Paddle Tires Cost Too Much

Reece Pettersen

Reece Pettersen

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I have always been a fan of STU paddles and have run them on all of my cars. However, the price of 36" sand tires unlimited is excessive and making we think there should be a better option for the price. Has anyone taken a 37" tire and had Skat-Trak install their smallest paddle, the Ripper (15/16" tall), and laid them out similar to the STU? I have seen Skat-Trak setups for trucks with large spaced paddles, but they are trany destroyers. Would be nice to have an alternative to STU. 

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How much does Skat charge to shave/vulcanize a tire?  A 37" tire isn't cheap, but maybe get one used?

 
Had my son grab me a pair of 35.5 STUs while he was new STU in Salt Lake City a couple months ago. Seem to remember them being $650/paddle a years ago, now closer to $1200/paddle. Curious is the Skat option is viable. Always wanted to run a pair of shaved 37" BFGs for fronts but I remember they were close to double the weight.

 
I made these a while back, but I never got a chance to run them. I ended up coming up on a deal on some OMF wheels and STU tires so I ended up selling them. I think when my car is closer to being done I’ll make another set. 

 
My buddy did this back in 2005.

He got 2 years out of them and the paddles started ripping off.

He had a blown LS6, so decent power but not crazy.

I think if you run a ton of power with this setup you might get a season out of them.

 
I am going to have some made on 37" projects, but with x18 7/8" tall talon scoop. I will keep everyone posted how they work. 

Does anyone know the height of the scoop on a 36 No.2? 

 
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L.R.S. said:
Had my son grab me a pair of 35.5 STUs while he was new STU in Salt Lake City a couple months ago. Seem to remember them being $650/paddle a years ago, now closer to $1200/paddle. Curious is the Skat option is viable. Always wanted to run a pair of shaved 37" BFGs for fronts but I remember they were close to double the weight.
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Could also go with a BFG A/T to keep the weight down. 

The Skat Trak Rep said they can also do a "mohawk" for front tires. 

Screenshot 2023-08-03 094002.jpg

 
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There was a board member here who tried the shaved BFG project/skat trak a couple years ago.  Cannot remember if it was a 35" or 37".  IIRC he did not love them.  Good bite, but they tended to dig and not 'float' as much as a STU.  I know the price sucks, but we would be in a pickle if STU stopped making tires.  I heard there was another company about to start making sand tires for rails.......

 
1newbie said:
There was a board member here who tried the shaved BFG project/skat trak a couple years ago.  Cannot remember if it was a 35" or 37".  IIRC he did not love them.  Good bite, but they tended to dig and not 'float' as much as a STU.  I know the price sucks, but we would be in a pickle if STU stopped making tires.  I heard there was another company about to start making sand tires for rails.......
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FWIW, I think the BFG KR2 offroad race/kevlar tire was a very light casing from BFG (so light the baja racers complained and they changed them to a KDR2 or something).  That light casing is a plus if you are trying to make them into a sand tire.

 
I agree the STU paddles seem to be priced very high. Of course I've always just bought used paddles for my buggies in the past, never new.  Now I'm looking to get some 33"x15 rear paddles and so far I'm not finding anything that tall used.  So I'm starting to look at UTV paddles, which I can get in a 33x15 for about half the price of a STU.

These would be for my 2 seater, Ecotec, supercharged.  Any cons to going this route?  Buggy weighs around 1500 lbs.

The Skat Trak option is interesting, so I'm looking forward to hear how that works out.

 
I did a write up on the last site, 

Really depends on your driving style, 

I hade 35.5 and wanted the same size tire and more durability,

As long as you know what you are getting into you will not be disappointed,   I did not understand the difference between the two, so here it goes,

if you want the same carcus start with a large tire,  for example the Scats do not balloon up as much

  • 35.5 STU to get the same size tire, started with a 39'' BFG,  
  • Larger the tire harder it is to get them to volcanize the paddle Stright mine are off center and not perfect up to 1'' off from left to right, 
  • shaving a tire down makes it thin, so they will slash on a rock or a nail same as a SU tire, or even thinner, 
  • Do to them being a steel belted tire,  they slide like crazy, if you like to slide more than a Funco then it works great, was scarry at over 70mph, always had to stay in the throttle letting off, or the car would rotate around 
  • Paddle selection is key, first time around i got the wrong scoop and every one of them tore off, and they where trashed on the first trip,  

Ask about the Cure time,  the rubber needs to cure, i ran them the next day i picked them up and the paddle fell off, and some paddles are stronger than others, 

I did a HOOKER paddle and they did not last,  doing this again, everyone i know with a SUPERSCOOPER  seems not to have any issue, 

SkatTrak was great to work with, i just did not know enough about the paddles for my car,  Second time around was the key,   hope this info will help,

People talk about hard on the Trans,  I just dont see it,  i went aggressive on the paddle and it did not hook as much as a SU 35.5.    so i feel that is a myth.  I wanted the feeling of being in wet sand with the Skats, and it was less bite than my SandTiresUnlimited.    Hard to beat a SU Tire, but the price of them is getting scary,

Price of a SU tire is getting up there, hard not to go with a Vulcanized tire.  

 
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J Alper said:
I did a write up on the last site, 
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Thank you for the information. Every Skat Trak paddle I have seen has less paddles per tire with a bigger scoop compared to the STU. My idea was to copy the height and paddle count of the STU paddle to keep the looseness to a minimum. I think the SUPERSCOOPER is far to aggressive, at almost 2" tall, for anyone looking to dune. 

I respectfully disagree about the wear on the trans. The more bite, the more wear. I see it similar to the impact of a clutch compared to a convertor in desert racing car. 

Good to know about the height. These are going on a light weight class 1 spec car. I was thinking a 37 would be comparable to the 36s, but sound like it will be considerably smaller. 

 
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1newbie said:
There was a board member here who tried the shaved BFG project/skat trak a couple years ago.  Cannot remember if it was a 35" or 37".  IIRC he did not love them.  Good bite, but they tended to dig and not 'float' as much as a STU.  I know the price sucks, but we would be in a pickle if STU stopped making tires.  I heard there was another company about to start making sand tires for rails.......
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Sand car paddle tire options? Glad to hear it, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s released 

 
Reece Pettersen said:
Thank you for the information. Every Skat Trak paddle I have seen has less paddles per tire with a bigger scoop compared to the STU. My idea was to copy the height and paddle count of the STU paddle to keep the looseness to a minimum. I think the SUPERSCOOPER is far to aggressive, at almost 2" tall, for anyone looking to dune. 

I respectfully disagree about the wear on the trans. The more bite, the more wear. I see it similar to the impact of a clutch compared to a convertor in desert racing car. 

Good to know about the height. These are going on a light weight class 1 spec car. I was thinking a 37 would be comparable to the 36s, but sound like it will be considerably smaller. 
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I like where you are going with more paddles,  I agree more bite gets harder on the trans, but the Skat had less bit than the 35.5 tires,  and after driving my 35.5 su in the wet sand, I wanted that bite all the time,  but the Skat never got there with a Hooker Scoop,  

Do to the power i had and a large scoop, but half the scoops, it might have over powered the scoops and ripped them off,   It really only lasted 3 days in the dunes, 

There response was do not drive on the flats,  I felt that was BS,  because my 35.5 su was 4 years old and looked better than Skats,   So i would like to see the outcome of a paddle with the same height and the same paddle count, and see if they hold up,    

That would be the only way to save money is if the tires last longer or the same,   

 
Kat-A-Tonic said:
My one year old STU 36 #2's have 1.325" paddle height.
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This is good info! Thank you. 

J Alper said:
I like where you are going with more paddles,  I agree more bite gets harder on the trans, but the Skat had less bit than the 35.5 tires,  and after driving my 35.5 su in the wet sand, I wanted that bite all the time,  but the Skat never got there with a Hooker Scoop,  

Do to the power i had and a large scoop, but half the scoops, it might have over powered the scoops and ripped them off,   It really only lasted 3 days in the dunes, 

There response was do not drive on the flats,  I felt that was BS,  because my 35.5 su was 4 years old and looked better than Skats,   So i would like to see the outcome of a paddle with the same height and the same paddle count, and see if they hold up,    

That would be the only way to save money is if the tires last longer or the same,   
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Very valid on the price not mattering if they don't last. We primarily visit Gordons, so they will take a beating in the flats. 

 
The Alper write up was great  on the old site ...I remember we got into a discussion on tire weight - sprung weight is hard on the trans, CV's Axles, and it kills acceleration (TQ eater).  Taking Alpers  39" equals 35.5   have you weighed them out?

Steel belts in the sidewalls was the killer for me along with weight.   stiff sidewalls increase the risk of a rollover greatly on jumps etc.

 
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