Ladies and Gentlemen. Lend me your ears. Polaris lists the tire sizes for both the machines as

Front: Polaris PXT 26 x 8 - 12 / 5 psi
Rear: Polaris PXT 26 x 11 - 12 / 5 psi

Do I have to buy Polaris if I can't get a set for that exact size? Do I get another brand? If so, recommendations? Best places to get it from pricewise?

General riding so maybe all purpose? Not going to be dedicated mud or sand or rocks. TIA.

 

One of my friends bought a set of SunF A033 tires when the stock tires on his Sportsman 850 wore out. He's had them for over a year and he rides around home all the time, plus trail riding, so he has a fair amount of miles on them. He really likes them, so when all my tires needed to be replaced I bought the same kind for my 500. This is the set I bought on amazon and they're the same size as yours. So far I've only used mine to plow snow a couple of times and they work great. The only time I lost traction was on ice but I had that problem with every set of tires I've owned. You can buy them in sets of 4, in pairs, or single tires.



ETA: The non-directional tread on my tires is just as good in reverse as forward. You can ask the whole forum what they recommend for your type of use in the Drivetrain, Suspension & Tires forum. You'll get more answers there about other tires.

https://atvconnection.com/forums/dri...pension-tires/

 

you can even go up one size if you want but too go to aggressive on tires if you are not doing mud as makes for a rougher ride and harder on gas. we bought some swamp lites for one our bikes and they were good all a round tires.

 

One size meaning what? I'd like to keep it the same so Front 26x9-12 and Rear 26x11-12? Will either throw the speedo or the 4WD off?

 

As long as you keep the same diameter on the front and back it wont make any difference on the 4WD working right. Going up one size to a 27" tire will throw the speedometer/odometer off by ~4% and give you 1/2" more ground clearance. They'll probably cost a lot more for 4 tires than 26". Like stendori was saying, if you go to a more aggressive tire, like a mud tire, it can be a rougher ride. Many are bumpy on hard ground and pavement, and they're usually heavier which takes more power to turn.

ETA: Going 1" wider shouldn't be a problem but you need to check the clearance of the tie-rods to be sure.

 

Only reason I am changing size in the front is that it may make it more convenient if I were buying a set and I could keep them all the same type.

 

Rode on a set of maxxis bighorn today Any problems with it should I buy it with my tax return?

https://www.kjmotorsports.com/full-set-of-maxxis-bighorn-2-0-radial-26x9-12-and-26x11-12-atv-tires-4

Is this the best place to get it? Yes the front is wider by an inch but that should be fine right?

TIA

 

There are lots of other brands that look like Bighorns. It must be one the most copied ATV tires ever. My SunF A033s cost $343.96 with free shipping, and they're the right size. You can pay $152.04 more for those Bighorns if you want the originals, not the copies, but I obviously wouldn't.

 

OK. Pulling the trigger on the tires. Got the wheels that were for the 500 Sportsman if they were Aluminum but after some research, I don't think they will work with stock studs so I ordered the studs for the Aluminum wheels and the lug nuts.

I was just talking to the ATV store where I would get the tires mounted and they warned me that the wheels and studs would work since the ones for Aluminum wheels are longer. Now a new problem. They are NOT SURE if the wheels would fit or would the extra inch width rub. So, what to do? They say there is about a half inch of clearance with the stock tires.

1. I was reading was to flip the outer tie rod end. Would that work?
2. If not, what spacers would anyone recommend?
3. Would I need both front and back or just for the fronts?
4. The new front wheels are going to be an inch wider so I'd have to make sure it would fit with the trailer. Anyone know if it would work with a 2 place trailer that had room or would I have that issue now that I am going to be adding about 4 inches to the width?

TIA.

 

I don't know if there's any difference between the wheels for a Sportsman 500 and Sportsman for 800 those years. Polaris used a lot of the same parts on different models. Are the wheels an inch wider or just the tires? 1" wider tires need 1/2" more clearance on the side. Did you check the tie-rod clearance to see if you had enough room before you bought wider tires and and wheels? The back wheels will be fine AFAIK. You already know the studs need to be longer for aluminum wheels, but they also use completely different lug nuts and have different torque specifications for them. My 500 was made around that time and the owner's manual says the 2-piece flange nut for the steel wheels needs to be torqued down to 27 ft-lbs, but those long lug nuts that are used on on the cast aluminum wheels need to be torqued down to 90 ft-lbs, 3 1/3 times as much. 1" wider tires are going to add 1" to the width of the ATV so 2 ATVs would take up 2 more inches of width. Didn't you figure anything out first, instead of just buying stuff then finding out later if it works or not?