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2002 Sportsman 500 Rear Tires/Wheels: Can 25X11-12 Replace OEM?

16K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  mtuser2007 
#1 ·
Hello,

All the tires on my 2002 are old, and one wheel is bent, so I am trying to buy a complete take off set, used, to replace them. I found a set from a Polaris 2003 Sportsman 600, but the rear tires are described as 25X11-12. The ones on my 500 are 25x11-10. Both use 25x8-12 on the front.

May I use the 25X11-12s on my machine? And what is the difference? Is the tire wider or is it thicker from the outside of the rim to the edge of the tire?

thanks for helping a new ATVer get going.
 
#2 ·
if you are taking the wheels with the tires, it should fit. but you can not take those 25x11x12 tires and put them on your wheels you already have. i had to look at what ITP has listed for these too machines...ill do my best to explain what i am talking about so you understand. your machine has a 25x11x10 tire. this means when mounted and inflated to the proper PSI, your tire is 25 inches tall, 11 inches wide, and has a 10" diameter for the wheel.

Xplorer/Sportsman 500 4x4, 96-08 (R)
25x11x10 10x8, 4/156

now we get into wheel sizing. 10x8 for the wheel means breaks down like this. 10 is the diameter of the wheel, and the 8 is the width of the wheel. no offset is listed, so we can assume there is no offset, which wold make the wheel a 4+4. so you wheel reads like this: 10x8 4+4 4/156. the 4+4 means you hub bolts to the wheel dead center of the wheel. if it was a 5+3, it would mean the hub bolts to the wheel inch over center of the wheel towards the outside of the machine. and finally, both rims are a 4/156 bolt patter, which means there is 156 mm from center of one stud to the center of the other stud in a straight line.


Sportsman 600 4x4, 03-08 (R)
25x11x12 12x7, 4/156

so the tire from the sportsman 600 is the exact same physical size as what you have now, except for it has a smaller sidewall since it has a larger wheel diameter. the rim is a 12x7 so this wheel has a bigger diameter, but is 1" narrower then your current rim. since again, no offset was listed, it should be a 4+3 offset. which reads that from the inside of the wheel to where it bolts is still 4", but this rim has 1 less inch on outside of it, so if anything, the total package will give you a 1" narrower wheel base on the rear, from each wheel. the thing i would be concerned about is if it happens to be a 5+2 offest. you can measure this with a tape measure to find out fore sure. the reason i am concerned with the 5+2 wheel base is because with this offest, when the wheel gets bolted to the hub, there would be an extra inch of wheel and tire on the inside, and i am concerned that extra inch will cause rubbing issues on the shock and strut. but, being a 12 inch rim with a wider opening, that might not be the case. a 4+3 offset should be golden though. and the bolth pattern is still a 4/156 so no worries there.

did i help? or did i confuse you more?
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the thorough explanation

Thanks for explaining. You did an excellent job. I read it over several times, and it all makes sense to me. Now I know what all the numbers mean, and I see why offset is important. I can see the tires from the 600 will probably work. However, If I see a complete set that are takeoffs from a 500, I'll buy those to be on the safe side.
 
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