I have a 04 foreman 4x4s model. IT has the 26 inch bigfoot kit with the 589m/s tires which are very aggressive tread..Look great and eat up mud like nothing else. Only problem is i have flipped this thing twice in 21 hours of riding since i have owned it. If you get too close to a bank on the outer sides of the trail, the huge lugs on the tires tend to bite into the bank, pulling the handlebars out of your hands and flipping you over..My question is, if I go with a less agressive tread such as the Mudlites or the Dirt Devil tires, would they be less likely to grab the banks or obstructions as the 589's do? I know that the tread has more of a slant on the mudlites and dirtdevils and the tread tapers as it rounds the sides of the tires. The 589's have no taper in the lug at the sides of the tires, and thats what I think is grabbing the banks so hard..Any ideas before i waste a lot more money on another brand of tire? I ride in the 2wd mode all the time unless in the mud or on a steep hill. These flipping accurances have both happened when trail riding on hard surface in the 2wd mode.

 

my gators did that also and my mud lites are a bit better that way but i dont think the tire is the problem.
if your on a bank and you know theres a chanch of rolling it maybe slow down.
i've got about 5000 miles of riding experance and when your on steep terrane or side hills you have to ride acordingly and if that means you have to slow down and take it easy thats what you do.
with a few more miles of riding time i think you'll find the tires a alright and you just have to get used to the way it handles.
give them a chance you will save yourself some money that way.
my buddy had them on his 450 and he loved them.

 

I am sorry, I dont think I made myself clear on the problem. I am not riding on a sideways sloap. W hat I meant by catching the bank on the sides is when riding a trail that is worn into the ground a foot or two more creates small banks or burms on each side of you. If i get too close to the sides, my tires on front will grap hold of the bank or burm, and jerk the bars out of your hands, then of course the front end shoots up the bank and you roll sideways! Bad experience. A fella just showed up and bought my itps a few minutes ago, so now I gotta try another brand. I was just curious if anyone else has experienced the same problem and solved it with a less aggressive tire. thanks again

 

basically what your saying is when ur going around a turn or somthing like that thier are deep rutts from other peoplle riding the same as you.. try and stay on top of the rutts. i had this problem alrdy and now i just go nice and ez and stay on top of the ruts... never ride in the rutts cauz thier going to take you where ever they lead and your not goin to be able to do notting about it.

 

well, I purchased the mudlite bigfoot kit today for my foreman..they are the same size as the 589ms tires that I took off and sold yesterday. .The mudlites appear smaller due to the fact that they are rounder instead of the flat surface area of the 589 tires..the lugs on the mudlites taper down in size as they reach the sidewalls , unlike the large sharp edges of the 589 tires. Havent had the opportunity to try them out on the trail to see if they handle better, but planning on hitting the trails saturday for a day of testing. I believe they are gonna help the handling problems I have had in the past..I will update after the ride unless I end up on the top again and cant respond! ha ha..Ride careful and have fun!

 

I have been riding for 38 years now..Raced motocross for 12 years..Reckon how much more riding time I need ? ha ha..thanks.

 

There are advantages and disadvantages to the Mudlites and 589s. The 589's definitely have full tread all the way to the edge and the mudlites taper off to allow for better handling. The 589s do better in mud when you need to rock the ATV to the side to get traction. The mudlites handle better overall. I have two sets of wheels/tires, 27 inchers on my 700 EFI Polaris.....problem I don't like about either of them is that they are not very round. I put every tire on the spin balancer,,,,,they wobble like crazy....balancing helps but not much, so I get some head shake at 40 mph and up....and here in new mexico i run fast alot of times, it doesn't wobble any different at 45 mph vs 65 mph, but feels loose the hole time....

Mudlites would be better for your application, if you are just running deep nasty mud all the time, the 589s would be better...

 

triplestroker.
im sorry if you think i was cutting you down i dident mean it that way.
i've bin riding dirtbikes since i was 9 thats 34 years but i never got my first atv untill dec 2002.
and its not the same.
they are two differant rides all togeather.
we have alot of places like that out hear also and i try to stay out of the ruts buy doing like 00400ex said.
but some times trees and brush prevent you from doing that so when that happens i try and take it a little slower.
but anyways i think you'll like the mudlites i've bin happy with mine.
i hope you like them better then the 589s or it might start to get expensive
changeing tires again.
lol.
good luck.

 

I was not mad, just trying to be cute I guess. NO insult taken or intended. You are right, it is a whole different ball game from riding the dirt bikes. I guess I am just comparing the control of this atv to the former one I had which was a two wheel drive rancher. It handles great and has the dirt devils all around on it..The new foreman of course is 4wd and heavier, plus the more aggressive tires. As I said earlier, I did purchase the Mudlites in the 26inch size and installed them yesterday. I have only ridden down my gravel driveway and can tell a big difference in the amount of effort to steer it. Its so much easier to turn with these tires. I will hit the trails tomorrow and find out if it was worth the money to change or not. Thanks for your input. Any help is appreciated..

 

Problem totally solved!! Couldnt be happier. Just got home from trail riding. The atv feels like it has power steering now compared to what it was with the 589m/s tires. I was worried that I had wasted money buying the mudlites, but that solved all my handling problems. Only twice did the handlebars get tugged when hitting a rock or root on the sides of the tires and it was no problem to correct. With the 589 tires there was no correcting, just crashing! I did get stuck in one large mudhole about as deep as the top of the tires. When i hit it in second halfway through it bogged, when downshifting to first gear it had completely stopped and was stuck. After about thirty seconds of rocking it and moving the bars from side to side it finally started coming out! the 589 tires would have plowed right through I know, but the whole trail riding experience is so much better with the mudlite tires. A lesson learned, dont buy a mud tire if you are doing trail riding in all terrains. For mud bogging there is no better tire than the ITP 589 tire. YOu will sacrafice handling in all other conditions though. Best compromise in my opinion, the ITP Mudlite tires for sure!!!!