Studding my Apex...where do I start?

[Phazernut]

I want to stud my Apex this summer. I have the 1.25 ripsaw on it. What studs are people using and how long should they be? I don't want to go completely nuts with it. I ride mostly ungroomed trails but after riding this weekend and having a few close calls coming up on ice unexpectedly and also a friend almost got killed last week when he lost control doing 20mph on ice I think for safety I need them. I have never ran studs before so this is new to me. I would like to do it without removing the track fom the sled. I've done a search on here but got 13000 hits so I figure its easier to just ask the question.

 

[ROCKRTX]

Well you can start with the right tool...a track cutter,then choose the amount of studs you want to run and your pattern.You can look at woody or stud boy they got template already made.

My recommendation is :

-144 studs min.
-1.325 woody gold digger with single aluminum square backer.( with single baker the track is more easy to roll ).Longer stud will hit the exhaust.
-Stud the outside of the track for maximum traction,Center for track durability.

 

[mulderdad]

I just got finished studding my apex last week.
It has a 1.25 ripjunk track also.
It had 96-1.325 studs. I now have 144-1.45" woodys megabites all up the center in a 2/4 pattern. The row with four studs have woodys double backers and the rows with two studs have single woodys round backers. Hooks up good now.
Have to add some more protection to the tunnel.
Day and night difference over the old 1.325 studs.
Cheers,
Rick.

 

[Yamaha 40th]

I know a lot of people here use woody's studs but I have 144 Stud Boy 1.375's down the middle with the tall nuts and I love them gives me enough traction but still allows a little bit of slide in the turns. The only think I can say is make sure you lock-tite the nuts even with the nylock nuts I had a problem with them comeing loose early in the season, but not after the lock-tite. I have the same sled as you a 2008 Apex Gt....BZ

 

[mulderdad]

i used the big nuts and locktite also.

 

[SledFreak]

144, 1.450..

 

[Phazernut]

Can I get away with 1.450 without extra tunnel protection?

I've been considering 192 1.325 gold diggers.

 

[Thewhitedogg]

I have 192- 1.325" stainless Woody's with the tall nuts and square aluminum backers. I used a Woody's template. You dont have to take the track out to do it. I have a sled lift so I just put it up on that and sat on the floor behind the sled. I marked the entire track before I drilled any holes. You can buy a track marker, but I just used a white paint marker I stole from my wifes craft supplies. Make a dot in the center of each hole in the template. You should get the track cutter, it makes a nice clean hole compared to a drill bit. An impact wrench and a buddy to help will make the job a whole lot easier.

I would use at least 144 studs. There are alot of post on here that say you will loose some top end with 192 but I dont know how much. Mine has run 112 on gps many times.

My studs have 2000 miles on them and very little wear, no tear outs or broken studs. I have also used stud boys on other sleds and had the same results.

 

[Swiss Sledder]

I want to stud my Apex this summer...where do i start?

The F.A.Q. sticky at the top of this forum (or click on the link in my signature) is a good place to start. Look under Studs for links to existing threads that will provide you all the information you need.

 

[SledFreak]

Can I get away with 1.450 without extra tunnel protection?

I've been considering 192 1.325 gold diggers.

I would not advise it, but the only place I see it hitting is the exhaust shield and I did that with the 1.325's. It's easy to do... Just add 1/4" x 4ft from the back of the tunnel and rivit them every 6". This is for an Apex. You may need a little longer piece for an Attack.

 

[flesh]

As you can see you will get a lot of different opnions on here so here is mine. You said that you do a lot of off trail riding so my sugestion would be to run even less than 144 1.375's Also I prefer not to stud the outer part of the track as this is the weakest part of the track and this is where you tend to get studs pulling out. 192 IMO is way too many and will also slow your top end way down. I would do a 120 pattern but this is just my .02 cents. Good luck with the stud install.

 

[mbarryracing]

144, 1.450..

I also run 144 up the middle, 3 per bar, 1.450 megabites. No additional tunnel protectors and never had an issue scraping anything after high speed lake runs and massive back jarring bottom out's.
Never ran the track loose, however.

This is plenty for aggressive trail riding on hard pack, it grabs and pulls hard. It also stops awesome!
Loose conditions, the studs don't grab anything anyhow and don't do anything for you... you need big paddles for that.

see pic

 

[SharkAttak]

144, 1.450..

I also run 144 up the middle, 3 per bar, 1.450 megabites. No additional tunnel protectors and never had an issue scraping anything after high speed lake runs and massive back jarring bottom out's.
Never ran the track loose, however.

This is plenty for aggressive trail riding on hard pack, it grabs and pulls hard. It also stops awesome!
Loose conditions, the studs don't grab anything anyhow and don't do anything for you... you need big paddles for that.

see pic

i can't believe how tall those are, none of them have bent over? i would have used the taller nuts, i want to take out my 144 1.325 and go with 96 1.450, but i don't wait it to hit the tunnel

 

[mbarryracing]

No they don't hit, no damage so far with 1100 miles on them.
The distance that those studs extend past the track paddles is still less than the thickness of the tunnel protectors.
Same studs being used in the FPP turbo trail sleds, they just have more of them. They don't have issues either but they do get additions to the tunnel protectors for additional clearance (thicker) to compensate for the track ballooning from reaching speeds over 130+ mph.
I think that is common with any of the boosted sleds, though.

 

[SharkAttak]

No they don't hit, no damage so far with 1100 miles on them.
The distance that those studs extend past the track paddles is still less than the thickness of the tunnel protectors.
Same studs being used in the FPP turbo trail sleds, they just have more of them. They don't have issues either but they do get additions to the tunnel protectors for additional clearance (thicker) to compensate for the track ballooning from reaching speeds over 130+ mph.
I think that is common with any of the boosted sleds, though.

thanks, i think i'm going to change them to the 1.450 this summer and give them a try