ok first question is where is the cheapest place to get tire and wheel sets? Ive been looking at 589's, mudlite or the mudlite XTR's

the second question is how big can i go on my 2000 sportsman 500? Right now it has 25 8-12 fronts and 25 11-10.

Can i safely go to 26 9-12 fronts and 26 12-12 in the rear????

 

www.denniskirk.com or www.rockmoutain.com

 

lesteratv

or

outdoorsmanatv

usually if you call them, one will beat the other

 

take a look at my gallery by clicking on the camera. I have the 27" ITP Mudlites mounted on ITP type 6 wheels. I put the 9's on the front and the 12's on the back but wish I had gotten the 10's for the rear instead. The best/cheapest place I found to get tires/wheels is www.lesteratv.com, contact Melanie at lesters and tell her David Krueger sent you her way and she will give you a great deal. It was necessary for me to make and install 2" aluminum spring spacers under my strut springs to lift my front end up so that the tires would not rub on the front fender flares/wheel well. 26's fit but still rub without adding either the spacers or a lift kit such as a highlifter lift. if you call Melanie you can usually get the 27's cheaper than you can buy the 26's. from other places.

 

silverbullet2005

so unless i go with a lift kit the 26's wont fit. so if im lifting might as well do 27's
why do you wish you had stayed with the 10 inch rims in the rear? i wont need any wheel spacers will I with the increased width?

 

You should be fine going with the 26" tires you mentioned earlier... that is the exact same sze of mudrunners I had on my '03 sportsman, with stock rims. The front tires would only lightly rub the fendors on the underside where the fendor flare connects to the
fendor, and only when bottoming out hard. That was with stock steel wheels, if you put aftermarket wheels on it then they will most likely be more offset, and provide even more clearance from the tie-rod ends etc. The '05 sportsmans have totally different fendors front and back, and different front suspension, so i wouldn't want to compare it to them. But my '03 shared the same plastic as yours, just that it came stock with 12" wheels front and back. You could also probably pick up a set of factory chrome or black steel 12" wheels
on Ebay cheap.

 

I found this place to be good on prices for tire and wheel sets....TraxMS They have free shipping and free lug nuts and center caps (if applicable).

 

I have searched HARD for 3 months and the cheapest I have found is on EBAY!!!! Do a search.....

 

the 26's will fit but will hit the tierod end unless you either add wheel spacers or go with aftermarket wheels. the larger tires will also rub on the fender flares unless you lift up the front end. do a search for 67bullet, he installed the 26's and they rubbed so he had to add wheels spacers to work with the stock wheels.

as far as my previous comment, I wish I would have gone with the 27-10-12 Mudlites for the rear instead of the 27-12-12's because the 12's stick out from the wheel flare a bit to far and throw alot of mud on your back. another problem with the wider rears is that when your going through the woods/tight trails the wider rear tires hit the trees. If I would have known how far the 12's would have stuck out I would have gone with the 10's on the rear.

 

I had been planning on going with type 5 or type 6 wheels and buying a package. Funny thing is on both atvs one rear tire is almost bald and one is new so I can take the new tire off one and replace the bald one on the other. Im trying to mod the 01 500 ho and the 00 500 at the same time but 2 sets of wheels is a bit much to fork out at once. since I hunt with my atvs I think im not going to do the 12's in the rear, tight trails is all I know. since I plan on getting the aftermarket wheels all ill need is a lift kit and ill be able to fits 27's right. I think im going to try running 27 9-12 fronts and 27 11-12's in the rear so im maintaining the stock width in the rear just bumping up the rim size and height. The front won’t rub the tie rod ends with 27 9-12 if I get the ITP Type 5 or 6 wheels. Sorry im still green at some ATV stuff if im all confused please let me know.