Front wheels offset to match rear offset

[CJM]

Ok I bought some new rear wheels and tires, wheel is offset at 3+5 and 9x8 wheel (9 inches diameter and 8 inches wide I think).

From what I understand thats 3 inches on the inside and 5 inches on the outside of the middle of the wheel.

So I cant figure out what wheel offset to get for the front. Got 2 choices:
1. 3+2 on a 10x5 wheel
2. 4+1 on a 10x5 wheel.

Which one do I choose to keep it close to the rear offset?

Im really confused as to how all these stupid offsets work.

[wdarryl]

Do not worry about matching the rear...go with the 4+1 to avoid introducing more bump-steer..check the articles section

[CJM]

But the rear really seems to stick out a ton?

The whole reason I went with a 3+5 wheel was the guy at magic racing told me it was close to stock and it aint close at all-they easily stick out like 2-3 inches past the front.

I previously had these awful douglass beadlocks with even more offset the previous owner had on there. They cause problems with cornering b/c the rear wanted to tip it seemed.

Im not 100% sure but could my rear axle have some kinda spacer before the hub mounts? I see this odd metal spacer thing there that doesnt match the metal of the axle and looks to new.

[CJM]

Heres what im talking about with the rear axle.

I took the hub off and it appears there is 2 spacers on there, you can clearly see ones about 3/16" and the others about an inch. This is on an 00 EX

I looked at my friends 05 and it doesnt have even the same type of hub. So im confused if my axle is stock, replacement or whatever.

[CJM]

Anyone got any idea if that pictures stock?

Edit: It just dawned on me...

Perhaps this is an adjustable axle? And perhaps those spacers can be put inbetween the hub in any combination and the locknut put on? If so hehe I stole this quad off this kid a year ago with yet another aftermarket highdollar part I found on it.

[project400ex19]

yeah that's an adjustable aftermarket axle.

[CJM]

Thats kinda what I figured, i was going crazy wondering why it was setup that way.

Question: Can I put the hub on first and put the spacers on after it? Thus putting the hub further on the axle?

[mineralgrey01gt]

Yes you can do that or just get a stock axle. I think those are still wider than stock no matter which way the spacer is put one. Im not understanding why you are wanting to go in more with the axle or are you just wanting the front to match in width?

[CJM]

Well problem is right now the rear end feels funny b/c not only do I have 3+5 or maybe 3+6 wheels on it from the previous owner but the axle is making them stick out tons!

So when I ride it makes me feel all wierd, I take a turn to hard it feels like it wants to tip cause the front is at least 2-3 inches less than the rear-at least to me. I also had problems fitting int he woods by me.

I could make the front match the rear by going to +1 or +2 A-arms but I dont have the money (everyone I looked at that was decent is at least 500 it seems, houser, roll, etc). I also just replace both front brake lines which was a pain and only got +1 cause I wanted some extra slack.

When I get home today Im gonna work on it and see if I can get them decently close to the front or work on finding a-arms or something.

I bought this EX off a kid who was just getting rid of it, steering stem was bent, it ran so so, now I find the axle, broke perches, etc. I know I got it for a song but I thought I knew more than I did when I got it 2 years back. now Im slowly finding things like this out and baffled by them b/c I never seen it before. I never really modified my quads before to much besides tires and maybe better grips.

Thank you much for the help :)

[Ryan'07400ex]

If the front is to skinny right now don't get 4/1 it will only make it skinnier. get 3/2 or whatever...

[CJM]

Well final result is I changed the way the spacers fit.

I had originally wanted to put both of them on the outside of the hub, but the thinner 3/16 one can only be on the axle before you put the hub on as the splines run out there.

So I put the larger spacer on the outside the hub, IE: it now looks like AXLE-SMALL SPACER-HUB-LARGER SPACER.

It fixed the issue of the really offset wheels. Now, they still stick out maybe 1-2 inches but its much better than the 3+ inches or so it had before, its near balanced like a stocker would be. If I flip the wheels around they are near stock offset anyways.

I did not get a chance to remove the axle from the carrier, but I would assume it can only be a few makes like durablue, rpm, g-force, etc and they all tend to have those spacers from what I can gather, so its an aftermarket thats for sure.

Oh and FYI to anyone who has an aftermarket with that same kinda setup: They get RUSTY, the inner hub, the splines on the axle, spacers etc. I spent a good hour with a wire wheel in a drill removing all the rust. Then I coated everything in wheel bearing grease to make sure it wont happen again, that stuff is waterproof pretty much.

[01 400EXer]

If you have to run the small spacer most likely it is a g-force axle. I have one and I have to run the small spacer because it is not splined all the way.

I also put wheel bearing grease on my splines. 2 reasons I do this s to prevent the rust as well as it reduces the vibration and loosening of the wheel hub axle nuts.

[mineralgrey01gt]

Originally posted by CJM
Well problem is right now the rear end feels funny b/c not only do I have 3+5 or maybe 3+6 wheels on it from the previous owner but the axle is making them stick out tons!

So when I ride it makes me feel all wierd, I take a turn to hard it feels like it wants to tip cause the front is at least 2-3 inches less than the rear-at least to me. I also had problems fitting int he woods by me.

I could make the front match the rear by going to +1 or +2 A-arms but I dont have the money (everyone I looked at that was decent is at least 500 it seems, houser, roll, etc). I also just replace both front brake lines which was a pain and only got +1 cause I wanted some extra slack.

When I get home today Im gonna work on it and see if I can get them decently close to the front or work on finding a-arms or something.

I bought this EX off a kid who was just getting rid of it, steering stem was bent, it ran so so, now I find the axle, broke perches, etc. I know I got it for a song but I thought I knew more than I did when I got it 2 years back. now Im slowly finding things like this out and baffled by them b/c I never seen it before. I never really modified my quads before to much besides tires and maybe better grips.

Thank you much for the help :)

oh ok lol well that makes sense now. Your stock brake lines will work on +2 arms. I got my a-arms and shocks for mine shipped for $490. Not bad considering they are still in pretty good shape. Id get a new stock axle for the woods if i was you. Im looking for an extended axle but my front end makes it really tough for me to make it through the trails like I used to

[CJM]

Thanks for the advice guys.

@01 400EXer:
Yea I made sure and used a good bit of it, they were so rusty it took me at least an hour to get it all off with the wire wheel in the drill.

@mineralgrey01gt:
I had wanted to add +1 arms to the front, going much bigger imho isnt needed since I dont race I just trail ride. Right now I have some nice stainless lines I got off ebay that are all +1 (rear and fronts) just cause I wanted a bit to slack to work with.

The axle doesnt seem to really stick out to much now that I swapped the good 1" spacer to the outside of the hub and ran the small spacer on the inside. They stick out slightly more than stock now but nowhere near how bad they were before. I had at least 3/4 of the 10" tire sticking out and it made it handle really oddly.

Thanks for the help :)