go away with studs or if I would still just be blowing the track out either way studded or not.

Sounds like you might be a candidate for a taller lugged track. I was thinking of installing a 1.6" Ice Cobra (pre-studded) but decided to try the iGrip screw-in pics in the stock rip II for this season. If the snow traction is not enough for me I might swap tracks next season...(hoping by then the Storm 1.5" is available pre-studded).

I am a trail rider and not a lake racer. I'll line up with the buddies on occasion but primarily I want the best performance possible in the trails. If I loose a few mph due to a taller track I'm okay with that.

Kinda sounds like thats what you're after too.

 

[geez150]

Yeah I was thinking that maybe a 1.5 track would help but I'm not going to rip my track out till it needs to come out...at least I say that now lol. I guess I should have titled this post "studs do they hook up 200hp on snow or waste of money". Because that's all this really boils down to , if I will be happy with the money spent on studding it. Will I get more power to the ground and there for more performance and more excitement or more fun? Or will studding do nothing or very little on the trail with this much hp? Will the return on investment be worth it or do I blow my money on something else? I have had plenty of studded sleds in the past but the last three sleds I have owned have not been studded and they were all 160hp sleds. I kinda tend to agree with jtmetal that studding these sleds won't help much for hard stabs of the fun flipper out on the snow. Ice absolutely it will help. Maybe others with experience will chime in but at this point I am thinking of spending the money on a taller seat for the 05 rage in our fleet. Now that I now for sure will be a great ROI