So I finally pulled the trigger on a set of 360 LT’s for my 1000 outlander. It has been fun researching but I finally grew weary of watching endless youtube videos, searching forums for hours, and weighing the options. In the end, I was considering the long set because my wife and I ride together. It seemed to me that more track surface equaled lower ground pressure.
The general consensus seems to be that the camoplast is a superior system to Apache, and they have some very impressive videos online, however, I couldn’t nail down exactly why. I gave up when I finally called the guy at atvtracks.net. I wound up talking to the fellow in all the videos, and the first thing he asked me before I could ask any questions was what state I was from. He lost interest instantly when I told him I was from Canada. I guess he can’t ship them up here or something. Anyway, he begrudgingly agreed to answer a few questions if I would "make it quick". After a brief two minute conversation I couldn’t come away with anything more specific than "you can’t put apaches on anything other than Can Ams".
I have heard from a number of people that the Camoplast is the better system, so I won’t argue that. I will give a brief overview of the system I have, and answer any questions anyone wants to pose. I can provide measurements, pics, etc. I found it almost impossible to arrive at any info on the LTs.
So I went out today, (No snow, just hard rain, wet dirt, hay fields, and river rock). I was concerned about the turning ability of the tracks and had to try them out. I will say right off the bat these tracks do not turn, or ride like wheels. Those that say the power steering can be challenged by the tracks are exactly right, especially at very low speeds. However, I was able to make my way without problems through a winding, narrow forest path that required a number of very sharp 3 point turns. No heating up of the power steering unit so far. There were times though that the steering became very difficult, even with the unit set on MAX TRAX.
Length- The unit is extremelly long. 9 feet 7.5 inches. It barely fits into my 3 horse trailer.
Traction- I was shocked by the amount of traction, and it took a little bit to figure out how to get used to it. I climbed a hill of loose sand sitting at the angle of repose. It was far to step for me to sit in the seat and I had to stand with my feet against the rear rack, while my chest rested on the handlebars. I could stop at any time, and continue at slow speeds. The machine did not slip a track once. I do feel that if the sand were dry, I might have spun out. The sand was wet and packed well under the tracks.
I also climbed a steep hill of loose river boulders (ranging from .5 to 4 inches in diameter). The hill was once again at the angle of repose. I had climbed this hill with the quad previously and had no trouble, although I did need to approach with speed and the machine spun all four tires all the way up. The rocks were wet and slippery for the track run, while they were dry for the wheel run. With the tracks on, I was able to stop in the middle of the hill, resume moving slowly, stop again, and climbed all the way to the top without spinning at all.
To be clear, both of these hills were 30 ft maximum, not long climbs and the result may have been different if the climbs had been longer.
Ride: Not good. Nowhere near as smooth as the wheels, and I felt every bump. Also noisy. When I sped up on a gravel road I felt on the verge of loosing control. Perhaps this is due to inexperience, however, the tracks seemed to walk all over the place at high speed.
