I have a 2008 Sportman 800HO with the factory aluminum wheels and the PXT tires. I just got it a Month ago and I am very unhappy with the tires. I am not a real aggressive rider but I have multiple chips in the edge of the front wheels. The rims sit out farther then the tires exposing them to contact by rocks. The tread on these tires looks great but they are already showing excessive signs of wear and tear and I have already plugged one of them from a stick puncturing the tire.
I know I need different tires but when I look at the options I like, they are not available in the factory size. 26x8R12 frt & 26x11R12 rear. Most tires offer a 26x9R12 front but the dealer said that 9" up front will hit the tie rod.
I am only finding two choices that are reasonable. They make 25x8R12 tires but that would make the tire shorter or I have 1.5 spacers I could use but that seemed to make my last bike too wide.
Anyone run into this problem and come up with a better solution?

 

Alot of people have had success moving the tie rod to a lower position. It has been discussed in length in this forum. This seems like your only option since you don't want to widen your atv with spacers and don't seem to want to buy new wheels. I'd say get the 26x9 up front and move the tie rod.....btw, I have a new set of PXT's from my sp800 that I took off....wanna buy 'em? LOL!

 

Thank you for the advise.

 

I'm needing four spacers for my 800 x2. How much would you sell the 1.5 spacers for?