Are you going to have the new setup in time? Supposedly I’m on his build list and been waiting two weeks now. Interested to hear how your setup does though.


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Yea I hope so. I ordered it I think 3 weeks ago. Talked to him this morning and he hopes to get it to me in time.

 

I love mine & wish I would have done it from the beginning . The first primary I sent to him took over 6 weeks, but he was in the middle of race prep for the teams & I wasn't expecting any sooner. The second one I sent in was at his place less than 4 weeks and is on the way back.
My 16 has always been a belt eater, even with everything AA offers for the 16installed & tuned, I averaged less than 200 miles per belt, and would smoke a belt if I tried to run sustained speed over 55 for any length of time.
Ive got 400 hard miles on Airdams complete setup and a lot of that was at sustained speeds of 65-70 for 10-15 miles at a time. So far I am very happy, I have not had it in the dunes yet but will be going to Oregon dune fest so hopefully no issues.
i am very interested in your results.

 

I run the full race Airdam setup and swear by it, regardless I look forward to someone doing a true comparison. My comparison was more of this kit my belt temps are still high and belts break, put Airdam in and look at that belt temps down considerably and no longer breaking belts. Sold!

Also is tuned correctly and holds rpms where they need to be, though that wasn’t much of a problem with the other kits as well.

Looking forward to hearing your results. Especially when factoring in the fans as well.

 

Im new to the RZR world but have been doing research the last three years as I saved up to get what I wanted. After I got our RZR a few months ago I finally decided just to get what "most" consider the best clutch setup there is, Airdam. Adam was great to talk to and he explained his theory's and why he does things the way he does. He actually tried to sell me just his "clutch kit", modified stock primary and parts for the stock secondary. I told him I just want to have the best and if its overkill for what Im doing thats fine so I went with the full race setup. Now I will have my complete stock clutch setup to compare to his complete setup back to back on the same day in the same conditions.


Airdam is the ONLY clutch setup you RARELY hear bad things about. All the others almost seem to be 50/50 on people being happy with them. Yes, his stuff costs more but thats fine if it works. He also does more then just sell you some weights, springs and possibly a helix. I think the main problem with the other kits is they try to make them work for WAY to big a window of rigs and their particular setups. Take AA's kit for example, they use the same weights and helix for stage 1 to 4, does not matter if you ride dunes, fire roads, mud, trails, etc they sell you the same clutch kit and tell you to tune it with weight...... Yes, you can adjust the weights but springs and helixes should be tailored to the HP level AND the type of use. "One size fits all" does not work with CVT systems. I learned that in the sled world. Adam asked questions for 10 minutes trying to get a picture of how I ride, where we ride, how our rig is set up etc.

Bottom line is the CVT system seems to be most peoples biggest complaint so I want to try and avoid the problems and just do it right from the start.

 

Agree on all except 1 statement lol, “Airdam is the ONLY clutch setup you RARELY hear bad things about.”

I have yet to hear anyone complain about the Airdam clutch, except for the price of course but not the results.

 

I've heard two people complain about Airdam but I just attribute them to being the type that are never happy with anything, have totally unrealistic expectations or are the type that just hammer on things and expect them to live because they spent money.


At the power and weight ratios these RZR's are at these days its actually kind of amazing a CVT system that was pretty much designed to move a 550 to 650 lb snowmobile with 90 to 150 hp is now moving a 1400 to 2000lb rzr with sometimes over 200 hp... In my opinion it is time for Polaris to figure out a new drive system.

 

Couldn’t agree more... I truly hate the cvt system and would love a true direct drive transmission.

 

I'm excited to hear your review on the airdam clutch setup, i have been thinking about this one for a while. Thanks for posting this. Can you elaborate on what he does to modify the stock primary clutch, do you need to send it to him.

 

I know he puts a billet end plate on. He does other things but I don't know exactly what they are. He will do your own clutch or you can buy a new one already done. I bought a new one so I can just swap the whole clutch out quickly to compare.

 

Awesome, thanks. looking forward to the results

 

Adam sent me a tracking number this afternoon so its all up to UPS not to lose it now..lol…

Really looking forward to doing a direct comparison between the different clutch setups. Hopefully I learn a lot AND one of the setups works really well. We shall see.

 

:smile_popcorn:Subed ...Big Time ....

 

It made it. So hopefully next tues/wed I will have some data/results for everybody.

 

Keep us up to date I might be right behind you ...talked to Adam today ...very impressed

 

Mine shipped today so should be out testing next weekend.


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Got a few short rides in today. First time out the setup was AA's S3 kit with the high load helix. Ran at 8700.... Ran back to camp and put the performance helix in, went down to 8600. This was with 4/3/2/0 on the weights.

Sat and thought about it for a while, it just did not seemed "hooked up". Then it dawned on me I had 12 psi in the rear paddles. Went down to 10 psi, rpm went down to 8500 and it accelerated much better. Then went down to 9 psi and it floats between 8400-8500. How much lower psi can I safely go? They are Sandcraft Paddles (scat trak makes them) 31x11x15 10 paddle on Sandcraft NON beadlock rims...

So far highest belt temp was 171 on the Hunterworks gauge. I have not been able to just hold it wide open forever but I tried to beat on it a bit and 171 was the highest ever.. Stock Polaris belt.


Is 8400 the sweet spot rpm wise?


For reference I have a HMF exh, AA stage 1 tune, AA charge tube and intake tube, Blow hole and AA blow off valve. Everything else engine wise is stock. Has 27 miles on it now.

So far I am of the opinion I should have went with 32x13x15 11 paddle or at least 11 paddle on the 31's.... It just seems to not "load" the engine. It just spins.

More testing on the AA setup tomorrow, prob will try 4/4/2/0 to see if it will settle at 8400.. Then I will put in the Airdam setup.

 

How low you can go depends on width of rim. But lots of people run 8 psi non bead lock. Some down to 6 psi on narrow wheels.


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Airdam doesn’t recommend 32” paddles on the turbo Rzr. Says it isn’t geared low enough in the transmission. He recommends 30” paddles. I personally won’t go below 10 psi without beadlocks. I rather have enough air then lose a bead in the middle of dunes.

I believe sweet spot is in the 8400-8600 range. Once you start getting above that power drops.

171 belt temp is pretty dang good, what was outside air temp?

 

Ok, I will try 8psi tomorrow before I change the weight setup. If it drops another 100 RPM I think it will be perfect.

They are 11 wide rims so I cant go ultra low... Bottom line dropping air has helped the entire setup so I think its under paddled.... I'd like to run around 10 psi for safety sake but to do that I think I will need a 11 paddle tire..

Its cold here, 55 or so...

 

Very interesting ..dont go below 10 psi without beadlocks ...IMO ..I think in the sand 8500 -8600 is good ...I think for what its worth that the 4/2/0 setting might be a little light maybe try 4/3/0. I have and found with AA stage 3 clutch and AA stage 3 tune and 32 BFG km3 at 61 pounds per corner 4/3/0 worked perfect 2018 xpt 2 seat in the sand + 350 lbs in fat pass and driver combined. It seems like you are really close

But like Nate at Alba Racing and Adam at Airdam both say is hit 8400 to 8450 as quick as possible in the first 3 or 4 seconds and that is the sweet spot. Forget the 8400 at 55 mph shit.... in the sand especially ..get to RPM 8400 quick

Keep us posted and have fun

 

Im at 4/3/2 already..... Tomorrow going to try 4/4/2... It hits 8400 REALLY quick. 2 or 3 sec.

 

Sorry... I guess I miss read your post ...I think you are correct then if it hits 8400 to fast

 

Do you guys run the dunes in 2 or 4 wheel drive? If I put it in 4 wheel it drops 50 to 100 RPM if the front tires can get any bite at all. If it is hooked up and pulling the front end up the rpms are the same in 4 wheel. I would think most of the time 2 wheel is best?

 

Good Question..I run in 4x4 for all my clutch testing and especially since I have went to taller side wall tires ..I used to run more 2 wheel drive but changed to get max load and take out the slip factor between the belt and hook up of tires in the sand .
So know to keep it consistent I make all runs in 4x4

 

Some people run in 4x4 all the time. I run in 2 wheel drive most of the time. I’ve found 4wd to give the best performance. But I like 2wd for the loose playful feeling, and I also think it’s easier on the drive train due to more tire slip.

For your testing, I would use 4wd.

I’m not sure if the hunter works temperature gauge is infrared or not. If it’s not then I would highly suggest getting the Razorback gauge as it is the best tuning tool for a clutch work that I’ve found.


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Hunterworks is the "razorback" gauge so Im good to go there. Thanks.

 

I have ran my new paddles from Fullerton's as low as 6psi without any issues in the dunes and I'll go as low as 3-4 psi at the sand drags with them, this is without beadlocks. How much sidewall flex you have is a factor too, I ran EFX sand slingers last year which have a lot stiffer sidewall @ 3psi in the dunes without any issues. *this is in the rears, I usually run the fronts at 7-8 psi*

UTV wheels have a double bead (or whatever the technical term is) so it might surprise you how low you can actually go in the sand.

 

I agree with Airdam on everything but how he feels about the 32" sand tires. First hand experience with my friend who had a cheap set of 30" sand tires. He has an XPT that is 100% stock. Going to the Sandcraft Destroyer sand tires and 3 Piece Billet Nitro Aluminum Wheels he lost almost 8 pounds a wheel over his other sand tire set up. He picked up speed and his belt temp stayed lower with his new set up. Now if his new set up was heavier and had bigger paddles he would see the higher belt temps and slower speed. So to me it is not just about the size of the tire it is the tire mass that has to be moved that affect the clutch.