From my testing and years in the field of ATV / UTV racing and recreational riding i have been able to pick up on how and why most machines break. in these desert machines i see the axle failures on the more aggressive guys. when you are hitting whoops or cross ruts and washes under power, your foot still in the throttle, when you unload the suspension the wheels wrap up and accelerate quicker since there is no load, and landing under power with the wheels spinning faster than the machine is actually running, presents a shock load to the axle and shatters the cup or shears the bar. there have been MANY MANY teams that have tried all sorts of different things. extra heat treating, less heat treating, cryo, different materials, different manufacturers, different greases, all sorts of different things. it seems like the axle failures are mostly self inflicted. not intentional, but from landing under power.
no names mentioned, but most racers will know who i am talking about, goes out and races and i cant recall the last axle they busted. continually finishing, (most of the time in the top 10) but purely because they are taking it easy, just being nice to the car and keeping it alive. i cant recall a time i have heard them say they had to replace an axle all year. most folks look at teams that take it slow and laugh saying they drive like a paw-paw, but taking it easy definitely has a lower chance of busting an axle or other driveline part.
there are gear reduction trans available for can-am and polaris that will allow you to be able to run a tire this large with minimal additional load to the clutch.
as posted above, to be fast, you dont need to try to hold it wide open around the entire course. honestly if you plan on the machine living, you can not run it at a 100% full throttle pace. pitching the machine hard into a high dirt bank side loading the car will present a HUGE amount of stress on the wheels and bend wheels. the leverage being placed on the wheel centers with these almost 80" wide cars pitching a 2200lb car into a hard corner must be insane. i believe OMF used to use 3/4" billet centers and now opted for 1" centers for racers. i saw a set a few weeks ago before baja1000 and they were considerably thicker than what you have seen in the past. i am sure they are just trying to add enough meat to the center of the wheel to keep it from bending because there isnt much they can do to counteract the shear forces put against the wheel hub and face when you are pitched into a turn side loading the car hard. if you watch the destination polaris video of the Mint 400, i believe that was a 20-30 min vid you can see the UTVs take different approach and departure angles out of a single turn. some people putt-putt thru the turn closely hugging the apex at part throttle. then you see some guys hanging it out railing the berm shooting for a late apex at full throttle. thats a different style driver. two completely different styles of driving, and tons more stress on a car which is one reason Marc Burnett had such a bad year. he wanted to be able to drive a car full throttle and stomp a mud hole in everyones ass, he CAN drive a car and stomp a mud hole in everyones ass, however his machine build around him could not handle said ass whipping and he found many many weaknesses, pretty much every single race. people didnt take him seriously this year but if he gets his new car blues worked out of this new car, i think you will see a solid run at a podium each race. he and wayne matlock race harder than anyone i have seen in any UTV on the track. i havent seen two guys race as hard as they do, they both push the car so hard they are on the verge of nearly totaling the car every second of the race. wayne clearly has a great team, winning the last 3 score races in a row. not by seconds, but almost in hours. if Marc can get his team and car on the same level as Wayne is now, i think you will see two solid guys that are nearly untouchable by the current racers and drivers.
Wayne and Marc both DNF'd vegas to reno. but a clear stand as to their speed would be to look at the position they started and the position they stood at in the first two or three pits. they both started WAY back in the pack, and by pit 1 they were both in the top 5. its been some time now and i was watching them both, but i think they started 26th and 33rd or something like that, and by pit 1 wayne was up to like 6th physical and marc was up in 3rd physical. i think wayne had 1st in corrected time by pit 1. i am just going off on memory, i feel certain someone will look it up and try to correct me but going off memory i believe thats where those two stood. IF both had a solid race without a DNF they would have been an hour ahead of 3rd place. yes it takes lots and lots of prep and a complete team effort and a very solid machine to make these races and win. being fast can either put you WAY out front, or get you a DNF fast. from what i have seen over the course of the last two years of this class, the old timers who have been racing for some time who 50% throttle it the whole course and 10% throttle it thru the turns, will soon be completely phased out by these guys who arent scared to hold the skinny pedal down.
i am not trying to step on anybodys toes. not trying to piss anyone off. just putting it out there like i see it.
no names mentioned, but most racers will know who i am talking about, goes out and races and i cant recall the last axle they busted. continually finishing, (most of the time in the top 10) but purely because they are taking it easy, just being nice to the car and keeping it alive. i cant recall a time i have heard them say they had to replace an axle all year. most folks look at teams that take it slow and laugh saying they drive like a paw-paw, but taking it easy definitely has a lower chance of busting an axle or other driveline part.
there are gear reduction trans available for can-am and polaris that will allow you to be able to run a tire this large with minimal additional load to the clutch.
as posted above, to be fast, you dont need to try to hold it wide open around the entire course. honestly if you plan on the machine living, you can not run it at a 100% full throttle pace. pitching the machine hard into a high dirt bank side loading the car will present a HUGE amount of stress on the wheels and bend wheels. the leverage being placed on the wheel centers with these almost 80" wide cars pitching a 2200lb car into a hard corner must be insane. i believe OMF used to use 3/4" billet centers and now opted for 1" centers for racers. i saw a set a few weeks ago before baja1000 and they were considerably thicker than what you have seen in the past. i am sure they are just trying to add enough meat to the center of the wheel to keep it from bending because there isnt much they can do to counteract the shear forces put against the wheel hub and face when you are pitched into a turn side loading the car hard. if you watch the destination polaris video of the Mint 400, i believe that was a 20-30 min vid you can see the UTVs take different approach and departure angles out of a single turn. some people putt-putt thru the turn closely hugging the apex at part throttle. then you see some guys hanging it out railing the berm shooting for a late apex at full throttle. thats a different style driver. two completely different styles of driving, and tons more stress on a car which is one reason Marc Burnett had such a bad year. he wanted to be able to drive a car full throttle and stomp a mud hole in everyones ass, he CAN drive a car and stomp a mud hole in everyones ass, however his machine build around him could not handle said ass whipping and he found many many weaknesses, pretty much every single race. people didnt take him seriously this year but if he gets his new car blues worked out of this new car, i think you will see a solid run at a podium each race. he and wayne matlock race harder than anyone i have seen in any UTV on the track. i havent seen two guys race as hard as they do, they both push the car so hard they are on the verge of nearly totaling the car every second of the race. wayne clearly has a great team, winning the last 3 score races in a row. not by seconds, but almost in hours. if Marc can get his team and car on the same level as Wayne is now, i think you will see two solid guys that are nearly untouchable by the current racers and drivers.
Wayne and Marc both DNF'd vegas to reno. but a clear stand as to their speed would be to look at the position they started and the position they stood at in the first two or three pits. they both started WAY back in the pack, and by pit 1 they were both in the top 5. its been some time now and i was watching them both, but i think they started 26th and 33rd or something like that, and by pit 1 wayne was up to like 6th physical and marc was up in 3rd physical. i think wayne had 1st in corrected time by pit 1. i am just going off on memory, i feel certain someone will look it up and try to correct me but going off memory i believe thats where those two stood. IF both had a solid race without a DNF they would have been an hour ahead of 3rd place. yes it takes lots and lots of prep and a complete team effort and a very solid machine to make these races and win. being fast can either put you WAY out front, or get you a DNF fast. from what i have seen over the course of the last two years of this class, the old timers who have been racing for some time who 50% throttle it the whole course and 10% throttle it thru the turns, will soon be completely phased out by these guys who arent scared to hold the skinny pedal down.
i am not trying to step on anybodys toes. not trying to piss anyone off. just putting it out there like i see it.
