I was looking on buying some rear tires for my 2002 400EX and still have the originals on the quad, they are 20 x 10 - 9. Now when I ride I seem to get stuck in many ruts riding up north in NH in the woods, the back end high sides. Now buying tires with a higher ride height should help but would it effect the quad in other areas? Also could I buy a larger dia rim say a 10" and is a wider tire maybe an 11 inch width any help?

On another note my rear skid plate is also a problem, I noticed mine goes straight across rather than having indents for in between the chain and the disk. My friend seems to have a much easier time with his 400ex with that rear skid plate.

 

When I want more ground clearance, I run ITP Holeshot XCT's which are 23" front/22" rear...4 ply front/6 ply rear and virtually indestructible. Taller tires in the rear will raise your effective gearing (you will lose low end power...but gain top end speed), which isn't a good thing for a trail rider. So, a little gearing change will help, and is relatively inexpensive. I have tried going one tooth smaller on the front sprocket, but it was to much. It got wheelie happy, and I couldn't keep the front end on the ground. I found a good compromise was to go 1 tooth larger in back (1 tooth in front = 3 teeth in back).

If you don't want to go that tall, the ITP Holeshot H-D's were make for your type of conditions!!! They are 22" front/20" rear, and they would probably be my first choice if it were me. They are 6 ply and again, indestructible.

A word about rims. I run ITP Baja 9X9" rear rims, which are wider than stock and have a greater offset. This, combined with wider tires makes the quad around +3" wider in back and +2" wider in front....for a very nice increase in cornering stability...yet it isn't so wide that it won't fit down a narrow trail.

 

Thanks for the help reconranger.

 

One thing to remember, almost all tires are different heights. I mean, a 20" I-razr is alot shorter than a 20" razr2, and so forth. The stock tires are short compared to alot of other 20" tires. My stock tires are atleast 1" shorter than my sons razr's.