I've got this Polaris 500 Sportsman 6 x 6. Rear tires are great, lots of meat on the lugs (Goodyear Trackers, AT2 5 x 11-10), but the fronts are pretty thin. Fronts are- Goodyear Tracker AT2 5 x 8-12. There seem to be a million different tires available, so who likes what? I need two steer tires , that can handle rocky soil and snow. Plus be forgiving on pavement up to 40mph. Thoughts?
I'm a total amateur on this, but my first question is... Did you like the prior tires? Did you run them from new or did you inherit/buy them used? That will give you a starting point.
Good question. They were on there to begin with, but should be replaced. I'm looking for a compatible steer tire, something that doesn't take that "bias-ply set" especially when it's cold. Do they make a radial that might work? I dunno.
There's all kinds of good at tires out there, but I was turned on to the Kendra bear claws. That's what I'm running on my king quad and big red ATC. For the money well worth it!
I think you'll find the factory tires on Polaris ATV's and others are pretty cheap tires and dont really work great or last long. They buy in huge quantities and are only looking at profit margins, not quality. I went with the Grim Reapers radials on my 550xp when the OEM's were about half. (Mostly because they were lousy tires to begin with and are really bad when at 50%.) I think with having 4 back tires on yours pushing straight ahead you are going to need something pretty aggressive to get your steering back. here are a couple pics from the gtg. I'll try to find something a little better I believe Polaris' have an understeer problem due to the lockers in the rearends. This would really compound the steering problem on yours. Does your machine have a turf mode?
Turf mode?? Yup. Wife says- "Stay off my grass with that thing!!" and that's my mode. Those two rear axles are solid, no differential in either. It's actually fun on snow-pack/ ice covered blacktop without the front engaged.
Maxxis Bighorns are the best wearing most durable ATV tire I've seen. Wear like steel. Pricey though. I have over 1k miles of mostly road riding on mine and they are still 75% tread on the fronts. Can't recommend them enough.
My $0.02 is that if you are going to be running on the road no matter what tire you pick, make sure they are DOT approved. Most are not. We do a little road running up here in Canada and one of the first things the 5-0 look at is if your ATV tires are DOT approved. Simple charge if they are not. Having said that, each region is different so check to see if that applies where you are from. Like buckman84, I had the Kenda Bear Claws on my Eiger and really liked them too. My oem rims leaked and I was frustrated with always having to pump up the tires so I gave the tire to a friend and bought a tire/rim package that wasn't much more than just rims alone. They were the AMS Slingshots. A very deep lug, pretty aggressive tire that is good in snow and rocky conditions and DOT approved for road use.
Agreed. Bighorns are high quality tires. You will pay a bit more of them but worth it with how much longer they last.
