Need Advice...

[AK Foreman]

I just bought a new machine a couple months ago and im looking at buying some new tires for it but I cant quite decide what to get. I have a 2011 Honda Foreman 500 and most of the riding I do is out in the mountains. The stock tires are 25in I believe. The problems ive run into are ruts that are too deep to ride through and hills with so much clay/mud that the tread gets completely packed and I lose all traction. Also im concerned that if I go too big i'll lose too much horse power and then maybe even be too high off the ground for steep hill climbs. Please advise. Thanks

 

[youngbloodhunter]

they may be too beefy, but gorilla silverbacks, or maybe bighorns (not gorilla).

 

[RCBOWHUNTER]

I think buying aftermarket tires is the first purchase a guy should make after buying a new ATV. I waited when I bought my new King Quad but after getting stuck in the same mud hole 3 times in a row on the way in/out of my bear stand, I threw in the towel and upgraded my tires. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I bought 26" ITP XTRs and absolutely love them! After putting them on, I was able to cruise through that mudhole without even giving it much throttle, I was blown away! The XTRs are great in the mud and on hard packed trail, I couldn't be happier. That said, I know there are other great tires out there.

My advise would be to stick with something relatively close to stock in size unless you are ready to upgrade your clutch, heck it's probably worth it to put a clutch kit on with the new tires if you do any serious mud riding.

Good luck with your search!

RC

 

[EagleRiverDee]

Just about anything is better than stock tires. We have Grizzly 700's and my sweetie changed his tires out to ITP Mudlites and I run ITP 589's. Both were a major improvement over stock.

 

[323]

I agree get the mudlites or the swamp lites I'm runnign 27 in mudliteson the 6x6 and I'm going to run 26 inch swamp lites on the other ranger.

 

[justin262]

I have 26" ITP Mudlites on a 09' 550 Grizz and 27" Maxxis Zilla's on '10 700 Grizz. Love both of them. Huge difference from stock. The Maxxis Zillas tread pattern seems to clear the mud a little quicker than mudlites imo. In regards to HP loss... Pay attention to the weights of these tires. All 26" tire brands do not weigh the same. Here's a link to some popular atv tire weight charts. http://www.mudinmyblood.net/forum/view.php?pg=tireweightchart

 

[sr12345]

The Foreman has a solid rear axle, doesn't it? If so, that will reduce your rear ground clearance. The Honda website claims that the stock Foreman has only 7.6 inches of ground clearance. Many competing models with independent rear suspensions have 12 or more inches of ground clearance. Therefore, it's pretty much a given that you will end up high-centering in their ruts, no matter what tires you run.

Upgrading your tires will help with traction, but probably only give you an additional inch of clearance, Your ground clearance figure is what's really holding you up right now.

Besides tires, invest in a good winch and an anchor.

 

[AK Foreman]

Great feedback! Thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it

 

[jay51]

+1 for 26" Swamp-Lites, I love em.

 

[justin262]

Also, if your going to run larger tires with stock wheels and are worried about being tippy you can always add wheel spacers. Theres a guy on ebay, xxblletxx, that sells all four for around 100 bucks. Good quality, well reviewed. They range from 1"-3". Basically just widening your stance some and giving better traction and control. I went to 27's and noticed my back tire lifting easier around accelerated corners. These helped. 1.5" x2 made a definite difference.

 

[FishKing]

I just bought a new machine a couple months ago and im looking at buying some new tires for it but I cant quite decide what to get. I have a 2011 Honda Foreman 500 and most of the riding I do is out in the mountains. The stock tires are 25in I believe. The problems ive run into are ruts that are too deep to ride through and hills with so much clay/mud that the tread gets completely packed and I lose all traction. Also im concerned that if I go too big i'll lose too much horse power and then maybe even be too high off the ground for steep hill climbs. Please advise. Thanks

www.motosport.com I purchased 25" (factory size) tires for a grizzley for under $400 shipped to Alaska. they are the mud lite with 1 1/8 in lugs same as the 26" and 27". I have another grizzley with 27" tires, mud lite XTR ITP. Too heavy for the stock axle. The 25" are also made by ITP......... Great tires.

 

[akiceman25]

+1 for www.motosport.com I had same question as yours a few months back and got some useful opinions >

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com...reman-tires......TOO-many-choices!!?highlight=


-akiceman25

 

[justin262]

AK foreman.
It sounds like you want larger tires, to avoid ruts that are to deep and you want better in the clay/mud. Keeping the stock size at 25" but getting the additional paddle length of the mud lites will help in the mud. Not worth the extra 400 imo. Might as well spend 450 on 26's or 27's. They arn't much heavier, and they will give you more clearance. Mud lites are not very well talked about on other atv specific forums I get on. Now saying that, I own some 26" mud lites on a 09' 550 grizzly and I have never had any problems and they seem to rally through the mud, no noticeable power loss. I'm also coming from 25" stockers. Like I said before I have 27" zillas on a '10 700 grizzly and I love them. I've been able to hit the same mud hole and snowbank with each wheeler and the zilla takes the cake. I really recommend the Maxxis Zilla tires, not to be confused with the mudzillas with the more aggressive tread pattern. Join a honda atv forum and peak around, theres an abundance of wealth, as is here.

 

[bklausman]

i use ITP mudd lite XTR and love them, i ride on/in just about everything you can think of since i am a member of a ATV search and rescue team (here in Pennsylvania). I have tried or driven on many different types of tires and for my $ its the XTRs, some others may bite a little better in the mud, but at a cost... they can vibrate, hum, and slide a bit more on hardpacked dirt and get chewed up faster on pavement (search & rescue are allowed to ride on roads here since they consider us "pro" riders and emergency personel). The ITP XTRs seem to do great in everything except when the snow gets deep (which doesn't happen too often here), then i throw on the tracks, but in deep snow no tire is really gonna help much. As far as heigt, one of my old atv's was a 350 wolverine, and i had tires 1" over stock and it was fine as long as i wasn't pulling over 500-750lbs, so i can't imagine you would even notice an inch or even 2 on a 500 or higher.

 

[bklausman]

I have noticed a few ppl were talking about spacers, personally i wouldn't run anything over 1". An old team mate of mine used to have 3" ones and +2" tires, they looked cool but he was going through 2-3 sets of bearings a year. The factory trained mechanic said it was the combo of the spacers and the tires. This may be a bit different for you since we avg 3500-5000 miles a year or more. Remember, if u use bigger tires OR spacers they add a bit more stress to bearings/breaks/tranny/belts/ect. but when you use both together these streses multiply, not add.