Hello,

I am new to theis forum and wanted to see if any TRX300 4x4 owners could help me out. I just purchased a used 1996 Honda TRX300FW. I had one of these when they first came out and liked it a great deal. The quad hasn't changed through the years, so it was an easy decision to buy again.

The problem is that that the previous owner (PO) of my machine put on new tires (Interco Swamplites) a few months prior to selling it to me. What I failed to notice during my test drive and over the last few days of riding during a hunting trip is that the tire sizes are the same on all four of the tires (25x8-11). This is incorrect for several reasons. Stock tires were 23x8-11 (front) and 24x9-11 (rear). By having the same diameter and width on the front and back, the PO has effectively made the back tires have the smaller diameter of the two, since putting the same size tire on the wider rear rims will often make the diameter a little smaller. This is the exact opposite of the stock set-up, which has a smaller diameter in the front. I spent several hours researching various Internet threads and discussions to see if this was acceptable. I could not find the answer. My local dealer wasn't much help, but they wouldn't let me actually talk to a technician. The guy at the parts counter told me he thought it would be OK. I'd rather have a technical answer! I want to find out if riding this way will hurt the transmission or differentials. I am thinking that I can minimize this by going to the next larger size Swamplite (25x10-11) in the rear. Since the stock tire was 24x9-11, would it be a little larger on the 9" rear rim? It used to be that way on motorcycle tires, but low pressure ATV tires squat down so far that I don't know if it even matters. Maybe I can run higher air pressure in the rear to make the diameter bigger? I am unfortunately on a budget (like everyone), so I am trying to avoid buying 4 new tires.

Thanks,
Mike

 

The idea of gearing the back a little higher than the front, is so the back does most of the work under normal conditions. This gives a lighter feel to the steering...otherwise the front pulls you along which will tend to make it fight you all the time.

The newer models like the Rancher do this with actual gearing so you can run the same size tires front and rear, but the 300 did the same thing with larger tires in the rear.

One partial solution might be a Warn 424! It turns the full-time 4wd quads into selectable 2wd/4wd. You should have one anyway, and this would solve any problem....at least when you are in 2wd. Still, the front end will probably fight you in 4wd.

 

Hello ReconRanger,

Thanks for the reply. I do have the Warn Select. I still would like to know if running in 4x4 will damage anything or just effect the handling. I had a service rep from a shop in West Virginia (near the place I hunt) tell me that I would "tear up the middle gear" if I ran the same size tires. What does that mean? I am also wondering if the previous owner changed rim sizes. I have 11x6.5 in the front and 11x7.5 in the rear. Does anyone know if this is the stock rim width for the TRX300FW? Another question about the Warn Select. Can you engage and disengage while you are moving without damaging the unit?

Thanks!

 

My buddy has a 300 and I will look at his rim size, but yours really sound aftermarket to me. (11" is a common aftermarket size.)

I go into 4wd on the fly, but I have to stop and creap a little in 1st gear to get it to pop out when going back into 2wd.

 

I have owned several 300 4X4's. The answer in a nutshell is NO it will not hurt anything unless you plan to ride in 4 wheel drive on pavement all of the time. I used to be agains the same size tires myself till I saw too much evidence the other way. I do not have exact numbers here at work but I can tell you that other Honda 4X4's have a comparable gear ratio from front to back as the 300, yet they run the same size wheels all the way around. I have also saw a 300 frame sitting on a garage floor and the front is a touch higher than the rear, which in my opinion is really the reason for the smaller tire on the front of a stock machine. It is not hard to find people who beleive otherwise. Alot of what I see is people who put them on a machine that they are hard on to begin with- then regardless of what goes wrong they blame the tires. I put them the same size on my last 300 4X4 and my dad put 25 inch ITP wheels and tires all the way around his 93 300 4X4. That was around the time my foreman hit 1000 miles. They have been primarily rode at the same times each day and my foreman is now over the 10,000 mile mark and his 300 has not had a problem yet. Nor has mine with an estimated 5,000 miles.

 

The dealer put the same size tires/wheels all around on my Rubicon. No problems.

 

sporter- I think you missed the point that the Rubicon won't be relevant at all when comparing to the 300. If you look at your owner's manual (see specifications), you will see that the rear end is geared slightly higher than the front. The 300 does this same thing indirectly and simply, by putting bigger diameter tires on the rear.

For example, my Rancher 420 final reduction is geared 3.231 in front and 3.154 in back (the smaller the number, the higher the gear ratio).

It may be true that the chassis was taller in front on the 300, so they decided to do smaller tires up there to kill two birds with one stone.....

 

Sorry to resurrect an ancient thread but I have a similar question. The previous owner of my TRX300 put tires in the size of 25x8-12 front and 25x10-12 rear from a Yamaha Grizzly on it. Is the front being the same diameter as the rear an issue? Or does the narrower width offset that?