I have a 2005 500 manual shift.
I have put 250 miles on it in the heart of the Colorado Rockies with the stock tires.
I was planning on running the stock tires for a while but now am looking to go to 26 or 27s.
I thought I wouldn't want bigger tires on a 500 but it is geared so low with the manual
that I never used low range.
I am now thinking the bigger tires will gear it up a little and help from banging up the rims in the rocks.
I am looking for a good tire for rocks, hard pack dirt and snow(plowing).
Never ride in mud and high speed corners are not a concern either.


thanks

 

personally i would go with a 26 inch mud lite nice solid tire that would be great for rocks and with the 6 ply you will feel better handling if you have independent rear suspension and when you go with 27's you might get a lil top heavy for going to extremely high and i also wouldn't rule out the itp 589's good tire in the snow and mud for the money itp does make probably the best tire for mud but there are alot of other tires better in the mud but the mud lites are a smooth tire plus with 6 ply there isn't as much give in the tires so you won't bang up the rims either not like the crappy radials that come stock with the atv

 

pitkin1, i would look at some Dirt Devils or maybe Kenda Bear claws. I have 589's on my AC500 and they are a good tire but for climbing the lugs are spaced kinda far apart and they seem to slip over the rocks a little to much for my taste. Also the Titan 489 XT might not be to bad but i am not sure if it is 6 ply tire or not. another thing you might do is see if there are any atv clubs in your area and find out what works best for them since they probably ride in the same terrain as you.