Who knows. Cawood is in Texas and HL is in Shreveport which is really close to the eastern border of Texas. Cawood has the right tires, but it blew my mind that the guy didn't know what the individual tires were called. Sand Tires Unlimited does make a tire that is simply called the Mud Machine, but its a smaller tire for sport quads. Maybe 23" at the biggest.

Highlifter is slow on email, but they will talk your butt off on the phone. I have called them a few times just to ask questions, and they talk for like 20 minutes about anything and everything you want to ask about. They seem to like the Claws too. Most of the time, I talked to Dan. I can't remember who the last one was. May have been the same guy you talked to.

If it is only a pound or so difference, I'd get the ITP. I feel that they are stronger than the stock AC rims. The fourth day I had my 500, I hit a rock on a trail going about 30 (didn't notice it at the time, not a real big hit) and hit the left rear rim on the inside. Put about a 1" bend in it and knocked the tire off the rim a bit. Luckily, I was only 200 yards away from the truck when this happened, and on my way home after hunting. Still, it gave me the impression that AC wheels aren't too tough. I took it to the dealer and he banged it back into shape. No problems with it since. That was like Sept. 16th or something of 1998. I haven't told this story in a while here, because its pretty boring, and also so I wouldn't start hearing some "AC wheels are crap" rumor going every time an Arctic Cat is compared to something else.

The wait would be worth it. You will really like these tires I think, and you will not second guess yourself a month after you get them. They are really impressive. I was absolutely astounded at what they did for my AC compared to the stock. A little bumpier ride, but everything else was night and day better. Especially steering. You don't have 495's so you won't feel this big steering improvement I don't think. Still, I think the Claws steered almost as good as my cousin's 489's on his 454 cat.

 

Another thing, the Highlifter guys must have the inside track. That monday when I talked to that guy, I said something about a 700 Polaris. He said the engine had already been built. I then said there was rumor that Kawasaki would make a larger quad. He said it would be a 650 prairie. I hadn't heard much about this so I just took it with a grain of salt. The next morning, the 650 was introduced at the ATV convention. Pretty surprising. They knew.

 

Andy:
Well, did some measuring on the 'Cat a few minutes ago, and was rather surprised at what I found. First of all, the stock 25x10x12's only measured 24 1/8" in the front, and 24 1/4" in back. Here's the rest of the measurements:
Skid Plate: 9"
Lowest stick stopper bolt: 8 1/4"
Lowest point of belly plate: 8"
Floorboards: 9 3/4"
Lowest point of rear diff plate: 8"

I measured my Dad's stock 'Cat, and while his tires were the same identical heigth as mine, he was about 1" higher everywhere than mine. This would attribute to all the weight I carry. I imagine with my rider weight, it would drop another inch or so, but that's just a guess.

When I talked to the guys at High Lifter, he said that the 27" Mud Bugs measured 26 1/4" in actuall true heigth, and that the Bi/Tri Claws were the only tire he could think of at the time that actually measure MORE than what they claim. He said the actual heigth of the Claws were 27 1/3", that he knew that because he just measured it the day before for some other guy who wants to put a set on his AC 500 AUTO! He said that guy ended up buying two sets of them.

Anyway, after running the numbers through with the 27 1/3" Claws compared to the 24 1/8" 489's, it looks like on paper, I should get about 1 9/16" gain in clearance everywhere. If this is true, that would be awesome! The only time I get high centered is while crossing logs on an uphill path, and all it takes is for me to actually get off the 'Cat and it drives itself over. My own weight difference is enough to do the job, so hopefully the added heigth of the 'Claws will take care of that little annoyance.

I got to thinking about the wheels, and my loans and such. Financial aid charges me 5% interest flat rate, that begins 6 months after I graduate, when the first payment is due, and when interest begins. I have a credit card that charges 18% interest, so I am thinking I may just use the money for the wheels to pay off the credit card, get that out of my hair, save interest rates. That would be the smart thing to do anyway, and just get the wheels in another month or two. Have to wait and see what they give me for financial aid. They said they might be able to increase it by another $1,000 so that would be a HUGE help, then I'd have no worries at all.

I guess I have one other question for you: If I end up going with the Claws on the STOCK AC rims, did you have to do any other mods to make them fit? I remember you said they rubbed a little on the muffler heat shield at a weird angle, but what about break lines, shocks, anything else I'm not considering? I don't want to get them delivered, mounted up and then find I forgot something and need to spend more money to be able to use them. Basically, is there anything else I might have troubles with???

Thanks again for the help!

Mike

 

you don't have to do anything. They just fit. The rubbing on the muffler will happen with any wheel. A lift or wheel spacers is the only way to prevent that. It is only in hard angles such as climbing out of an uneven ditch, and it doesn't do much other than nick the tips off of the little spikey things, and rub the dirt off the muffler. I think a Supertrapp wouldn't hit it because it is more compact and doesn't stick out as far. Everything else fits perfect. No problems anywhere in the front at all. You will be amazed at how much room there is under the fenders even after the big tires are mounted. I think you could put 28" on there without a lift personally. Arctic cat is the king of stock fender clearance. I really can't wait until you get them. I'm interested to see what your first post sounds like after you have had them on. Probably will sound a lot like mine. If I remember right, I said something long ago about a power drain. If I remember it better, that was when climbing a rutted hill in 3rd gear. I had to gear down. Didn't have too, but did because you can just tell when to shift. Probably because of traction there. The old tires wouldn't bog the engine because they were probably spitting loose rocks and stuff and spinning faster than they would be if I was going on pavement at the same speed. Hard to understand what in the hell I was trying to say there. Who knows. I do know this. I could flat outrun my cousin on his 454 with the Claws on there. Acceleration or top end. In massive steep hillclimbs, they take more throttle to turn also. Not much. I put it in low, because of course there is better throttle control in low. The things that I talk about when I say these things are normally isolated incedents and nothing that happens more than 2 or 3 times during a ride. You basically have to try to notice a power loss. There is some, but there will be with any big tire. Finding it is the hard part. Like I dropped the fronts in this huge ft. deep rut that had right angle edges (not smooth in and out) and I didn't have the power to reverse out. Low range would have done it, but I inched up about 4 inches to get a hair of momentum and then backed out. With the tires up against the side to start out, it wouldn't do it. Stock tires wouldnt have faired better, because I would have had the front of the frame on the ground due to the lower clearance. I shouldn't say this stuff cause I might put demons in your head that might make you leary of big tires, but I thought of it all of a sudden. The only thing I didn't like about my Claws was that i didn't have two sets of rims, and I was doing a lot of pavement riding on them. I sure didn't want to wear them out just farting around the house on the pavement. Whenever I get the sportsman, I'll have 2 sets of wheels, and that problem is solved. No regrets with the tires. I would buy them again today over anything else out there. Even the new GBC tires. I wonder if anyone has them yet?

 

I know what you mean about the stockers vs. the high-traction tires in the really steep stuff. I've made it up a few hills that were so steep, they scared the holy hell out of me, but the tires were spinning madly, throwing dirt, mud and rocks everywhere. I'm interested to see how that same hill performs with the 'Claws. I know that with more traction, it should be easier to climb, but the engine probably won't be able to "spin" them as easy. Hopefully it will result in a more "controlled" climb, if that makes any sense?.

As for the right-angle ditch you were in, and trying to back out of it, I've been there too, with the stock 489's. I've got a creek running through the middle of my meadow that the cows had just trashed. They made their own highway through the middle of it, and with the extra water, they caused some excess erosion, which caused the sides to collapse. As a result, I wound up with a few spots that were nearly a 2' 90 degree drop off. I thought I'd just go in, drive across, but when I fell over the edge, I thought that maybe it wasn't such a good idea, so I tried to back out of it. I couldn't get the rpm's up enough to reverse out, which pissed me off. Ended up saying "screw it" and dropped right into the damn thing, hit the other verticle wall and popped up and out.

I also tried climbing a tree once. Put one front tire up against a tree, in 4 low, gave it a little throttle. The rears spun, as did the fronts, but then they caught on something, and the whole 'Cat jumped right up the tree. Kind of scared me for a minute, as I went up all of a sudden, and almost near verticle, was worried about going over backwards, so I let off, and fell right back down immediately. Tried it in reverse, and not a chance. That damn rev limiter thing has got to go. I can understand how it is a safety feature, but at the same time, high rpm's in reverse are often a necessary thing in order to get out of trouble. That's one thing I like about the '01 'Cats, they've got the reverse overdrive, so that is possible. I wonder if you could convert a '00 to the '01 with the reverse overdrive thing???

Anyway, after talking with you and HL, you can forget about those little "demons" in my head once and for all. Damnit, I'm determined now to get those 'Claws! That check should be waiting for me on monday, and if it is, I'm on the phone immediately ordering a set. I saw some Mud Bugs today, and was actually kind of dissappointed. They didn't really look like they do in the pictures, and being just barely over 26", instead of the true 27" gets to me. If I'm paying for a 27" tire, I had better get a 27" tire!

I'm usually pretty picking about being able to see what I am getting before I buy something, but if those Claws look even half as mean as they do in the pics, then I'll still be pleased. As for traction, not a worry at all, I'm sure they'll chew up and spit out everything I can throw at 'em. As for the power loss, well, if I can't go through, up, around, or over something in low range, I probably shouldn't be there in the first place, right? I think I've finally got that out of my head, so I'm going to place the order as soon as that damn check gets here.

I'm just hoping that HL will get them in before the 20th of Oct. Elk season opens on the 28th, and I need them before that. Well, I guess I don't really need them before that, but I would really like to have them. It will probably be snowing like mad on us up there, and definately muddy as hell. I already know what the stockers can't do in snow, so it will be interesting to see what the 'Claws can do. You can bet y'er boots I'll write a book about them after the first ride!

You're probably tired of hearing this, but I can't thank you enough for the help. I know I won't be dissappointed.

Mike