First, I have a question. The front end is stock as far as I know, and measures just under 44" OS of tire to OS (seems narrow?). The rear has a stock axle and I just traded ITP wheels with new Gnarly's for putting a new clutch in my buddies bike. It measures about 48" OS to OS. I never measured with the stock wheels, so do the ITPs have a wider offset?

Now, my last bike was an LTR and I LOVED how it handled. I ride mostly trails, so it was a little too wide in some cases. I think I'd be happy with a happy median of 48" overall. The rear is done apparently minus a new linkage, what should I do with the front, +2s? I was going to send my shocks to either GTT or Jet and have them rebuilt accordingly and want to lower my center of gravity a bit. Would that widen it more than 4" after lowering it? I see the lowering kits online widen the front end at the same time, so I'm wondering if maybe +1s and lowering it a bit would be better? I've never done arms on a quad so I'm looking for a steer in the right direction. Thanks.

Theres a guy on here (Sorry I don't remember your name) with a quote in his signature that says, "Those who know, Ride JD". I would do it right.

JD Performance.

http://www.jdperformance.net/

When the quad is lowered to approx 7 1/2" to 7 7/8" stock width will be approx 45 1/2" to 46". You can go with 3 off 2 wheels, but then the scrub radius stinks - meaning the tire doesn't pivot in the middle of the tire. So for woods 47" to 47.5" is about as wide as you want to go. +1" arms with 4 of 1 wheel provide good scrub radius and good width.

I personally run stock arms with 4 of 1 for race conditions and 3 off 2 for practice and when I want with and heck with the scrub problem, cheaper than arms, but if you are going to buy arms anyway - + 3/4" to +1 would be my vote unless you are going to run MX. Hope this helps.
Nick @ JET

Thanks Nick. Did you mean with stock arms and lowered, it'd be around 45 1/2 to 46? The rear is about 47.5" now, so that's about what I'd be looking to get. I do like to run the track, but I'm just in the woods more often, so I figure two inches less than the LTR but with suspension tailored to me should be damn near as good handling but a bit better for the woods. So, +1 arms, stock offset wheels (Sorry i don't know what they are, haven't measured) and rebuilt/lowered shocks should put me about 47-47.5"?

Yes, the front 45 1/2" is once it is lowered with stock arms and stock shocks, but our conversion kit on it.

So then +1 arms with your shock conversion should put me about 47.5" with stock wheels, correct? Or +2 arms with the 4-1 aftermarket wheels, right? I'm just trying to get an idea what I should be looking to get. Maybe the +2 with the 4-1 would be better, so I could put the stockers on to run about 49.5" at the track? Hmm....

KRS,
I have a couple 06's that I am putting full kit on in my shop, I will get exact measurements tomorrow with 4 off 1 and 3 off 2.
Nick

Nick, did you ever get those numbers? What is the average stock width in the front and rear?? The rear ITPs are 9" 6/3, that's why my rear is at 47.5". I rode it tonight and it handles like a trike! I'm thinking of just having my front shocks redone (I'm 155lbs, they kill me anyways) and lowered, getting an XC linkage and getting stock wheels for the rear, rather than widening the whole bike. Would this setup be pretty stable?

Nick, if I had my front shocks done for stock arms then got +1 or +2s later, would it be easy to redo the shocks again? Just a revalve? I'm trying to figure out what to do, because I can't stand how it handles right now. Thanks.

Yes, 05 stock arms width at 7 3/4" ride height was 45 1/2" and 06 at 7 3/4" ride height was 46 1/8". For XC ideally would go +1/2" ~ 1" arms. If you go with +1 arms later, that is a fairly small change which you may not even feel a difference, for example, most people switching back and forth between 3 off 2 and 4 off 1 wheels don't feel much of a difference, depends on how much time you spend on you quad whether you feel this or not, so for B class on down, you may not need a spring change on your front shocks once you get the a-arms, instead we can send you some crossovers for a little more support, just make sure you purchase STD travel. Revalve is not necessary.
Nick

ive got a set of houser +.5 in the for sale section along with some sweet gtt shocks. with the lighter springs i have with the shocks, which i can install before sending them, would make them alot softer for your weight. they were a lil too soft for me at 175 becasue i dont make smooth jumps. i single everything and land flat..lol but these shocks are smooth. not much diff then the fox long travel im running now. they have the high flow pistons in them which gtt claims to make the shock as good as aftermarket shocks. hes right cause the rear shock that i have by him i may not sell yet, i think it rides better then the fox podium i have now. so im keeping the rear until i try to get the podium to work where i want it.

Getting a set of JD Performance a-arms will be a great start. The next thing you need to do is invest in a pair of aftermarket shocks. Motowoz is by far our favorite shock in our lineup . The new Generation II fox shocks are also really nice. You'll save a couple of pounds going with an air shock vs a convential shock. We have several suspension packages on our website at a discounted price.

TRX450R Suspension Kits

Thanks guys, but I had Nick rebuild my fronts, they'll be in tomorrow. It'll widen the front nearly two inches at the new ride height. Got a GTT XC rear linkage. I'll see how that is for the woods, then I may end up getting +.5 or +1 front arms and a rear revalve or rebuild. I'll give an update on the new ride too, I'm stoked.

Hey KRS i noticed you had i problem with your trx450r on another thread but i couldnt reply. this is what you wrote.
"So, how do you check to make sure the fan/thermostat is working? Pull the wire off the thermo housing and ground it to check the fan? How about the thermostat?

Edit: I grounded the wire and the fan works. But is there a way to test the thermostat? I'm gonna do this mod ^ but the other night I rode it around a bit, and let it idle for a while to see if the fan would come on, it didn't, the header was glowing red and it started idling bad and shut off. I didn't notice the coolant boiling or overflowing, but it seemed damn hot to me. "

My 2005 TRX450R is having the same problem. It overheated real quick and wasnt idling good and just shut off and the header was glowing too. I was hopeing you figured out what the problem was. Please Please reply with what you figured out the problem was.
OTMTRX

My vote is the JD +2s unless you are riding tight woods. If you are gonna ride mostly dunes you will have more high speed stability. I live in New Mexico and Haven't had any problems with my +2's. I have an 05 and I run a 3-2 offset it currently sits at 48.75 in the front.

just some things i know about the front width

i ran JD +2 arms with 3+2 offset hipers and it set right at 49 "

i then switched to 4+1 offset hipers and put me right at 48"

then i went with +0.5 arms with the same 4+1 offset hipers and i was at 45"

and now im finally happy im running the +0.5 arms with 3+2 offset hipers and sit at exactly 46"

all of these measurements are with no weight on the bike so when i get on it it gets a tad wider


some things you should know, you can always get a little more width at the bottom with your toe in and thats where width is important at ground contact

NOONE makes a TRUE 4+1 offset wheel douglas and Hiper are the only 2 that get it close ITP has no idea about offset and are WAY off

hiper and douglas 4+1 offsets are really 3.5+1.5 but there 3+2 offsets are right



now stock wheels are 5.5" wide compared to all aftermarket which are 5" wide and stock offset is right around 3.75 + 1.75 its about right in the middle