would a quad handle better if the front end is wider than the rear or not?

 

My cousin has a raptor with offset wheels on the front. it makes it about 2 inches wider on both sides. He has the stock rear axle. It can hit the corners a little harder than before, but really wants to whip that rear end around and is a little unstable at high speed. My suggestion is that if you are going to extend one, extend the other. I went with a arms and had those on first. I really disliked the handling. Added an axle and made them even, and I love it.

 

The little details really depend on the bike, but yes, for the most part the bike will handle much better with the front wider than the rear versus the rear wider than the front. Like maddog56 said, the right way to do it is to make both ends wider but I still like my front end slightly wider (about 2 inches or so).

 

If you are going to be wider at one end you are better off for the front to be wider. If the back is wider than the front you could find yourself on a narrow trail just able to sneak by with the width of the front and forget you are wider in the back and believe me you can come to a very sudden stop.Going too wide in the front as compared to the back i have found that the back end will slide and break lose more than it should but you can get used to it.

 

Mine is a touch wider in front and I like it - seems to let the rear slide around a bit easier.

 

that has been my experience also.........

 

I rode a Suzuki 165 once that had some 12.5 wide tires or something like that on the rear and some skinny 7 or 8s on the front. Talk about bad handling. This thing on a gravel road would not steer. You could cut the bars right or left and it would keep traveling straight! I guess thats what they call pushing in Nascar.

 

I just got offset wheels for the front of mine(for total of +2") I'm gonna try to get them on this week. I'll let ya know how they work. I too have a stock rear axle.

 

Wider in the back = understeer (front will plow when at the limit of cornering)
Wider in the front = oversteer (rear will spin out when at the limit of cornering)

Colby