I wanted to run the wider MBS tires on my Z3 so had to make drive adapters. I’m not a machinist but a friend is, retired, and he has some older lathes and a mill so he let me use them and gave me suggestions on how to do it. Huge pain the ass to recreate the drive pattern, at least for me, but I got it done.
Original Z3 drive coupler pattern I needed to copy:
Took it on the road with the new bindings and had the worst speed wobbles I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve gone faster on this board without bindings. I guess the bindings had me using different positioning or weight distribution, or being locked in prevented me from using the slight adjustments I normally do. Totally caught me by surprise and thought I was going to eat it but was able to slow down and get it under control. Suspension seemed to amplify the wobbles and kept it unstable even as I slowed down a lot.
Finally got to try the MBS tires in the snow, TLDR: Not great.
Shouldn’t be surprising since the same issues apply to vehicles in the snow, too wide a tire doesn’t put enough ground pressure and they spin, and also slide out sideways more easily. Took my Atlas with Trampa Mudpluggers down the same trail, (in 2WD mode), and it had better traction and better tracking. I’ll try mounting the Trampas on the stock Z3 rims to see how they do.
If i’ve learned anything about these trucks it’s that the suspension comes way too loose from the factory. You gotta crank those springs or upgrade to the heavier ones.
Anyone have an idea if going from the stock 4:1 gearing to the optional 4.3:1 gearing would be noticeable on the low end torque? It’s only about an 8% difference.
Skis came in today, gave them a test with the tires, heavy wet slush not the best conditions and the tires quickly drilled down and got stuck but the skis did stay on top of the snow better than the front tires would have:
I’ve considered studs, and I’m sure they’d help in some situations, but I’m also trying to go through snow that’s deeper than my board. Example with my 4WD Atlas gear drive, (Trampa Mudpluggers on order for it)
Thought I’d mention I recently tried running the board in reverse as a “front wheel drive” and the traction was much better but steering was really weird with the front tending to slide out when turning.
