Does anyone here know anybody with 27" tires on an AC? I just wondered if they would fit without a lift kit. I would assume that they would seeing that my 26" still leave quite a bit of room, but this forum has been real quiet and any kind of a topic would help. I wonder if any people have ever tried different brand combos. Say like Vamps on the rear, and easier steering, lighter weight Bi Claws on the front. Or maybe Front Bear Claws with Maxxis Sur Traks on the rear. On a lighter note, how about Blackwater xt's on the back and Dune hoppers on the front! And to get really extreme, front right- 27" Tri-Claw, left right- Maxxis Razr, Right rear- Mohawk, and left rear- Spider Trak! Talk about one wobbly quad going down the road. All thats missing are the clowns.



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Andy Bassham *(1999 Arctic Cat 500 4x4, 1989 Honda 300)*

 

The 27" tires shouldn't rub for normal use. But yesterday I went threw a ditch to fast, at an angle, and with my wheels turned all the way to the right and the front suspension bottomed out the stockers rubed the back side of the right fender flare. And also with 185 Lbs on the front rack and 700 ls on the rear(with driver) the back flares will rub.

 

Andy I noticed your topic below about aftermarket tires so this reply should cover it also. I bought my AC 400 4x4 back in February 99. When my machine rolled to 26 miles I bought a set of 27 inch Vampires for it. I run the 10 inch wide on the front and the super big 12 inchers on the rear. This is done without any lift. There is actually a good bit of fender clearance on the ACs. Steering is actually not that bad running the narrows on the front. I also have changed my wheels when I bought the tires. I run ITP silvers all the way around.

[This message has been edited by Brad_L (edited 11-23-1999).]

 

Hey Brad, what size wheels do you have on the back. I would guess 7" but there is always the chance of you having 8". I've looked at this a lot lately, and I might break down and spend the cash around Jan. or Feb. I'm wondering how much the 12" tires would hang out on the 7" rims. In other words, would it be worth it to look around for some 8"? Right now, I don't see any need. I'm also wondering if after I buy the silvers, if it would have been worth the extra $10 a wheel to get Black & Chrome. I assume the 400 pulls the Vamps pretty good. Is there a big dropoff in how much power the Vamps rob, or is it just a small thing? Also, how do they ride and handle above 30 mph on hardpack? I'm leaning towards Tri/Bi Claws now, but its amazing how many times you can change your mind when you are just looking, and not really spending anything.

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Andy Bassham *(1999 Arctic Cat 500 4x4, 1989 Honda 300)*

 

Alright heres what I'm gonna do. I'm going to get me some 28" VAMPS on my 454 and then I'll be able to say that my Arctic Cat looks nasty and all that good stuff, but thats about all I will be doing with it. If you want to pull them around get a Grizz. I'm sure mine would pull em, but not very fast and not very comfortably.

 

The 500s have more torque than a Grizzly so why would you need a less powerful quad?

 

I've seen that torque crap and I've talked with tree farmer a few times about it and from what I can tell, its just something on paper to brag about. Hop on both bikes and see if you can notice a torque difference. A lot of questions are easy to answer until you actually ride both machines, and then your eyes open up a little to speculation. The only thing I see in the Arctic Cats advantage on the low end power side is the manual geared transmission, which if the Grizzly had instead of that belt drive, I would have probably bought. Yamaha had to make it an automatic and I had to get an AC. Too bad yamaha, you could have had one sale on a manual Grizzly, but you prefered to sell a ton of them to auto tranny fans instead!

The Grizzly will pull those tires every bit as good as the AC 500 will, reguardless of how Arctic Cat measures their torque figure, and reguardless of what is printed in the brochure as a selling point.

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Andy Bassham *(1999 Arctic Cat 500 4x4, 1989 Honda 300)*

 

Actually Boner, I love my 500 and all, but ride and stability aside, I wouldn't want to put it up against a grizzly in any other areas for fear of getting my *** kicked. Less powerfull quad. Tell that to the Grizzly that is pulling away from you ever so slowly.

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Andy Bassham *(1999 Arctic Cat 500 4x4, 1989 Honda 300)*

 

Ok, here is the scoop on rim size. The ITP steel wheels only come in 7 inch widths, so that is what i'm running front and rear. Since my rear tires are wider than the front I adjusted air pressure so the diameters would equal front and rear. As far as the silver vs. chrome and black finish. Its really just a personal preference. Although I will say that the silver finish is a powder coat, its tough, but if you mud ride a lot the finish will eventully dull to gray because of the wheels turning in the mud. The chrome won't do that, but it is necessary to clean the chrome to prevent rust. If you would like 8 inch rears the only option I know of is to go with Douglas aluminum. The aluminum wheels only come in 7 in. for the front and 8 in. for the rear. The aluminum is what I originally wanted but couldn't afford it at the time. One note to add about the aluminum rims. ITP has some new billet aluminum rims for 4x4 quads that look GOOD, they only come in 7 in. widths like the steels but there apperance is stunning.

You will notice a power loss with the vamps no matter what machine you have. The tires are just plain HEAVY and there is no way of getting around it. Of course I noticed a bigger loss than you would because your 500 has more torque than my 400. My 400 seems to turn the big vamps fairly well. If the machine ever seems to get in a bind a switch to low range seems to do the trick.

 

So Andy you are saying that because it is faster it is more powerful?

If thats true then my 5hp go-cart is more powerful than my 18hp lawn tractor.

I will say this. If Dirt Wheels was doing a shootout between the grizzly and an Arctic Cat 500(either one), I think the Grizzly would win because they prefer performace. But if Atv Connection or Atv Magazine would do a shoot out I think the Cat would win.

Arctic Cat 500, I bought it becasue I like it.