Looking at the sizes of Mudlites, it appears I could go with:

Front Stock: 24x8-12
or 25x10-12 or 25x8-12.

I want to keep stock rims for the expense. I use it for trail riding, riding around the yard, very little mud/asphalt.

Should I go up to the 25 size? What's the advantages (handling, etc) from the 24 to 25 and the x10 vs the x8?

I see the Mudlight XL comes in the 25 sizes listed above, not sure if I need that for my riding? Lug size

Thanks for any advice you can give as I'm new to this.

 

Get the 25in XL's they will be better in the mud and will help you get through the ruts better than 24's. Cheap bigfoot kits.
http://www.4atvtires.com/atvTires/sh...=4521&cat_id=2

 

I put 25's on my '05 Rancher with no problems, except a little loss in top end speed, but I prefer slow speed technical riding so it didn't matter. But I did go with Bear Claws cause I liked them better (my opinion only). If your Rancher is like mine, the rear rims are 11" in diameter so get the correct rear size. The narrower the front tire, the easier it will steer. I put 25x10x12 on the front of mine and it steers fine. The rear is 25x12.5x11, which is nice on the trail, but tends to eat the yard up when I turn.

The main difference I noticed at first was between the stock tire being 4 ply and the Beer Claw being 6 ply, not so much the height difference. You only gain .5" extra clearance in going from 24 to 25. The 6 ply is nore responsive due to a stiffer sidewall. But with the stiffer sidewall it rides a little rougher.

If your going to buy tires, you might as well go up in size to the 25". I say go with 10" wide all the way around.

 

I'd stick with stock sized tires. A lot of the guys I ride with went up in size, but ended up going back down to stock sized tires. These guys ride big bore utility machines too.

 

stay with stock sized tires if u like the way it handles with the size of them right now