Finally was able to try out the changes to my 650 H1 -- HUGE Change. The same trails that I stopped and turned the ATV by hand it now goes through without issue. It is still a big ATV but does not feel like its going to flip. I tested it on approx 40 miles of riding and it did great!

I must say "Thanks Buckaroo50"! The suggestions changed me from doubting my purchase to enjoying it.

My settings I settled on are:
Front -- 8.5 psi, shocks on 2nd softest
Rear -- 5 psi (4psi after 32 miles of rocks, jumps, and hills), shocks on 4th setting (one before hardest) (picked this since I am 240lbs)

The spacers did great. I still would have preferred the nuts to be fully threaded but last week I added Blue (removable) Loctite to the threads so they can not just vibrate loose. The ATV handles much better -- never felt tippy.

The only shortcoming I did notice is the tires. My stock tires are same as new (ATV has only 29 hours) buy they do not have near the bite of the ITP Mudlites on my last ATV. I was on several side hills and the tires did not bite -- they just slid sideways (but did not feel like it would tip as before).

Any tire suggestions would be appreciated. I watch alot of sport ATV's and they all have narrow/rounded front tires and really wide/flat rear tires. I definitely prefer that arrangement (as Buckaroo50 mentioned in previous posts). I may just order the same(if available) as Buckaroo50 but do wonder if a 25x12x12 rear with a flat face (still with a mud type grip)would be better. I am sticking with the 25x8x12 front and rounded face. Anyone want to share some suggestions with recommended ordering location? Would a 25x12x14 rear/25x8x14 front with new rims help (I do like the alloys from my SE though)?

 

Keep in mind that the rear has to be light enough to give up some traction so that the front can do it's job - too much traction and you will get a push in the machine - it will try to go straight.

I think that 10" wide on the rear is plenty for any situation.

I like my MudCats on the rear. The do really well in mud and do great in other traction situations.
I got the MudCat rear tires from here:
http://www.tiresunlimited.com/...ang/MudCat/MudCat.htm

I got the MudGear front tires here:
http://nebraskatire.com/atv/gear/mud_gear.htm


Happy riding

 

Originally posted by Mud Hog:

Seems to me that AC should read this post and make a lot of the improvements that you are all talking about. I used to swear by their sleds and have been very disappointed with their atv offerings. Hope it gets better in the future.</end quote></div>

Originally posted by buckaroo50:

There is nothing wrong with AC. The suspension and tire pressures just need to be tuned from the factory settings. My experience has been that once tuned the AC can handle better than most and can be right there with the best of them. Actually if you spend some time, the AC IRS and run with an SRA. Plus with AC you get a host of other bennies such as the industry leader in GC and wheel travel. Doesn't get much better than this. AC as well as all ATV's the demon is the 'role-under' from the front tires.

The post was done so that people could tune the suspension and really get the benefits from the AC. Rather than blindly make adjustments, to be able to know what to do in order to get the results that you want. If your machine is behaving in a certain way, some things that you can do to correct it and not just blindly, hit or miss, make changes.

This post has not only helped AC but several other brands, based on the private messages I have received. It all makes my heart smile to know that it has done some good and people have benefited, no matter what they are riding.</end quote></div>


I have to agree with buckaroo, there is nothing wrong with the way AC sets up the wheelers. AC has to have the factory settings set to the average user. In my extended family we have a few dozen AC's; most of which are 500's. Should the factory set it up for my 105 pound wife who rides like she is afraid of breaking a nail, or my 380 pound cousin that rides like he is trying to break it in half? Is the intended use of these machines to fly like the wind, or is it mostly farm & ranch work? I think it is more beneficial for the individual to set it up for his body weight, the way he rides, and what his intent is - race or work.

QUOTE FOR TODAY:

"Metro-Sexual" is PC for "***"

 

Update: Changed the tires from the stock and barely worn Badlands to the same size ITP Ducks Unlimited Wetlands (same size as stock). The Wetlands were approx $275 total shipped from JC Whitney.

Air Pressure -- Front 8psi, Back 5psi

Conclusion -- Great Tire! Smooth ride but grips 3x better than stock Badlands. Turning is so much sharper that I found myself turning too sharp sometimes. The Wetlands are radials but I never experienced any tippy feeling. I debated what to order and wanted to order the same as Buckaroo but one of the tires was always out of stock. I decided to try the Wetlands since I wanted the 11" width in rear to be same as stock.

I was really disappointed with my 2006 H1 650 when I purchased it after the first ride. Now I am really loving the H1. Great ride, Great power, and Now Great Handling! If this continues I will defintely be recommending Arctic Cat to anyone that asks!

Also -- I mentioned my reserve on the Highlifter 1" spacers due to only using 5 or so threads of my wheel stud. This is not an issue. They are holding great (I did use Loctite Removable Blue anyway). I found a technical paper on google that stated the load on the threads of a nut -- basically 6 threads covers 100% of load normally with the first 3 covering 85+%. Four to 5 threads is fine since additional threads only marginally improve strength....

 

It is really too bad that the manufacturers and/or dealers don't do something about the terrible stock tires. Not only would it give them a better name (and handling machine!!! ) but also cut back on the number of senseless accidents caused by tire roll-under.

As an update to the pressures I am running in my tires. I currently have 27" mud bugs and 27" bighorns both sets mounted on ITP 106SS rims. The bugs I run 6.5lbs front and 5lbs rear for normal everyday riding. For dirt track style high speed aggressive driving I up the front to 7lbs and run 6 in the rear. When I am getting into very rough technical riding (boulder gardens, tons of trees to cross over, up an old creek etc) I drop the fronts down to 5lbs as well, unless I will encounter steep off camber then I leave it at 6.5.

For the Bighorns I run 5 psi rear and 7 psi front. I use this for all riding except the aggressive riding where I will bump the backs to 6-6.5 psi.

My front preloads are on the softest setting and the rears on the 3rd.

Cheers

 

Howdo everyone! Newbie to both the forums here and ATV's in general (from south Texas where we just drove our trucks to wherever we needed to go).

First off I want to say thanks for this thread as it is really enlightening me, especially thanks to buckaroo50!

I just purchased a 2007 AC 400 4x4 Auto, primarily for hunting and to help setup some food plots on my lease.

After reading through this thread, first thing I did was check the tire pressures when I got home.. low and behold, not one was the same on any tire! The right front was 12PSI, left front 8PSI, right rear 5PSI and left rear 2-3PSI. Well, I set the rears to 5PSI and fronts to 8PSI.

I haven't touched the suspension yet as I don't want to screw anything up. I did look at it and see what y'all are talking about with the adjustment. Question on this, right now mine are in the middle notch so must be a 3. To soften them, I assume I need to go down on the notches which would let the spring expand some. Is this correct? Also, is there any special tricks to adjusting or do you just grab ahold and move it?

Also, the stock tires are Goodyear Rawhide RS, are those decent tires for general use? I looked at Goodyear's site and I believe they are 4ply.

Thanks!

 

The goodyear Rawhides are a decent, mark the word, stock tire. There is tons of great info on how to set you quad in this thread. Enjoy and please ask whatever you feel the need to.

 

I added the swaybar and 25" bighorns to my 06 500 and IT IS A DIFFERENT QUAD. Rides like a Cadillac now. 95-99% of every "issue" post here in the this thread will be solved with the swaybar and a tire change. I noticed some guys saying that the Cat does not like Radial tires. This is a baseless load of hookey. The Bighorns are the best tire I've ever owned, yes, _way_ better than my set of Mudlites or Dirt Devils. My quad feels like a sport quad now with the swaybar, the front end does not push in the corners, it corners much tighter than it did before, the body roll is virtually eliminated, and don't get me started on the off-camber performance (night and day different, no spacers needed). With the swaybar, I have my front shocks set on the middle setting and the rears are on the softest setting. There is guy selling the swaybars on Ebay for 116. Best money I've ever spent on my quad, hands down!

I'd say stop trying to fix, AC's **** poor, swaybarless Independent Rear Suspension with spring pressure and learn from every other respectable quad maker on the planet, add a swaybar! :-) There's no shame in that. I used to be one of the guys in the corner making the case for the swaybarless IRS, I'd make fun of Polaris' crippling of their IRS with their Swaybar. Then, I rode one, and as soon as I got on it and took a few curves at high speed, it was OBVIOUS that the suspension performance was superior to my quad. So, I licked my wounds and told myself that the Cat has more ground clearance and more fuel capacity and all that self righteous stuff. All the while knowing in the back of my head, that it was the swaybar that was responsible for the all of the stability goodness.

I'd like to say THANK YOU ARCTIC CAT for adding the swaybar as an option. Now, add it as standard equipment!

 

I kept debating a rear swaybar on my 650 H1 but after some crazy off-camber washed out trail riding yesterday I have decided I can do without the sway bar. The 1" wheel spacers added more then enough stability.

I hung in with (2) Brute Forces fine. They had the advantage in several spots but I still had no problem -- maybe a little slower.

There were several spots where they had a major disadvantage --
1. We had a 2 ft deep wash out that you had to climb. The brutes could not get traction in the rear due to the sway bar. My AC just pulled right over. One Brute tried and I told him to let me show him how. I was amazed when they struggled in the same spot I had no issue with.
2. Deep Mud with ruts. The AC ground clearance was a plus. I really believe the sway bar hurt also since the Brute woulkd get stuck and could not back out.

The $116 for the sway bar is a deal on ebay. I keep considering it. I just do not want to loose any performance in the rough.

 

My Dad spent most of the time riding behind me last weekend and said the articulation was very good. That's a lot coming from Dad, he's a very technical guy, the smartest guy I know. I don't think it would affect you in the way that it affected your buddies. I would not go back to life without it. Give it a shot, you gotta experience it!

The guy on EBAY is a good guy too, great communication and fast shipping.