Has anybody used smaller tires on a Scrambler? I have been going to some going around the barrels races and was wondering if anybody have gone down on size from the original tires. I have been able to keep up with the Banshees at these races because of the 4x4 advantage but they are still beating me(by a small margin).
The terrain we are racing on is a loose clay and that is why I am making up time on the take off's while going around the barrels.
I was thinking of using 21's and 20's to help with the handling on the corners and to hit the powerband earlyer.
Would this be a good idea? and which tires should I used. Keep in mind I need a front tire that helps with the pulling.

Thank You.
PS. I have an HPD pipe, carb and clutch mods along with reeds and a roller clutch kit.

 

I used Domminators which are small compaired to tall Holeshots in the same size. I used 20 on the rear & 21 up front. They work great. Take a look.
Jim Maloney 98 400 Scrambler
http://photos.yahoo.com/jim400scram

 

Did the tires made a good difference with the take off's. Also I checked your pictures and you mentioned you have works struts. How good are they? How much? and where did you get them?. By the way cool quad.

 

I have razers 20" back 21" front. gears you down to give you a little more on take offs.

later
bdscram1

 

I thought the smaller tires felt like an adition 5 hp due to the lower gearing & easier to get the front end up but after widening also it is great in the corners now since it's 1.25" shorter 4.5" wider. I just got works phone number of the net & ordered them. They were about $230 I think.
Jim Maloney 98 400 Scrambler
http://photos.yahoo.com/jim400scram

 

The 20" rears would be a good choice, and 21" fronts. Be careful though, all 20" tires are not 20" tires. Several on the market are much smaller or larger (by almost an a inch) in the size marked. A couple of great choices in loose clay would Turf Tamers or Razers in the 20" size.

 

Count

On loose clay remember one word - HOLESHOT.

Use the 19-6-10 Holeshot MX up front, and the 18-11-10 Holeshot MX on the rear and you will be kicking Banshee butt!. If you are jumping with this set up, use the 18-11-8 on 8" wheels for the rear. If you try to do big jumps with the 10" wheels, you will end up bending the wheels. If the bike stays on the ground the whole time, the 10's are better as there is less side wall flex.

The only thing to consider is the percentage change in ratios between the front and rear. with the stock 23 front and 22 rear, there is 4.5% size difference, with a 21 front and a 20 rear there is a 5% increase rear to front. With a 18 rear and a 19 front there is a 5.55% differnece. From what I hear there needs to be about a 20% speed difference between the rear & front for the hubs to bind up into 4 wheel drive. However once they are locked, they should be revolving at the same speed. By changing the percentage ratio, you will be affecting that. But then once they atart revolving at the same speed again, the hubs unbind, leaving you in 2 wheel drive again, so I don't think you will have a problem running the 18 rear and 19 front as you have only changed the ration by 1%.

Clear as mud sometimes!

 

bdscram1--> Could you give us the exact (real measured)heighth of those new Razrs.

Anybody ever run the 9" rear wheels with 20" tires?

Thanks

 

Thank you all for the info. I think I will go with 21's and 20's just in case I need to use them somewhere else.

Also a friend of mine told me of this easy and inexpensive way of making the 4x4 Scrambler a little wider.

To turn your wheels around you drill a whole on the inside of the rim and install a valve stem and where there is the factory valve stem you install one backwards(valve stem pointing inside the rim)that should give you the clearance for the brake rotors. I was looking at my rims and I think is good for about 1 1/2" on each side.

You guys probably knew this but I thought it was cool mod. to share.