Thanks for the pictures! That looks good!

 

How wide is too wide? I have a 86 lt230s and I have already turned my rims around, so spacers are out for me. That would be too much stress on the bearings. Plus I think spacers add rotational torque and are a lot of weight at the end of the a-arm acting like a hammer bouncing up n down.

So, my plan is to cut my a-arms and add 2 or 3 inches of tube and weld it back up. That would give my arms a more flat angle and the extra mass I add will be spread more evenly thru the arm and not concentrated at the end. My question now is how wide should I go? I'm at 41 inches now and I get on 3 wheels pretty easy in turns. I did some research on the new 450's and they are all 46 inches wide except for the suzuki,,, its 49. If I add 3 per side I will be at 47. Wider than every sport quad except the suzuki 450. But my wheelbase is 6 inches shorter... What do you guys think? I don't care about fitting in trails n that.

 

I have 1" wheel spacers on the front of my Ozark and 1 1/2" spacers on the back of it.


The only downfall that I have seen with them is that I have to replace my front wheel bearings about once a year due to the extra stress put on them.

 

I have an extra 1.5 inches per side by turning my rims around. My balljoints went out after only a couple months of riding,,, and that's only on weekends. Granted the joints were pretty old, but were still in good shape a week ago. And I do ride on very rough trails.

I've put a lot of thought into this over the last week or so since I've welded 3 inches on to my a-arms and this is what I've come up with: As the distance from the center of the tire to the axis of rotation of the balljoints (or king pins) increases, the stress on the balljoints and wheel bearings also increases. Also, the effort required to turn increases. And, the effects of bumpsteer also increases putting extra stress on tierods and steering parts. The shocks will also seem softer due to the increased leverage caused by the spacers or wheel offsets. The increased mass might also play a role in drivability, but I'm thinking only slightly. That's the cons....

The pros are: The quad often looks better. Can fit bigger tires. And might be more stable in turns if the shocks can be adjusted stiffer.

IMHO, if you ride carefully, wheel spacers shouldn't be too much of an issue. But if you beat the crap out of trails,,, better plan on investing in new balljoints and bearings if you run spacers or wheel offsets.

 

Ran the 1 1/2 inch for 4 years on the kids Z250's and they worked great, aggressive riding it stays upright!