Jim_S
Gone But Not Forgotten
My girl was an 18# cocker spaniel. She loved sitting in my lap watching the people in other cars. Once were were on the road she would go to sleep on the passenger floorboard. “Wake me up when we get there”
-
Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/
Suzuki mini truck on tracks
- Thread starter m1west
- Start date
My girl was an 18# cocker spaniel. She loved sitting in my lap watching the people in other cars. Once were were on the road she would go to sleep on the passenger floorboard. “Wake me up when we get there”
Today the lift kit for the mini mini van showed up. I have 2 options.
1- put the Camso tracks on it from the Suzuki then put tires on the Suzuki using the van in winter and truck in summer. ( original plan )
2- leave the tracks on the Suzuki and buy a new set of Mattracks EZ UTV tracks for up to 3500#. They have a roller on top that shapes the track around the wheel well and extends the length. With these tracks the front tracks and the rear tracks will almost touch greatly increasing flotation.
I didn't have any trouble with the Camso tracks and flotation but tires and wheels will be $1000.00 and the Mattracks tracks are $4000.00. and then I would be tracked summer and winter plus I would have 2 snow capable vehicles in winter.
Opinions please. Marty
1- put the Camso tracks on it from the Suzuki then put tires on the Suzuki using the van in winter and truck in summer. ( original plan )
2- leave the tracks on the Suzuki and buy a new set of Mattracks EZ UTV tracks for up to 3500#. They have a roller on top that shapes the track around the wheel well and extends the length. With these tracks the front tracks and the rear tracks will almost touch greatly increasing flotation.
I didn't have any trouble with the Camso tracks and flotation but tires and wheels will be $1000.00 and the Mattracks tracks are $4000.00. and then I would be tracked summer and winter plus I would have 2 snow capable vehicles in winter.
Opinions please. Marty
Attachments
rockhead
Member
You guys have a lot more seat time with them than I do but keep in mind even in the summer they might see 100 miles maximum all summer. The dirt up there is very fine like powder fine. with steep grades 30 degrees. The tracks would help, with all with slow speeds under 15 mph. In the summer there is no water at all. How much reduction in track and wheels longevity in % do you think I would realize?
Since it is an election year I’ll give you a political answer...it depends...[emoji849] and it all depends on your dirt type and temperatures in which your material reaches...hotter = faster wear, but if your application is low speed and steep climbs then tracks might be your best bet.
1boringguy
Well-known member
Just a couple thoughts, even though I have no experience in this.
Tracks do get used on all sorts of terrain when 'needed'. I heard one of the tower guys say he was on his 4th or 5th set of terra tracks on a 2002 Tucker. The cat is a tool to get a job done. When you have to run on bare ground the first half of the trip and drifts the second half, that's what you do. It's just the cost of operation. For personal use, just have to decide if the cost of operation is worth it. Like you say, not high use, not high speed. Personally I look at it like, if I can get there in a jeep that's a better way. Unless I just want the fun of the cat.
https://youtu.be/peYrLD2LpKM
https://youtu.be/WeJiAMkqhFI
Tracks do get used on all sorts of terrain when 'needed'. I heard one of the tower guys say he was on his 4th or 5th set of terra tracks on a 2002 Tucker. The cat is a tool to get a job done. When you have to run on bare ground the first half of the trip and drifts the second half, that's what you do. It's just the cost of operation. For personal use, just have to decide if the cost of operation is worth it. Like you say, not high use, not high speed. Personally I look at it like, if I can get there in a jeep that's a better way. Unless I just want the fun of the cat.
https://youtu.be/peYrLD2LpKM
https://youtu.be/WeJiAMkqhFI
Attachments
Hi all, reporting from the work cabin in the middle of a Ca. shelter in place order. We drove straight here and tomorrow we will drive straight home. There is a lot more snow here this time, the snow is all the way down to the staging area and range from about 2' at the bottom averaged a little more than 3 feet higher up with some 5'-7' drifts. it had just snowed so it is still very soft where you sink to your crotch. This was the big test for the Suzuki and did very well, with people dog and cargo about 1000# and it never even hinted at getting stuck.
The whole trip was without having to put the lockers on. The van will be great next year too.
The whole trip was without having to put the lockers on. The van will be great next year too.
Attachments
Hi all, The last trip to the cabin, on the way down I started to get a little hot where I had to stop and add water a couple of times.
What I found at home is the bottom of the upper radiator hose had a hole in it. Not sure how it happened, the hose was not rotted and it was cut through the string reinforcement. I don't know how it could have got cut by abrasion where the cut was located. I put a new hose on it and when I tested it I could see the weep hole on the water pump weeping a little. I ordered a water pump and timing belt kit figuring that while I am in there I should change the belt too. It showed up yesterday so I put it on today. Tomorrow I will fill it with water and test my work, then button it up and take it back to the Mountain as I have decided to just leave the tracks on it fr summer use. The terrain there is very steep with loose dirt. If I put tires on it I'm not sure it will climb the hills. The whole reason to have it up there is to be able to drive around on the property. If I have to stay on the roads it defeats the purpose. So that being said I will soon order a set of tracks for the Van and get it ready for winter.
What I found at home is the bottom of the upper radiator hose had a hole in it. Not sure how it happened, the hose was not rotted and it was cut through the string reinforcement. I don't know how it could have got cut by abrasion where the cut was located. I put a new hose on it and when I tested it I could see the weep hole on the water pump weeping a little. I ordered a water pump and timing belt kit figuring that while I am in there I should change the belt too. It showed up yesterday so I put it on today. Tomorrow I will fill it with water and test my work, then button it up and take it back to the Mountain as I have decided to just leave the tracks on it fr summer use. The terrain there is very steep with loose dirt. If I put tires on it I'm not sure it will climb the hills. The whole reason to have it up there is to be able to drive around on the property. If I have to stay on the roads it defeats the purpose. So that being said I will soon order a set of tracks for the Van and get it ready for winter.
Attachments
Today I buttoned up the timing belt/ water pump installation added water, ran it, burped the system. the temperature is stable and no leaks. Tomorrow I am going to pull it off of the trailer and give it a good long test, then add coolant and go to the mountain.
Today I pulled it off of the trailer. Then took it for a ride around the property a good long while, loading it hard. It is about 80 degrees today which is a lot warmer than the winter at the mountain and about as hot as it gets there in the summer. Tomorrow I will drain the water and add coolant, then put the bumper and radiator cover back on, clean it up and put it back on the trailer. Next week I am going back to the work cabin and can report how it does on the mountain. I am getting ready to order a new set of tracks for the van.
I settled on Mattracks EZ UTV for up to 3500#, the van loaded with people and luggage will be around 2000#. The Mattracks have a little larger foot print than the Compulast tracks so they should do well. $4,100.00 plus shipping with no adapters or anti rotation. They wanted $1500.00 for the brackets and spacers, its a weekend in the shop making them and mine on the Suzuki are much stronger than the store bought. 16 weeks lead time.
I plan to go ahead and change the water pump, hoses and timing belt on the van when I put the tracks on to get ahead of any maintenance that could cause me problems in the snow later.
So far I am very happy with the performance of the Suzuki. If I had done the water pump and hoses when I got it I wound not have had any issues at all.
I settled on Mattracks EZ UTV for up to 3500#, the van loaded with people and luggage will be around 2000#. The Mattracks have a little larger foot print than the Compulast tracks so they should do well. $4,100.00 plus shipping with no adapters or anti rotation. They wanted $1500.00 for the brackets and spacers, its a weekend in the shop making them and mine on the Suzuki are much stronger than the store bought. 16 weeks lead time.
I plan to go ahead and change the water pump, hoses and timing belt on the van when I put the tracks on to get ahead of any maintenance that could cause me problems in the snow later.
So far I am very happy with the performance of the Suzuki. If I had done the water pump and hoses when I got it I wound not have had any issues at all.
Attachments
The Camso pods were a trade deal where I didn't have to buy them, so far I have nothing bad to say about them. The Suzuki went everywhere I needed to go with them without any problems at all. I don't see any obvious ware happening to anything. I am an amateur compared to you guys that work them for a living.
I am going with the Mattracks because they are a little cheaper and the SQ. inches are a little more, thats it. I use them for cabin access in the winter and the Suzuki will be used in the summer. They both may see 75 to 100 miles each year, so they should last for a while. I don't know the speed at which you groom at but most of the time I am running about 10 mph on narrow, steep with switchbacks, snow covered mountain road that if your lucky a skid steer hasn't roughed everything up real good for you. Its about 5 miles off grid. When I get the Mattracks and put them on I will post it.
Finally, got it all buttoned up, put the bumper and radiator cover on. While I was there I did some other maintenance as I noticed the front tracks were a little toe out so made that adjustment, also when braking up a steep hill from flat the passenger side rubbed the body a little so I made that adjustment. All the work was tested then I cleaned it up. Next week I am going back to the mountain with it. The week after I will do the lift kit then a water pump, timing belt and hoses the van. Might as well head the problems off up front.
Attachments
)Just ordered a new set of Mattracks EZ UTV 3500# tracks for the Van. $4123.00 plus shipping. 50% deposit 12 week delivery time. Now I have all of the components, while I'm waiting it will give me some time to get the lift kit, Timing belt and water pump installed before they show up. The MAXIMS would have been nice but they are almost double the cost of the UTV tracks at over $7,000.00 for less than 600 sq. more track. The Camso tracks on the Suzuki are about 100 SQ. inches smaller than the EZ UTV tracks and they worked good on the Suzuki so the UTV tracks should be good on the Van.
Attachments
Made it to the cabin today, took a few minutes to play with the Suzuki a little. I will do some more testing later in the week. I have a COOT and it will not do this. So far so good, you can stop on this angle in loose dirt and take off again you're not going to do that on tires.
Attachments
The first picture is looking up a rutted up slightly grown over old skid steer track up the mountain, the second looking down. It is about a 30 degree hill with very loose dirt. I didn't go up that far but it looks like a long way down. No getting a run at it, just goes up. Next I will start the lift kit, water pump, timing belt, hoses etc. on the van while waiting on tracks. Now that summer is coming in I can only get a couple hours on it each day before it gets hot and takes the fun out of it.
Attachments
The terrain never lets you exceed about 10 mph. With tires I would have to stay on the road, I can do that in my pickup truck. the idea is to access where I want to access. The capabilities of it allow me to go almost anywhere on the mountain. I have 80 acres and haven't seen all of it yet. There are places you're not going in anything up there, even difficult on foot. The plan is if there are things in the way that can damage the tracks or the truck, just go around, move it or cut it out of the way. After I have established trails to the areas I want to visit, it should be boring. There is a very good spot I found while hiking for long distance target practice but it is a difficult hike out having to carry everything. I grew up in Michigan ( flat as a pancake ) not so much here. if it rains on the mountain it gets very muddy. I don't hot rod it there, just slow and steady, I haven't had any issues while driving it around where the tracks or the truck were being abused or damaged in any way. I don't think you want to be doing 30 mph. and hit a bowling ball sized rock as that would damage something. Its not in distructable so going slow and using some common sense, I think they will work out just fine. The truck is now for summer use and emergency winter use. It will stay at the cabin full time from now on.
Yesterday I thought about getting a little ahead on the van so I called the salesman at Matttracks that took my order for the hole pattern in the drive sprocket so I could get the wheel adapters before the tracks showed up. I was shocked to learn that the sales team could not answer that simple question or get me to someone that could?? Later to receive an email instructing me to call Polaris because the hole pattern is the same as Polaris. Now is this lazy, incompetent or are they giving me a hard time because I didn't buy there $600.00 adapters that I can get on Ebay for $100.00 American made. Or there anti rotation brackets for $900.00 that I plan to make in the shop. So far I am not impressed with the customer service and I don't even have them yet.
Thanks, there sales team is quick to point out the shortcomings of the competitors tracks but do not know there own product specifications or feel compelled to find out for you. I was able to get to the service department through the receptionist and they had the answer. 4 on 156 mm. Maybe its just a lazy sales guy or?? but it wasn't a difficult request or hard to find out, I felt he just wasn't willing to take the time to get the answer.
The van is 4X144.3
sledhead Ed
Member
Polaris bolt pattern 4/156
This morning I ordered my adapters from Ebay I had to buy 2 sets of 2 making the total with tax $280.00. The last set bought were $135.00 but that is all I could find, but still 1/2 of the $600.00 set from Mattracks. They are USA made and are Billet so they should work just fine. There were plenty with 115 pattern cheaper and have read where they would work as the difference is 7 mm. But if the right ones are available I thought it would be better not side loading the studs even a couple MM. I am headed back to the work cabin tomorrow to install a electrical pannel and get the wiring terminated so I am not working off of extension cords. While I am there I plan to cut a trail with the Suzuki and see if I can find all of my property lines. I will take some pictures as I go.