Seriously thinking about a tire upgrade on my Prairie 650 from stock. I like the way the stock setup feels but would like a little more clearance and more traction in those occassional nasty mud holes

Anyone have any input on the 26" Goodyear-Tracker Mud Runners?

How the machine rides vs. stock tire set-up?

How much bigger are the tires vs. stock? Is there a significant speed & power loss?

What size tires will fit on the factory Prairie rims?

Would like to change this soon before spring gets here so I can get some revenge on a couple of mud holes that got the best of me last year. Any info would be appreciated...

Thanks

Parker
2002 Prairie

PS...any have any qualms about the Warn 2000 winch? Is it a decent winch?

 

Mudrunners are good tires. You cake have your cake and eat it too with tires. Search these forums to see what other people have said. Mudrunners are a pretty good pick.

You may loose a little high speed handling, may loose a little power. The 650 has enough power, so don't worry. People say Mudrunners seem to be smaller than the claimed size. Lots of things fit on stock rims. 26" tires are nowhere near not fitting.

A few tires handle better than mudrunners, but they don't ride as smooth. Seems to be mutually exclusive in most tires. Some tires ride and handle, but don't have traction.

The warn winch is a good winch. It fits really well. I have had problems cuz I neglected to keep tension on the cable when retracting, winch ate the cable. The warn 2000 is the same winch as the 2500, but the 2500 has way nicer wiring and relays. I feel the 2500 is a far better setup. Check out my 650 website to see where I put switches and stuff.

 

Got 26" Mud Runners on my Sportsman 400. I think they're GREAT. On mine I gained a little over an inch of ground clearance over the stock tires. They will be slightly rougher ridin at slow speeds (10mph or less) but any mud tire will do this. I say get'em on and watch the mud fly.

 

<< [i]Seriously thinking about a tire upgrade on my Prairie 650 from stock. I like the way the stock setup feels but would like a little more clearance and more traction in those occassional nasty mud holes Anyone have any input on the 26&quot; Goodyear-Tracker Mud Runners?

How the machine rides vs. stock tire set-up?

How much bigger are the tires vs. stock? Is there a significant speed &amp; power loss?

What size tires will fit on the factory Prairie rims?

Would like to change this soon before spring gets here so I can get some revenge on a couple of mud holes that got the best of me last year. Any info would be appreciated...

ILLIN8
The stock tires really stink.Wait until you put on real tires what a different feeling.
The stock tires felt soft to me. I have 26 mudrunner and love them Yes they are rough under 10 mph but make the 650 feel alot more stable plus handle pretty well on hard pack .As for the mud I have had my 650 in 18inches of mud,ice and just put this beast in 4 wheel hit the gas and it climbs right out of it. Never got stuck yet.
Alot of different tires will fit stock rims I have my 26inch mudrunner mounted on the stock rims. As for the clearance I am not sure but think its about the same maybe 1 inch more but not less then stock.
As for the speed lose .On the low end you will not notice it but my top speed on black top was 63 with stock tires now with mudrunners top speed is 57 mph.
Just to give you an idea how much better these tires are over stocks few trails that I ride with the stocks I can now ride 10 to 15 mph faster with tte mudrunners.I purchased hem from www.tiredepot.com

I have installed a 25000 warn winch made customer switch for it.Let me know If you need picture. Never used winch yet because of the mudrunners

 

Do a search under &quot;mudrunner&quot; in the kawi forum if you haven't already. I have the 25&quot;. Just so you know, in comparison, the 26&quot; rears are HUGE compared to the 25&quot;. I wanted to maintain the more sporty low profile feel that's why I stayed with this size. They really pull in the mud.

 

OK guys thanks for the help. But it seems that all I have done is gotten myself confused. Here's why...

I ride in Maine, mostly hard pack woods trails and backwoods riding. Not a whole lot of mud, but have come across several spots that have gotten the best of me with stock tires on it (at one point I was buried up to 2&quot; below the exhuast outlet and had to get yanked out by a 1987 Big Bear 350...talk about embarassing). Most of the trails though are hard pack but we like to explore old (real old) trails and logging roads that get REAL technical at times and require 4 low creeping over rocks and obstacles. Outside of the mud, I have noticed a significant loss of traction traversing these obstacles and the need to ride the machine a lot harder than it should.

My question remains...would these tires be what I'm looking for?

Jeff...when you say the 26&quot; rears are huge is it ridiculous? Is it gonna bring the center of gravity way up? Does it give the quad a 'hot rod' look cause the fronts are smaller?

These tires sound very tempting, but I enjoy flyin on hard pack at 40-45 mph and don't want to get abused doing it. I also dont' want to get abused treading lightly over obstacles and slower speeds...

I'd hate to spend $300+ on tires that don't work for me...

...on more thing...what sizes (widths) do you recommend. Stockers are 25x10x12 and 25x8x12. What size do think would be a good move and what fits on stock rims?

Thanks guys...I appreciate ALL the help.


Parker
02 Prairie

&quot;When opportunity knocks, break the lock and rush the gates&quot;

 

I have 28&quot; tires, mudzillas, and I really love the added ground clearance. I do not feel that the center of gravity is too high at all. I keep riding with this 660 griz and he keeps diggin the ruts deeper, so I had to even the ground clearance with him by getting bigger tires. Of, course, when it is gooey, mudzillas really bite, and they are better at trails that vamps or outlaws.

I know based on posts that you will appreciate mudrunners far more than stockers.

But, I think you realize what is a good tire for one guy is not the right one for another.

However, personally feel that if you get bigger than stock tires, dirt devils might be a better choice for higher speed handling, while still keeping the ride. People keep talking kenda bearclaw too.

I do not feel that I went overboard on my mud tires, I planned on getting two sets since day one. I am leaning toward 27&quot; dirt devils right now.


Oh, yeah, don't ever put different size tires on front to back, it puts more strain on the drivetrain when your in 4x4 and wastes gas and tires. Sometimes mounting a smaller tire on a narrow enough rim makes it tall enough to use with a bigger tire on a wide rim.

 

As far as for the type of riding you described, I think these tires would be ideal. The 25&quot; are short (see my other messages from before). The 26&quot; are tall. The side wall is huge on them. They are not going to handle as crisp as the 25's at high speed on hard pack. It's really a matter of preference though. The 25's do everything they need to do, they do it well, and they look good short on the 650 (see my pics). They keep the center of gravity lower, which for me is a preference.

 

Thanks for the all the info guys...I think I'm gonna do the 26&quot; Mudrunners...

ANyone have any additional comments...please continue with this post.

If I do get em..what size should I get 26x12x12 or 26x12x10 for the rear?
What should I get for the front to complement the rear?
Will the 26x12x12 and 26x12x10 both fit?
Whats gonna be the difference?

Thanks fellas

 

I have 26&quot; mudrunners on my stock wheels on my 650. I really like them on the tight trails and mud. They have less control at high speeds on pavement but they weren't made for pavement. I let my brother drive mine with the new tires and I couldn't get it back from him. He still has stock tires on his 650. He couldn't believe how much better it handled and turned. The mudrunners turn noticably easier on the 650. The fronts are 1 3/4&quot; taller then stock and the rears are 1 1/2&quot; taller then stock at recommended inflation. I can make it through most mud better then the stock tires. If you would like some pics email me at kawlaris@yahoo.com