Hi

I was wondering when they say my Rancher has 9.* inches of ground clearance, where are they actually measuring it from? I know that when i buy some new mud tires that are bigger than my stock tires that i will be gaining clearance but what about these lift kits, how do you get you ground clearance with them? I know it will raise my atv up, but will it raise the parts that drag when i go through RUTS?

TIA

Jay

2000 Rancher
Orange Crush

 

when the tires are aired up to recomended presure the lowest point on the trany skid plate or swing arm skidplate which ever your bike has

 

an yea bigger tires will increase ground clearance ,but take away some power

 

Honda takes it measurements on somewhere in the front. Larger tires will slightly increase your ground clearance but not much. An inch larger tires may give you 1/4 inch more clearance. Lift kits will give you more ground clearance in the front but they will not help the rear at all. The axle will still be in the same place.

 

Basically, you can normally go by this. It varies from one manufacture to the other so they can claim a high impressive ground clearance.

If it is a number around 6-8 inches, you can almost bet they are measuring it from the rear differential or rear brake housing (if it applies) which is always the lowest point on any straight axle bike.

If it is a number around 9-11 inches, you can bet they are measuring from somewhere on the frame. The frame numbers I consider juiced up for show, except for the IRS quads.

Your rancher says 9? That has to be the frame. I measured a Rancher at the bottom of the rear diff. and it was like 7- 7.5 inches. 9 sounds good until you drive over an 8" rock and feel it crack into the rear gear housing. Arctic Cat claimed 10" on my quad, but I knew better. More like 7.5" at the lowest point, which should be the one that everyone goes by.

The sportsman claims 11" which is the front skid. Its about 13" at the rear tow hitch. These figures are claimed accurately. I haven't really seen any clearance figures on their non- IRS quads, because they aren't too high at the rear differentials. Nothing to sell by showing that low number.

 

most companies measure their ground clearance at some point around the handlebars......

Honda claims nine or ten inches on the rancher....actually it is 7 7/8" at the bottom of the rear pupmnkin(the lowest point). Take anything a manufacturer claims with a grain of salt.

 

My 450es said 7.7 so I measured it stock on cement floor and got 7.7inches. I added 25inch Bearclaw tires and now have 8.5inches. Thats why I laugh now that Honda actually misleads everyone by measureing the Rancher at the floor boards. Everyone thinks it has more ground clearance than the 450 but it is about the same. Stock tires are 25inch and the Bearclaws are 25inch but I gained almost an inch. Thicker tread I guess.

 

Gaining ground clearance through tires is effected by the actual "true" tire heigth of the new tires installed, compared to the old stockers. If you have a "true" 25" tire, and move up to a "true" 26" tire, you'll gain 1/2" in ground clearance across the entire bike. Thing to consider is that most of the manufacturers out there do not make a tire "true" to their posted dimension. Actual heigth may be as much as a full inch lower than what is posted on the tire.

I've been looking for a good aggressive tire for all conditions in a 27" size for my 'Cat, over the last couple months now. Mud Bugs came in around 26.3", Titan 589's measured around 26.25" if I remember right, and to date, the Mud Machine Bi-Claw/Tri-Claws measure about 27.3". As you can see, actual true measurements vary substantially for the same "27" tire. To my knowledge, the claws are the only 27" tire that actually measure more than 27", so I could expect the greatest gain in ground clearance by running with them, compared to the rest.

Ground clearance can also be affected by tire pressure. Higher pressures will give you a taller tire, which will then increase clearance slightly. Same is true for lowering pressure. Another thing to think about is how much gear you pack on the machine. The heavier the weight you carry, combined with your own riding weight will dramatically lower ground clearance.

For example, I carry well over 100 lbs. on the front rack at all times, plus between 100-200 lbs. on the rear rack at all times. My 'Cat sits almost a full inch lower all the way around, than my Dad's 'Cat, which is empty. Add my weight of 230 lbs., and it drops a bit more. This is one of the reasons I'm switching to 27" tires. My stock 489's are supposed to be 25", but really only measure 24 1/4" at most. Theoretically, I should gain 1 9/16" moving up to a "true" 27" tire.

As for where is ground clearance measured, well, in my opinion, it should be measured from the absolute lowest point on the machine. Like Andy said, this is usually either the break housing, or the bottom of the rear diff plug, or plate. These are the places that will get rubbed, caught or hung-up first, before anything else, so measuring ground clearance from any other point, higher than that is meaningless except for a flashy sales pitch.

Just my opinion, take it for what it's worth.

Mike

 

I agree totally. All should be measured at the lowest point.