genral wheel questions

[oldskool83]

hey guys,

i got a few wheel questions and id like to see what everyone thinks.

1st question: 8in wheels vs 9in wheels? what is best or works better?

2nd question: wheel spacers? pros and cons? i know this is the cheap way out of getting offset wheels and or extended axles. i have'nt heard that much about these things.

i will not be racing, i will not be jumping (fractured my next about 8 years ago) dont leave the ground to much anymore and def no way on a trike since i dont know how to ride one correct yet. i would me more d*cking around play riding/trail riding. i have noiced all new atvs seem to have 9in wheels so i guess thats the new standard and the old trikes had 8in's

[Bryan Raffa]

most rims are offset have you tryed fliping them around so the valves are on the inside? just a thought! that will give ya a few inches on each side.

[deathman53]

for all of my rims, if you flip them so the valve is on the inside, it makes them narrower. For xc 9" rims and 20" tires are preffered, but for mx 8" rims and 18" tires are preffered. I do mx mostly and I use 8" rims and 18" tires, turf tamers or kenda knarly mx tires. I do not recomend spacers as they will make your axle bend alot easier, What bike you have have??? If you have a bike that accepts a 25t spline, you can use 86/87 200x, most year 250x/300ex, 400ex, and 450r rear hubs, you will gain about 3" width. Durablue sells hubs that offset the wheel another inch from the stock of the above models also.

[oldsking86]

8's are good for racing especially because they won't spin as much, that and with small tires you will get really nice bottem end.. for trails 9's would be nice don't spin as much too and have a wide variety of tires available.

As for spacers they are a must I think with trikes that way they don't tip over, just now your wide so know the width of your bike while in tight trails, no excessive speeding in tight areas haha I run spacers on my R and they help out sooooooo much!

[oldskool83]

i dont own a trike yet, i am going to be buying a 1983 to 1985 atc200X off a member on here next week or so. i have an option of getting stock wheels 8inchers that are centered in the middle. the 83-85 200x wheels have the same in/out depths so fliping would be not gain or loss from what i know. i was told to run 300ex or 400ex hubs and wheels to get it wide but not sure if all years are the same then i did checking around and saw part numbers changed for the hubs

i noticed part numbers are the same for the following hubs that would gain me an extra inch per side:

87-92 trx250x
93-04 trx300ex
99-01 trx400ex

04-07 300ex and 02-07 400ex got dif part number and i think thats because they are black now and not red. i just want to make sure nothing changed other then paint color. reason i ask this ie i saw the 1st years werte like 140 new and the later years were about 40 each a hub and that just dont make sence if nothing but paint changed

[deathman53]

nothing changed, I don't know why the large increase in price. I have lsr 400ex hubs that are gonna go on my 200x along with the 83/84 250r +4 extended axle that is gonna bring me right to 50".

[oldskool83]

the 200x i road was at 50" it was nice and looked cool also. he had a +6 on with stock rims with no offset. i cant aford a extended axle so id like to get as close to 50" as i can. are hubs aluminum or steal stock ones for a 300/400ex?

[TimSr]

Stock hubs are steel. Aluminum ones have steel inserts. Stock 200X rims have no offset. Stock hubs have very short studs which wont work for newer OEM type rims, which is one more advantage to using 250x/300ex/400ex hubs. My adivce is go with the newer style hubs, THEN buy some used OEM 400ex/300ex aluminum rims. These rims are super thick, and almost indestructable, and they sell very cheap on ebay. They will be 9", and they will be offset. If you are trail riding, especially where rocky, they will hold up much better than aftermarket. Aftermarket look pretty but dont hold up in rocky terrain worth a crap. With the hubs and rims youll gain about 6" of width. Dont go any wider. When you go too wide, youll find you have bump steer problems, and youll get stuck a lot more, and high centered on swinger a lot more. Extra wide axles are for the track. On the trail they simply act as training wheels for guys who cant ride three wheelers!

[oldskool83]

good deal. i will do that then, thanks for the info.