I'm currently running 27" ITP 589's on my '10 850 but would like to go to something more aggressive like Silverbacks, Outlaws, or Mudzillas. These tires are only available in 30" - 31" tall for 14" rims so I'm curious if they'll fit without a lift as I would prefer not to lift my quad if possible. So, what are the tallest tires others are running on the 850's without a lift ??? Thanks in advance for any info.

 

Are you doing a lot of "mudding"? You do understand all the negatives of going to a larger tire... correct?

 

I understand the negatives completely. In our area, an average ride is likely a 60/40 split for mud vs semi-hard to hard trails, but many of the rides are 80 - 90 % mud. I also use my quad for work in the natural gas industry and going onto new leases that are a slippery mix of mud and clay can be difficult without a tire that self cleans extremely well.

 

DCT.....I don't understand all the negatives. I'm aware of some, so can you describe. Not going to 30s myself, but would still like to know.

 

I hear ya... if you are going to ride mud a lot, the bigger "paddle wheel" tires and a little extra ground clearance will probably help.

To be honest, if you go to 30" or 31" (depending on the tire), you are probably going to have to go with at least a 2" lift... unless you want to put up with a lot of rubbing. There are a lot of guys over at High Lifter with XP's that do a lot of mudding. They can be more specific to the tires/lift (or lack of) that you want to use.

Have fun... and don't get all mud.

 

Bigger tires...

Increases the overall gear ratio (lose low end power)
Adds a lot of un-sprung weight. (lose more power)
Adds a lot of un-sprung weight and weighted traction. (increase the chance of "breaking" something)
Raises the center of gravity. (increases instability)
Speedo reads incorrectly.
Less gas mileage.
Decreases the effectiveness of the brakes.
Decreases engine braking/ADC functionality.

Off the top of my head, that's all I can think of right now. The bigger you go, the worse those thinks get.

Big tires do "look cool" though.

 

When you go up, don't you normally have to go out (wide) in order to preserve the balance of the bike....Not sure if there's a ratio out there....for each inch in lift, then x inch increase in width.

 

Well, going wider especially with radial tires will certainly help the stability, but it still won't change the center of gravity.

Going up a little in tire size is not a big deal. After all, for each inch in tire diameter, you are only increasing the height by a 1/2"... given true size tires to begin with... and true to size replacement tires.

Edit: BTW, if I had an 850, and most of my riding was trail riding (with not much mud)... which it is, I would go with a setup like this... 26X9X14 on all for corners. Like this guy...

pics of my new tires and wheels

 

Like to test ride that possibility of the "skinny" setup with 9s on all four. I can't imagine it would matter that much on an 850 (from a mass perspective), but maybe. I'm in the mud more than I'd like to be, so not sure it would be the best option. Very cool though.

 

I just bought some outlaw radials getting them mounted this weekend...28x9.5x14 front and 28x12x14 rear...i am told that it is best mudd trail tire... we will see... xp 2010