A-arm length for trails

[deadspider187]

Hi,

I'm reviving my old R (it's been sitting for the past decade), and it looks like I'm in the market for new a-arms & shocks. I will be doing 95% trail riding, with maybe 5% mx. What length a-arms are appropriate for trails? I see a lot of (relatively) cheap full flight & elka piggyback kits on Ebay, but they're all +2 +1. Will this be too wide for the trails?

Thanks in advance,

-Eric

[headache]

no it won't. run some 4-1 offset wheels and you'll be sitting at 46" wide which is just about perfect for the trails..

[SilverLake250R]

I agree. I am going to run +3's with 4-1 rims on my narrow frame and it will be the same width as you with +2's. Should be great for trails, and you could get 3-2 rims if you really wanted to go wider someday.

[deadspider187]

Good to hear! Can anyone point me in the direction of some 4-1 rims?

[troybilt]

Pretty much all wheel manufacturers make 4:1 wheels. ITP, Douglas, Hiper...

XC you typically want width to be 46-47" wide, (i.e. trail riding), MX 48-50" wide. I'd probably go with a set of +2's and 4:1 with for trails, then for MX switch to 3:2 wheels to give you an extra 2" of width. You don't use XC tires for MX anyway, so you need an extra set of wheels.

[mohler]

i have +1 housers and they seem just right, not to wide and not to narrow.

[wilkin250r]

The problem I see is that "trails" can encompass a LOT of different riding terrains.

I've got probably a hundred plus miles of "trails" behind my house into the mountains, and +2 a-arms are just fine on 95% of them, and the other 5% are still ridable, I just can't take them as fast as I could with the stock width.

However, I've also seen some trails in the midwest that if you had anything other than stock width, you be at a serious disadvantage. Not only would you have to slow down, some you may not fit at all. You might even consider inventing a set of -1 arms.

So what kind of trails are you looking at?

[deadspider187]

None of them are too tight, but curvy and bumpy, mostly tree roots, small rocks, lots of puddles.

[TLR-Online]

Originally posted by deadspider187
None of them are too tight, but curvy and bumpy, mostly tree roots, small rocks, lots of puddles.

I know this may sound stupid... but get a small tape measure and put it in your toolbox on your bike or in your pocket.

The next time you go riding (where ever you ride the most), find the tightest spot you can. Get off your bike and measure the distance between the obstacles.

A place where i ride at, i always remember this one set of tree's that i barely make it through each time. I know i almost always come close to getting stuck, so i dont want to be any wider than the tree's lol.

I run +1 arms with 3/2 front rims (+2 & 4/1 would be the same) My ride height is about 8". My front measures about 46.75" at the top of the tire and about 47" at the bottom (1/2" camber setting).

My nerf bars at the widest point on each measure 46.5" across.

I have a +2/-1 RPM Dominater rear axle. I run 1 spacer on the outside of the hub and 2 spacers on the inside (each spacer is 1/2")

I dont really have any trouble getting caught anywhere. Some spots are tight... I have some room in my setup to go narrower with 4/1's and changing the rear spacers if i wanted to.

Do your homework first before you buy any parts. Make sure you know what rims/shocks/axle/nerfs/ride height you will be running. You will save yourself a ton of time/money and head ache's.