Any help:
Friend looking to put 27" Swamp lites on his 2004 Kodiak Ultramatic. Any issues, rubbing/clearance. He is not a racer, so a little power loss on takeoff is not the issue. Looking for more traction and some ground clearance.

Thanks,
JimBo

 

Anyone? Any opinions? Too much tire, or should he be fine? Clutch kit and all good?

Not trying to flame, just verify a good swap, or prevent a bad one.

Thanks,
Jim

 

With a machine that size I would stay with the 25's. That extra 2 inches of tire will only give one inch of ground clearance, and can really throw off the gearing and of course will add weight. Swamplites are real heavy tires to begin with (I have 22" swamplites on my warrior and even those are ridiculously heavy), i bet they're about twice as heavy as most stock tires if not more. They were actually about twice as heavy as the 22" GBC Shredder 6-plys that they replaced. But they really do hook up amazing in all conditions, and will pull their own weight.

One of my buddies put 28" GBC Swamp Foxes on his eiger 400 4x4. He had to cut off a lot of his fenders because they rubbed so bad, and had to modify and relocate the floorboards to keep the front tires from locking against them. He lost a TON of power between the extra weight and their affect on his gearing also. To attest to how good the swamplites really are, in 6 inches of snow we put a tow rope between his eiger and my warrior, and had a tug of war. To keep it fair, he was in 2 wheel drive only. Even with the extra 200 lbs his machine weighs and bigger tires, I still won with my 2 wheel drive warrior and only 22" tires.

In my opinion, 25" Swamplites would be a sweet setup for the kodiak.

 

just put 26" itp mudlites 1.25 lugs on c-series type 7 itp wheels on a 2002 kodiak and they are awesome. but i suggest to not put on 27" tires as they will be alittle too much for the machine.

 

My buddy has 26" ITP Mudlites on his '07 450 Grizz and it isnt too boggy but it is for sure less acceleration than stock, but it has mad traction LOL [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Hoyt34,

Did he go with 26x10x12's in the front and 26x12x12 in the rear? Also I wouldn't mind seeing a pic or two if possible!

Thanks!

 

Yea im pretty sure they're 10 wide up front and 12 in the back...iLL try to get him over one of these days to get a picture of it.

 

id recommend putting 26x9x12's on front and 26x10x12's on rear. this way your not over loading your front end and it wont effect your steering and handling as much. i have these sizes on my kodiak and they handle good but you will give up some comfort on rocky roads and the tires will grab ruts alot easier so hang on!

 

Doc,

Question if I do go with 26x9's in the front, do I need to swap my rims? I would think that with 26x10x12 in the back and the stock tire being a 25x10x12?

 

i'm not 100% sure but i believe that you don't have to. i bought my mudlites all mounted and balanced from the store. if you want the cheapest place to buy new tires and wheels with free mounting,balancing and shipping, let me know.