The tires on my 96 Xplorer 400 are almost shot. This past weekend I seen the 27' Blackwater XT's on a 500 in the showroom . . .just about $1000. (I live in Canada). Can my Xplorer haul those tires? I'm looking for something bigger with deeper cleats. Most of my riding is on hard/semi-hard ground with about 20% mud.

How about a 26' like Mud Sharks, etc? Anyone have any comments. . . if I'm going to pay upwards of $1000 on tires I want to make sure I'm getting a good set of socks and not hurting my quad.

Loyal

 

I dont know for sure, but I would guess that you probably need to put a 2" lift kit in to handle the 27" tires. My dealer said that even the polaris sp500. The tires rub with a lift kit put on and 27" tires. You may have to go with 26". I would ask one of the repair
men at your dealer or check in some of the atv magazines. Some of the atv tire dealers offer a tech service to help us get the right
tire setup. good luck. chet lake, ranger chet.

 

I would check out the MAXXIS MUDBUGS, I just got a set of 26"ers for my foreman, and love them, They handle great on the hardpack and the traction in the mud is unbelievable! You can see them at www.Maxxistires.com. I know on my foreman the 26" tires fit with out any issues. Good luck on whatever you decide.

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FOREMANes

99'FOREMANes The REAL KING of the Jungle

 

Loyal,

I have a 2000 SP500 with 26" Goodyear Mudrunners on it. They rub so i would say 26" would rub your machine as well. I do really like the MR though. They are very aggressive, but ride very smooth (for a mud tire anyway) cause they have a row of tread down the middle of the tire. They improve steering effort in all but deep mud too. They are not to heavy either. Check out thte review at the ATV Connection site.

Glenn.

 

If you only ride in 20% mud, you probably don't want a tire that is mainly intended for mud that is heavy. You might want to look at the Kenda BearClaws. They are not real expensive or heavy, but do provide excellent traction and excellent ride on the hardpack.

 

Loyal,
We have a 27" Blackwater review in the Product Review section. They did rub some without a lift but since a front lift was added to that machine, no rubbing occurs. Nice tire to run but also check the Goodyear Mud Runners as some of these posts suggested...very nice riding tire with mud capabilities if needed. 27" tires on a 500 with a 2 inch lift will have enough clearance and not rub....

 

I have the 26'' Mud Runners on my 99 500cc Sportsman.No rubbing at all.What an excellant mud/snow tire.Good on hard pack to. BILL

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I recently bought Kenda Bearclaws and they are really awesome. Charrapall Racing has the best prices on the Bearclaws. The Goodyear MudRunners are also supposed to be an excellent tire but they are qite a bit more $$$$.

 

the place that will rub first is the chain guard when you turn a hard right turn.lift will not help this. you can trim the guard and get a little more clearance.

[This message has been edited by sportsman400 (edited 12-07-1999).]

 

I tried some 27" XT's on my 1999 S500 and they did seem to rub on the front and the rear, especially with 2 people on the machine. My new machine is a 2000 450ES Honda on which I replaced the stock tires with some 26x12x12 Rear and 26x9x12 Front Mudsharks. So far I am very Impressed with these tires, I feel like the traction of the Mudsharks is superior to the XT's in the mud and rocky areas that I ride in, Im not sure how the Mudsharks will do in the snow, since we are still waiting for some snow here in central Utah. And besides all of that the price of the Mudsharks were way less than the XT's, Im not sure I would by the XT's again, but I would surely buy the Mudsharks.
Another tire that looked very nice are the Titan 589 or the Kenda Bearclaw.