I have the stock 25x8x12 Dunlop tires on front and stock 25x11x12 Dunlops on the back.
I am going to buy 27" MudBugs shortly. I will buy 27x12x12 tires for the back. My question is this:
For the front, can I use 27x12x12 or do I have to use 27x10x12 tires? I ask this as I want to know if they will hit the tire wells? My buddy has 27x10x12 on the front but his is a 2001 500 Cat and the 2002 500i looks like it has more room.
Thanks

 

I have heard people running 28" tires on their 500i and having no problems but I don't know if they are running 28x12x12 up front or not. I'm pretty sure it will work fine though. Wait for more responses just to be on the safe side.

 

Wolf: Yes I think the MudBugs 27x12x12 will fit on the front of the 500i. A friend of mine has MudBugs 27x12x12 on the back and 27x10x12 on the front. He felt that the 12's on the front would affect his steering too much so opted for the 10's. Even though the 12's looked like they would fit no problem. I agree, and I think you will find most other riders will feel the same. His set up goes extremely well. (can almost keep up to me thru the mud) I think you will be quite happy with the 10's on front and the 12's on the back.

shmoky

 

My dealer said that i could go as big as 27s with now worries. The only reason for a narrower tire is for handling because it makes it easier to steer.

 

I heard that if you use the same size tire on all four rims, that it can damage your transmission. I was going to do the same thing, but found this out and cancelled my order.

I don't know if this is true or not, It's just what I heard.

 

Powercat: Is this on the manual or auto? Where did you hear this? Why would it damage the transmission? I am running 28's all around, installed by the dealer.

shmoky

 

Powercat, Shmoky what you heard is true for the 300cat. The rear tires are 1" bigger around than the front. So if you wanted to keep the same ratio on a 300 you would need to keep the rear tire 1 size bigger than the front. Now for the 400-500 you need to keep the same height tire (26", 27",,,) all the way around. It does not matter what width tire you put on the front and back. I hope this helps

 

Cummins: thanx for straightening that out.

shmoky

 

Thanks for all the advice guys. Still not positive on which route to take (12" or 10" wide), as I have heard everything. I have also heard that on the 2002 models 400/500i, the rims are wider on the rear rather than on front (10" vs. 8" respectively). Therefore, using a wider tire on a narrower rim would cause the whole tire height to be higher and thus causing problems. Has anyone else heard of this?

 

Wolfaslov, The stock rims on my 500i are stamped with the size of 12X8 in the rear and 12X6.5 up front.I believe the 12" wide tire is to wide for the wheel up front.It would also give the tire more of a "crown" up front thus changeing the ratio compared to the rear. However if you increased the air presure in the rear tires and lowered the presure up front you could counteract that problem. But like I said I think the 12"wide tire is physically to wide for the 6.5" wide wheel!
GOOD-LUCK