I bought the first 4 wheeled ATVs on the market back in the early 80's. They had the same sized tires on front and back. Now a days the back ones are wider than the front. Why is this? What would happen if you put the same width tire on the back as the front? What brings this up is that a friend bought 26" Maxxis Bighorns and when he got the rear tires he figured that they were way too wide for some of the trails he rides. He thinks he will put "front" tires on the back and it will be fine and he won't have the extra width. What is everyone else's thoughts on this?

 

Doesn't anyone have an opinion on this topic? I would like to know what you think about running the same width tires on the front and back rather than wider ones on back than what is on the front.

 

It is fine...just that wider rears my have more traction

 

and floatation...

 

Thanks for the answers. I just might try the same thing my friend is going to do in putting the same on all four wheels. I was worried about any handling issues or safety factors. I don't do much in the way of mud so I should not notice the impact. I do a lot of very tight, narrow trails and am worried about putting wider tires on the ATV as I hate having them hanging over the egde of a huge dropoff!

 

well if you think about it most 4x4 quads run the same front and rear, I think its more for traction like what was said before
now I wouldnt do it on a sport quad

 

my first quad was a 1986 Honda TRX350 Foreman 4x4 full time 4 wheel drive it had the same size tires on front and rear 25x10x12's . they were called easyclean mudders and looked like they were worn out when new 1/8 th inch cleat's , first thing i did was buy a new set of dunlops rear's 25x10x12's front's 25x8x12's results were better traction and easier steering. my brother bought a 2004 350 rancher 4x4 with 25x10x11's rear's and 25x8x12's on front now that i thought was a wierd setup; go figure!!!!!

 

So steering was easier with wider tires on the back? That is interesting. I would have thoght that would not have been affected either way. Now putting wider tires on the front I would think would affect it negatively but same all around... I'm not doubting you, just a bit surprised.

 

wide tires on the rear are for added traction but the same width on the front make's the quad harder to steer at slower speeds and when stopped and trying to turn aroung. the wider the tire's on front make it harder to steer, unless of course you have power steering. Like a car or truck without power steering the wider the front tires or the harder it is for turning around and at very slow speed's . If you mean putting narrow tires on the back there would be no differense in the steering or handlin' I thought were refering to adding a wider more agressive tires on the rear and front of the same size ! williebee [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

My friend and I were thinking of getting the 26" maxxis bighorns. The front ones are 1" wider and the backs are 2" wider than stock. We were thinking of doing the front (1" wider) tires for both front and back. So the fronts would be a bit wider than stock. The back, wider tires would make the overall width of the ATV too wide for many of the trails we ride out here.