Not a big deal but the front tires can contact the tabs on each side that hang down from the plastics before the suspension bottoms..I doubt it would be a problem with stock tires...and even with 27's it only happens in extreme cases..but when it does it doesn't sound good,lol..
I put the suspension through a severe workout yesterday,that is when I discovered the front tires hitting the plastic. I rode 30 miles on a dirtbike trail through the forrest,the trail is open to ATV's but is mainly ridden by and caters to dirtbikes. I saw some ATVs on the powerlines,but NONE on the trails with us. It was challenging,like threading a needle on the XP. Of the 30 miles about 25 was farily high speed(ie as fast as I dared,lol)through large whoops trying to stay up with the bikes(not so successfully of course). The front suspension didn't feel too soft,but it would hit the plastic occasionally.
All in all the 850 performed awesome for a 890# utilty ATV...and best of all when the bike riders needed a break I was still physically fresh..although it was mentally tiring,the trail was pretty dang tight,lol. Somehow I managed to only scrub 2 trees,althouth there were many many times that I braced for impact.

Ok back on topc..here is a pic of the place I am talking about...i'm going to just trim it enough to keep it from hitting..

 

Another good find HO!
Do you think it would help to stiffen up the front suspension one notch?
I don't think I'll need to do any trimming for awhile, I still have the stock tires, but It's good to know about the potential problem!

 

Just curious... what are those tabs for? It looks like it would be fairly straightforward to just trim that tab off... but the real question is, why are they there to begin with? Is it just a looks thing? Does it somehow block mud from slinging? Is it Polaris's way of saying "Careful, the next thing you hit will be something important"? I would think that Polaris would provide as much clearance as possible, and having a plastic tab be the first thing that an oversized tire would hit seems a bit unusual. I would think that the first thing it would hit would be a part of the frame or a tie rod or the inside of the fender or something.

 

IMO tightening up the spring preload isn't the answer unless it feels soft to you..
Mine is up one click from min and felt good to me for what I was doing,if I turned it up one it may or may not have been too stiff,and still wouldn't guarantee the wouldn't hit as changing spring preload doesn't change absolute suspension travel,preload increase only makes it stiffer at the lower part of the travel.
Make sense?
Again the stuff I was doing isn't likely your everyday riding on a utility ATV,I just posted it since it is a possibility...

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: jchunn

Just curious... what are those tabs for? It looks like it would be fairly straightforward to just trim that tab off... but the real question is, why are they there to begin with? Is it just a looks thing? Does it somehow block mud from slinging? Is it Polaris's way of saying "Careful, the next thing you hit will be something important"? I would think that Polaris would provide as much clearance as possible, and having a plastic tab be the first thing that an oversized tire would hit seems a bit unusual. I would think that the first thing it would hit would be a part of the frame or a tie rod or the inside of the fender or something.</end quote></div>

Good point and I had been thinking on that before posting as I wondered the same thing myself...and have similar therories as yours,along wiht a couple more, like is it structural for the front plastics some how? But It looks likely it is a warning like you said,that the next thing you are going to possibly hit is the back of headlight assy/connector or the bottom lip of the front bumper...both might be possible with tires larger than 27 under full suspension compression..mine did not hit either..and I highly doubt that tab stopped them from doing so..so with 27's anyway I think I'll be safe to just trim it.

 

As always HO, your info is invaluable to current and prospective XP owners. Even the guys getting 26" tires that run tall (like Horns) might want to keep an eye on that area.

Yep, that looks pretty close to the back of the headlight.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: DCT

As always HO, your info is invaluable to current and prospective XP owners. Even the guys getting 26" tires that run tall (like Horns) might want to keep an eye on that area.



Yep, that looks pretty close to the back of the headlight.</end quote></div>


And waht might be worse is if a tire lug caught the back of the front bumper just right..not an issue for 27's and smaller 28's would be close probably,and any larger than that would almost certainly contact the bumper and or the back of the light at full compression,again depending on how the front tires were turned...
I gotta say again though that 95% of people probably will never have a problem,the stuff I was doing is likely as extreme a suspension workout as mine will ever see..

 

Yea those that run the really big mud tires might want to go ahead and install a small lift on it..

 

Yep, it's a good heads up nonetheless.

The more I read, ride, and talk with other riders, the more I am coming to the conclusion that staying stock, or close to it is not a bad idea.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Rutcutter

Yea those that run the really big mud tires might want to go ahead and install a small lift on it..</end quote></div>

Yep..as long as it is the righ kind of lift.
Turning up the spring pre-load most likely won't work,whether it is with the adjustment and more so with spacers...that just increases spring pre-load and does not limit suspension travel. It doesn't increase the amount of force that it takes to hit the rubber suspension stops(on the shock piston) nor does it limit travel...unless the pre-load adjustment allows the coil spring to bind before the stop is hit...coil bind is BAD imo...that is why I don't care for anylift that just increases spring prelaod..band-aid at best... once you hit coil bind all that shock is being asborbed by the shock mounts...they are not designed for that...not on ANY vehicle...