Larger wheel and tire ?

[ranger4hunting]

I've seen and heard many discussions on the larger tires and wheel packages and never put much thought into it riding atv's. Buying a Ranger, my first sxs I've been looking at different packages and the manufacturers seems to lean toward 14" wheels for the weight capacity on sxs's. I was set on 12" wheels and 26" tires and now if I go 14" wheels I will need 27" tires from what I'm seeing. I remember my dealer telling me if I go up one size larger than oem I would be safe from damaging anything on my Grizzly. What's your opinions on the 14/27" tires in regards to causing failures in other places from the larger tires and wheels. It don't need or want to cause other problems that Polaris won't cover. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I'm not over aggressive on my machines but I will plow snow, hunt and hauling wood and other things with it.

[garmin220]

My buddy was just telling me that it will void your warranty of you run larger than stock tires. Apparently there's been someone from Polaris going around to dealers and voiding warranties if someone has a modified rig. To certain extents. He heard this from how dealer.

[Slacker]

Bigger tires stress every part of the drivetrain more than stock. The difference between 26s and 27s is minimal and I doubt you'll cause any problems, especially plowing snow. You can run what ever without causing problems unless you run Silverbacks, Outlaws or something super aggressive like that. The fun pedal also determines how much headache bigger tires cause. You might also want to do a little clutch work if you feel like they slow your Ranger down too much, but thats optional.

As far as warranty goes I think it really depends on the dealer. He knows what problems if any are related to tires sizing. Whether he takes the reasonable approach or not is up to him. Obviously an electrical problem is not related to tires so it shouldn't be an issue but I hear of dealers that don't think that way.

[wildbill23c]

Changing tire and wheel sizes regardless of what vehicle, ATV, UTV, truck, SUV, etc. it will stress the whole vehicle's drive train. The biggest cause of failures is from applying too much torque from a sudden stop, getting stuck and trying to power out and burning up bearings and CV joints from the added weight.

Personally if you take care of your equipment and don't try to drive it like a race car without doing the proper upgrades to handle the stress you'll be fine. What I would do is keep the original wheels/tires, and buy a new set of wheels with the tires you want and if you have to goto the dealer for something swap back to the original set that way they don't have a clue as to what you are running, not that it's really their business in the first place, but dealerships want to make as much money as they can so they will void warranties, or not honor them any chance they get.

[ydopen]

i had 31in outlaws on a 2011 ranger 800 and it never felt them

[Slacker]

I gotta disagree with you on this one wildbill. If you take a machine and alter it somehow, be it tires or clutching or otherwise, it's dishonest to hide it from the dealer. If it breaks during the warranty period so be it, pay for the repair you caused. This is the reason manufacturers are scrutinizing claims closer and it results more lagit claims turned away. Ever wonder why a claim for say and electrical problem is denied because of oversize tires? Most dealers will push warranty claims through because they do get paid to do the work.

[Russ Chastain]

Originally Posted by Slacker

I gotta disagree with you on this one wildbill. If you take a machine and alter it somehow, be it tires or clutching or otherwise, it's dishonest to hide it from the dealer. If it breaks during the warranty period so be it, pay for the repair you caused. This is the reason manufacturers are scrutinizing claims closer and it results more lagit claims turned away. Ever wonder why a claim for say and electrical problem is denied because of oversize tires? Most dealers will push warranty claims through because they do get paid to do the work.

Good point.

[wildbill23c]

Originally Posted by Slacker

I gotta disagree with you on this one wildbill. If you take a machine and alter it somehow, be it tires or clutching or otherwise, it's dishonest to hide it from the dealer. If it breaks during the warranty period so be it, pay for the repair you caused. This is the reason manufacturers are scrutinizing claims closer and it results more lagit claims turned away. Ever wonder why a claim for say and electrical problem is denied because of oversize tires? Most dealers will push warranty claims through because they do get paid to do the work.

I understand what you are saying, however; if you break say a drive shaft due to oversize tires, that has nothing to do with the vehicle's electrical system, however dealers will try and blame it on a lift, bigger tires or wheels, etc. I've never lifted, added bigger tires, etc to any vehicle I've ever owned, and don't see the benefits to it for what I use my vehicles for. Other's have their own ideas on what they need, so be it. I don't understand why Polaris don't have lift kits, and larger wheel and tire packages that will work with their machines, that if purchased would be covered under the machine's warranty. Simply fixes the solution of adding aftermarket non-OEM equipment to a machine. I know car dealerships do the same thing for trucks & SUV's on certain models if you buy the OEM lift and tire/wheel package when you buy the truck or SUV it will be covered under the vehicle's initial warranty and under an extended warranty if you purchase one.

I've seen people do the whole wheel, tire, lift removal swaps in the past just to take their machines to the dealer. If you are breaking axles, drive lines, etc. and you bring a completely stock machine in to have it repaired most likely that dealer is going to know you've had modified equipment anyways. If you do, then be prepared to pay for the repairs. I know if I had the money and the need for a lifted vehicle with larger wheels and tires I'd probably have the money to repair it when I broke it.

[rharness]

With my dealer, they sell a few lifted 30 inch tires and aftermarket axels. Still have warranty

[Z71]

Originally Posted by rharness

With my dealer, they sell a few lifted 30 inch tires and aftermarket axels. Still have warranty

The big difference there is that the dealer is making money selling the modified SxS's. The oem' are making the dealers return the warranty parts for analysis and if they determine its a case of abuse, the dealer does not get paid for the parts or the warranty work and he loses. He is not making money if you haggled him down to rock bottom prices on the SxS and then buy all you parts somewhere else and expect him to take the risk fixing it.