Wheel spacers on a rubicon?

[JohnDeere4300]

I have a 01 honda rubicon and just put on my second set of tires
i went with the mud lite itp, If i get in a place where i have to turn
the wheel towards the right, then the wheel hits the winch.

The places i hunt have steep hills, deep ruts, tight trees to go through and some places are just wide enough for the rubicon.

I have never used spacers on a atv, was wondering if anyone has
them on.

Do they put much stress on bearings?

Has anyone had them loosen up while riding?

I was going to use 1in. spacers if it gave me enough clearance.

 

[Ryan03]

How about a 2 in suspension lift instead. Usualy they are around $100.00 bucks and can be bolted right on in about an hour. A friend tried wheel spacers on his Rancher, ended up going to the lift kit instead. His problem was between the wheel spacers and the 27x9x12 front tires, any time he turned the bars even slightly while spinning the tires, he would get blasted with mud, and this combo also made it tough to judge how wide the front of the ATV was while trail riding, we saw him whack a couple of trees with the edges of the front tires while trying to squeez through the woods.

 

[Ryan03]

Here is a link to a wheel spacer discussion on the highlifter ATV site. They also sell them in their online store. Wheel spacers on rancher

 

[Shmudda]

I have a 01 honda rubicon and just put on my second set of tires
i went with the mud lite itp, If i get in a place where i have to turn
the wheel towards the right, then the wheel hits the winch.

The places i hunt have steep hills, deep ruts, tight trees to go through and some places are just wide enough for the rubicon.

I have never used spacers on a atv, was wondering if anyone has
them on.

Do they put much stress on bearings?

Has anyone had them loosen up while riding?

I was going to use 1in. spacers if it gave me enough clearance.

I have a 01 Rubi too, and it is a great machine! I personally would not put the spacers on it to widen the wheel base, as I do think it would put more undo strain and wear on the front end.

As for the lift, I had one of those on too, from Moose. It was actually a lift that was designed as spacers that fit between the shocks and their mounting brackets on the axles on the rear and frame on the fronts. I would recommend the lift before the spacers, but I must caution you on something....you will go thru top ball joints every year or less depending on what kind of terrain you ride. Riding in Kentucky, with the hills and mountains you will surely destroy them quickly....been there done that. Even though I am from Western Pennsylvania, I ride the Hatfield & McCoy trails in West Virginia quite frequently, and it's a lot like Kentucky, we even rode down into Kentucky, in Matwan.

With the lift you will loose stability and the machine will feel top heavy, even by raising it 1 1/2" or so, and it does take some getting use to for the steering as it is very hard to turn and you are constantly fighting it.

Keep the machine stock as much as you can. It's sure footed like a mule and can haul like a truck.......

Good luck, but honestly I would change the tires and put them on Craigs list before I put spacers or a lift back on mine......

Craig

 

[JohnDeere4300]

How about a 2 in suspension lift instead. Usualy they are around $100.00 bucks and can be bolted right on in about an hour. A friend tried wheel spacers on his Rancher, ended up going to the lift kit instead. His problem was between the wheel spacers and the 27x9x12 front tires, any time he turned the bars even slightly while spinning the tires, he would get blasted with mud, and this combo also made it tough to judge how wide the front of the ATV was while trail riding, we saw him whack a couple of trees with the edges of the front tires while trying to squeez through the woods.

Thanks for the information and the link, i really didn't know much
about the spacers, and some of the trails i ride on are very narrow.
So i don't think i will go with the spacers.

Thanks for posting.

 

[JohnDeere4300]

I have a 01 Rubi too, and it is a great machine! I personally would not put the spacers on it to widen the wheel base, as I do think it would put more undo strain and wear on the front end.

As for the lift, I had one of those on too, from Moose. It was actually a lift that was designed as spacers that fit between the shocks and their mounting brackets on the axles on the rear and frame on the fronts. I would recommend the lift before the spacers, but I must caution you on something....you will go thru top ball joints every year or less depending on what kind of terrain you ride. Riding in Kentucky, with the hills and mountains you will surely destroy them quickly....been there done that. Even though I am from Western Pennsylvania, I ride the Hatfield & McCoy trails in West Virginia quite frequently, and it's a lot like Kentucky, we even rode down into Kentucky, in Matwan.

With the lift you will loose stability and the machine will feel top heavy, even by raising it 1 1/2" or so, and it does take some getting use to for the steering as it is very hard to turn and you are constantly fighting it.

Keep the machine stock as much as you can. It's sure footed like a mule and can haul like a truck.......

Good luck, but honestly I would change the tires and put them on Craigs list before I put spacers or a lift back on mine......

Craig

I don't think i will go with the lift either, i sure don't want to put
something on that i would have to work on all the time.

I may see if i can move the winch over just a little, on the rubicon
they sure didn't allow much room for a winch, some of the places i
ride here in Kentucky are narrow, and there is some places if you don't shift your weight to the side, then you will turn over down about 80 feet. so like you said it will just make it top heavy.

I do allot of riding on the Hatfield McCoy trail, my dad sold property
on top of the mountain for the right of way, he lives up close to Charleston West Virginia, have you ever been to Williamson WV.

We go through Williamson then go to buffalo mountain, that's were
they first started the trail, when i drove a truck i had to go through
Matewan all the time, and ride atvs from Matewan down to a little town called Delbarton WV. sometimes we go over to Gilbert WV and
get on the trail there.

I go over at Gilbert and trout fish with my dad ever chance i get,
i have been all over mingo county wv. my dad retired from the railroad in Williamson WV.

I guess i will try something else and not put on spacers or a lift.

Thanks for posting
_______________________

 

[Shmudda]

I have ridden every trail system they have down there, and been to every town you can ride into. I usually stay at the Browning Fork Trail House and ride Rockhouse for the first day when we arrive. After that we are then off to a different trail system every day. We went there and stayed a whole week one year, I put over 550 miles on the machine that week and didn't break a darn thing! With the use and abuse I have put that machine thru I wouldn't own any other then a Honda.

I sure wish I could live down there, that life you have in that area seems very appealing to me as it seems very simple and slow paced, not like a rat race we have around here.

I have found that some of the best and nicest riding is actually off the trail system. We have found some trails when we go exploring that we rode all day and didn't cross the same trail. There were a few riders worried about running out of fuel that day, but we all came back on fumes......

Your comment about 80 ft over the hill is true! There hasn't been a time yet that I went down there and either helped someone from my group or some other poor soul get a machine out of the Holler. They really get busted up when they go over the hill.....

Anyways, good luck with your dilemma......

Craig