A-arm width + Wheel offset info

[250Renvy]

ATTN: THIS RELATES TO HONDA'S ONLY!

I just thought I'd share what I officially found out today playing with different a-arm width and offset combos and front ends. If somebody wants to make this a sticky or include this in a sticky it would have saved me a bunch of money!
I am using 4-1 term liberally as I'm not sure that any are truely 4-1. Itp are 4-1.5

FRONT END : STANDARD FRONT
---------------------------------------
Stock width front = 42" w/ 4-2 offset
wheels

+1 A-arms = 44" w/ stock wheels or
4-1 offset wheels

(Somebody told me you couldn't run 4-1
wheels with stock arms or +1 but that is not true because stock wheels are 4-2.)

+1 A-arms w/ 3-2 offset wheels = 46"
+2 A-arms w 4-1 offset wheels = 46"
+2 A-arms w/ 3-2 offset wheels = 48"
+3 A-arms w/ 4-1 offset wheels = 48"
+3 A-arms w/ 3-2 offset wheels = 50"

FRONT END : NARROW FRONT
-------------------------------------
+2 A-arms w/ 4-1 offset wheels = 44"
+2 A-arms w/ 3-2 offset wheels = 46"
+3 A-arms w 4-1 offset wheels = 46"
+3 A-arms w/ 3-2 offset wheels = 48"
+4 A-arms w/ 4-1 offset wheels = 48"
+4 A-arms w/ 3-2 offset wheels = 50"

REAR END: (these may be a little off depending on what the actual offset is)
-------------
Standard Rear axle w/ stock wheels is 46". I'll update later but I think stock offset is 4-5.5

-2 Axle w/ 4-5 wheels = 44"
-2 Axle w/ 6-3 wheels = 46"
+1 Axle w/ 4-5 wheels = 46"
+1 Axle w/ 6-3 wheels = 49"
+2 Axle w/ 6-3 wheels = 50"
+3 Axle w/ 4.5-5.5 wheels = 50"
+3 Axle w/ 6-3 wheels = 50"
+4 Axle w/ 5-3 wheels = 48"
+4 Axle w/ 6-3 wheels = 52"

Hope this helps. The reason I posted is I was going for +2 front and thought that going with 4-1 wheels would bring me back to +1.

[JOEX]

I belive stock Honda front rims are 5.5" so the 4/2 offset would be incorrect.

[250Renvy]

They are stamped 5.5 but if you actually measure it, it's not. It's possible that it is the measurement inside the beads. I'm going by actual measurements that affect overall width.

[TRX450RACER174]

Any wheel is measured bead 2 bead, never lip 2 lip cause that is incorrect when trying to figure out correct tire width's, offset is determined from wheel mounting surface to the inside/outsisde bead of the wheel so overall width of a wheel does nothing.

[cbr929rr]

So if I ordered 3-2 front rims on my stock a-arm 400ex I would be closer to 44". Would this help handling and would wheel bearing life be decreased, sorry not trying to thread hijack but my stock front wheels are demolished and I need some new rims. Maybe going a little wider up front may help the handling while my a-arms are still fine and don't need replacing.

[400exrider707]

Couple questions, what machine was this on, and why does this relate to Honda's only? Your measurements could be for any machine correct? Also yes it should be measured from bead to bead. Stock wheels are 5.5" wide.

[250Renvy]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by cbr929rr
[B]So if I ordered 3-2 front rims on my stock a-arm 400ex I would be closer to 44". Would this help handling and would wheel bearing life be decreased.

To answer your question, 3-2 rims now that I think about it will probably keep your width pretty close to the same because of the 4-2 offset of stock rims. If you go to aftermarket rims you'll want to go for 3-2 to keep width without narrowing.

"what machine was this on, and why does this relate to Honda's only? Your measurements could be for any machine correct? Also yes it should be measured from bead to bead. Stock wheels are 5.5" wide."

This was measured on a 400ex and 250R, but could apply to a 450R as well.
This obviously wouldn't apply to a smaller sport quad. It only applies to honda's because I do not know the stock widths and offsets of yamaha and suzuki and others.

Maybe I'm wrong but I assumed the way to calculate width of a machine is to measure from the outside of each wheel which makes stock wheels 6"

[400exrider707]

Originally posted by 250Renvy
[QUOTE]Originally posted by cbr929rr
[B]So if I ordered 3-2 front rims on my stock a-arm 400ex I would be closer to 44". Would this help handling and would wheel bearing life be decreased.

To answer your question, 3-2 rims now that I think about it will probably keep your width pretty close to the same because of the 4-2 offset of stock rims. If you go to aftermarket rims you'll want to go for 3-2 to keep width without narrowing.

"what machine was this on, and why does this relate to Honda's only? Your measurements could be for any machine correct? Also yes it should be measured from bead to bead. Stock wheels are 5.5" wide."

This was measured on a 400ex and 250R, but could apply to a 450R as well.
This obviously wouldn't apply to a smaller sport quad. It only applies to honda's because I do not know the stock widths and offsets of yamaha and suzuki and others.

Maybe I'm wrong but I assumed the way to calculate width of a machine is to measure from the outside of each wheel which makes stock wheels 6"


Well the overall widths may apply only to the 400ex, but the change in width can apply to all quads.

Width is funny, because though you may be measuring at the outside of the rim, when you're rolling through tech inspection at a national, the 50" gate you squeeze through doesn't care what its hitting, it wants everything under 50" so if you're tire is wider and bubbles out past the rim, its going to hit that, as well as suspension setup playing a part. A quad with a lot of sag and a rider sitting on it will sit lower and wider than a stock quad, or one without a rider. SO next question... was someone on the quad when it was measured, and what setup are you running for suspension? ZPS setup? How much camber at the tires? If a lot of camber is used the lower part of the tire is going to sit wider than the upper part or the rim for that matter.

[pimpt250r]

I have 3-2 front rims and lsr +2+1 with PEP's with zps standard travel and I am at like 50.5 maybe evn 51 inches wide but the 4-1 put me right at 50
or if I run the 20x6 instead of the 22x7
so it really just depends on your setup