[misterclean59]

As stated I need some advice from this deep well of knowledge. I own a 2014 trx 420 solid axle. I put 2 inch wheel spacers on the rear and 1.5 on the front because it is a little "tippy" compared to my 2008 trx 420. I was at my local Honda dealer and saw new wheel pull offs from a 420 and a 500. The 500 pull offs are 1 inch taller front and rear which is a half inch lift. Do you think the half inch will make it "noticably" more top heavy? Does anyone have first hand knowledge of this swap? All four new wheels and tires are $150 per set. I bought the stock sized set last night but I'm having second thoughts about the larger wheels and tires because a half inch more clearance would be nice. Please advise.....thanks!

 

[wheelsquad]

As stated I need some advice from this deep well of knowledge. I own a 2014 trx 420 solid axle. I put 2 inch wheel spacers on the rear and 1.5 on the front because it is a little "tippy" compared to my 2008 trx 420. I was at my local Honda dealer and saw new wheel pull offs from a 420 and a 500. The 500 pull offs are 1 inch taller front and rear which is a half inch lift. Do you think the half inch will make it "noticably" more top heavy? Does anyone have first hand knowledge of this swap? All four new wheels and tires are $150 per set. I bought the stock sized set last night but I'm having second thoughts about the larger wheels and tires because a half inch more clearance would be nice. Please advise.....thanks!

How much you notice it will depend on how aggressive you ride, especially cornering. I went from stock 25's on my Grizzly which measured an actual 24, on up to 26's that measure more like 26.5, and did not notice any difference in stability. But I did gain about an inch total width too. IMO I think you'll be completely fine with the 500 pull-offs, especially with wheel spacers.

 

[retro]

I'd go with the 500 pulloffs too, with or without spacers. $150 for 4 is a smokin' deal!

 

[misterclean59]

Good news! I called the dealership and they agreed to let me try the taller set for free. All I need to do is return the set I don't want. What a great bunch of guys at Cycle Shack in Conroe Tx. I've done business with them for about 30 years.

 

[misterclean59]

I'd go with the 500 pulloffs too, with or without spacers. $150 for 4 is a smokin' deal!

They have 3 sets for the 420, 1 set for the 500 and 1 set for the Pioneer 500. All for $150 a set.

 

[retro]

Nice! I'm a firm believer in MOAR's Law, IE: Bigger is usually better!

(Up to the point of excess)

 

[mrbb]

I think you will be fine, and I also agree that is a super price, I'd bet you could buy all of them and sell unwanted one's else where and turn a profit pretty fast!
so, with that said, I doubt you have anything to loose here, as if you don;t like em, you can for sure get your $$ back IMO selling them!

you can also adjust HOW tall tires end up with air pressure, less pressure more sidewall give shorter OD, but too soft will effect handling
but tricky stuff you should be going slow on any how?

 

[SamUK]

I went from stock wheels and tyres on my 450 foreman to 12” ITP deltas with 28” mega mayhems, the difference wasn’t that noticeable IMO. However, I went from stock tyres on my 98 300 to 28” mega mayhems and had to put 1.5” spacers all round as it was super tippy afterwards.

One thing I will mention about my findings...

The 300 was a mud bike with a 3” lift and all the other ‘goodies’ that go with it, my foreman 450 is bone stock apart from a 2” lift up front and 512 progressive shocks all round. Personally I think the shocks make all the difference. I’d never had aftermarket shocks on an ATV in the past but 512’s are far superior to stock.

All in all the answer to your question.... It will be perfectly fine. Remember to check your tracking, it makes a HUGE difference. Toe out gives a tighter turning circle but pulls into corners a lot harder and gives a very tippy feeling, toe in (2 1/2) turns) I find perfect, play around with it, you’ll have your own opinion of ‘perfect’ as we all do

 

[misterclean59]

Thanks everyone. Yes I know about the air pressure details. Wheelers are super sensitive to air pressure because they run such a low pressure recommendation to begin with. Honda recommends 2.9 psi. I only run that in rough rocks in Colorado. Usually 3.5 to 4 is good around my place. I installed the taller wheels last night. I didn't have the chance to ride it around but I did measure the before and after ride heights. It now sits 30 mm higher! That's about 1.25 inches.I was expecting about a half inch right? Perhaps it was because the new tires were over inflated and were stretched. They were around 35 psi if I had to guess.......they were tight, narrow and tall. Has anybody experience " tire stretching"? I will measure again tonight or tomorrow and see if it has reduced some.

 

[mrbb]

well I run my atv tires at about 10 psi, when I work it hard and it sits at that psi almost all yr, it rides BAD, but I use it more for a tool than a toy
when plowing I like the added height it gives me and no squat in tire when plow gets lifted!

I don't think the tires have stretched at all, been on atv 10+ yrs now like this , minus a few trail rides where I lowered it some, most times just run it as is, never got a flat or tire damage in the 6000 or so miles on the tires as it and ride on a lot of very sharp and rocky ground, stumps , and sadly a lot of broken beer bottles and crap from yrs of slobs in this area throwing there trash all over(used to be a lot of actual Dumps where they would back fill strip mine holes in with trash and then all over near them as roads got blocked and slops just threw trash every where) and mud /snow now ! a pretty good mix IMO of things all but deep water riding , which I have NO desire to do! LOL

running tires HARD as I do, will make atv more tippy , due to they don;'t have as much give on off camber things and can BUMP you the wrong way, my tires are only 1 inch taller than OEM's and I have never felt they were a problem any more than stock size would be in an off camber situation that is
I just learn to slow down when I think there MIGHT be an issue and in extreme off camber side hills I get off ATV and walk it thru them, makes me safer and takes that worry out of me of a roll over down a steep side hill!

 

[retro]

Perhaps it was because the new tires were over inflated and were stretched. They were around 35 psi if I had to guess.......they were tight, narrow and tall. Has anybody experience " tire stretching"? I will measure again tonight or tomorrow and see if it has reduced some.

I have a lot of experience stretching tires. We had to do it every time we bought a new batch of tires for our race cars. We'd mount and measure each one at low pressure and write those figures down on the sidewalls. Then sort them by diameter and blow up the largest diameters as hard as we dared to and put them out in the hot sun on an electric rotisserie we made. After a day or two of heating we'd bring them indoors and let them cool to room temp, then let the pressures down to 20 lbs and remeasure them. Then mark the sidewalls with the new "adjusted" diameters and re-sort them, marking each of them with the location (RF, LF, RR, LR) where each should be put on the car.

The RF is the wedge percentage tire so that one is usually the largest diameter tire on the car and run with the most pressure. LF should be much smaller and run a bit softer, so the car naturally picks & tracks around the bottom of the corner radius. RR varies according to suspension setups and LR is the smallest diameter tire on the car, run with the least pressure, less than 10 lbs on many short dirt tracks.

Some 15 inch standard sized tires will stretch more than 2 inches in diameter, while others in the same batch may gain an inch, or slightly more or less.

Don't ever try stretching steel belted tires tho. It won't be pretty...

 

[misterclean59]

Thanks retro, I was thinking they may have stretched. They may have been at 40 or 50 psi. for weeks or months for all I know. I had some friends that race quarter mile dirt track. I remember thinking about how difficult it must be to get a new car set up just right. They also talked about wheel off sets, tire widths, pressures, axle off set etc....one class even had a lever inside the car so you set up the chassis by screwing it clockwise or counterclockwise. This reminds me of how much I dreaded buying another bike because of all the time and money setting it up for me.

 

[retro]

Yep, its easier (and cheaper) to be a casual rider growing old, than be young and foolish with money and go racing.

You got a surprisingly great deal on those wheels & tires. Sounds like they are as tall as most new 26s are?

 

[misterclean59]

I put the large set on yesterday evening and test rode it in an abandoned pit next to my property. It is much faster in each gear. It may be 5-7 mph faster in 5th! I'm going to miss the gear ratio a bit because 2nd gear was a great gear for technical spots.......1st was too low for almost everything. Now 2nd isn't as versatile, still usable in the same way just a bit too tall for my liking. I'm going to love the new top speed and new top cruising speed. Oh yeh, The extra ground clearance is nice too. It was not uncommon to barely scrape the bottom on squared drop offs...... I didn't hear any scraping last night. Thanks everyone for advising me to reconsider......I did and made the best choice for me.

 

[mrbb]

also keep in mind your OLD tires might not have measured TRUE to size, which is making these seem a lot taller than they really are over the old one's

I tan into the gear ratio issue you have,
going an inch taller is NO big deal to some, but there is a difference as you noticed

my atv when I went 1 inch taller, I could no longer tow and move the exact same things in second gear as I used to, slight difference in gearing due to taller tires just took the grunt off second for me
and this is why I am always SO amazed some folks will go to HUGE tires and say they didn;t notice much of a loss in power
they must all drive down hill or in water that makes things float to not notice the gearing changes and power loss LOL

 

[misterclean59]

also keep in mind your OLD tires might not have measured TRUE to size, which is making these seem a lot taller than they really are over the old one's

I tan into the gear ratio issue you have,
going an inch taller is NO big deal to some, but there is a difference as you noticed

my atv when I went 1 inch taller, I could no longer tow and move the exact same things in second gear as I used to, slight difference in gearing due to taller tires just took the grunt off second for me
and this is why I am always SO amazed some folks will go to HUGE tires and say they didn;t notice much of a loss in power
they must all drive down hill or in water that makes things float to not notice the gearing changes and power loss LOL

LOL.......I think the same things!

 

[fishfiles]

Seems some atv might have different centers of gravity ---- I find my 450 is topsy , I have flipped it over way more times than all my 300's flips put together , I am a little scared of how my newest one is going to be , cause it is up there

I don't think you will even notice much a difference