switching front rims around

[400exJOE]

All my friends with Blasters have switched their front rims around and gained about 2" of with. On of my friends was determined to do this with my 400. When we tried, the valve stems seemed to be in the way and caught on the brakes. I was just lookin in the 'Rides' section and saw a 400 that said switched front rims for extra with. Anyone do this??? Do the valve stems catch?

Yeah I saw that too.... and of course to save some money for +2 inches I tried it... as soon as i did the first one I saw the problem... YES, it wont work because of the valve stems. Sorry dude, I wish it would work too!

[kc 300EX]

you can buy shortened valve stems, and it will work, but the downside is that a lot of people complain about a bump steer problem, im sure if you had a steering stabilizer that wouldnt be a problem 4 u though

[400MXer]

Your in luck...i know how to do it. First, they flip the stock valve stem around. Then they drill a hole in the other side and put the valve stem in that. then, abracadabra, you have an extra 2inches. But i must warn you. doing this really puts stress on your tie rods. they bend all the time. you better have a few spare ones.

[Winged Warrior]

What do these shortened valvestems look like? Or what are they called ,so we will know what to ask for. I think this is the best route because you can switchout anytime you want for woods/track.:confused:

[kc 300EX]

Rocky Mountain sell these, i dont kno if they are short enough or not, 3 bux

[400exJOE]

about the bent tie rods and bump steer, how would this set-up be different from offset rims or wheel spacers? Or do experience both these problems with those too?

[4punksdad]

90 degree angled valve stems might solve your problem without drilling a hole in the rim.

[Lil90man!!]

hey a quick question could u put the valve stem in upside down witht the thing pointing in???

[4punksdad]

sure you can..........but its gonna be tough to put air in, and keep it in. :)

[JhallettEX]

It was me that switched my rims around....Go to your local quad shop they should have or be able to get flush mount valve stems. If they dont have them let me know and I will give you the number to my guy and he will hook you up. joshuahallett@hotmail.com

[kc 300EX]

http://www.mackinindustries.com/vstems.html

They have flush mount valve stems, and some other weird lookin ones too, hope that link helps

[redrider ex]

I had another set of lug nuts and what you do is take off you front wheeles and screw on the lug nuts all the way down against
the hub with the cone shape of the nut faceing outwards then put your rim on backwards and then put on your other set of lug nuts and this gives you enough clearence to clear the break mine has been like this for two or three years and i haven't had any problems. plus you don't have to change valve stems or drill holes.

[quadfamily]

Redrider, That's a great idea! Sounds perfect. It also eliminates having to press out those steel inserts in the wheels and pressing them back in from the other side! Plus you gain more width due to the extra lug nuts and you don't have to do anything with the valve stems. But 400MXer is right about bending tie rods with this setup, I know I did.

[Winged Warrior]

thanks for the help ,im going to check out the lug spacer idea first then the flushmount stems.

[CranMan]

How about your front break rotors, doesn't this leave them more exposed to rocks ect...just thought i'd throw that out there since no one has mentioned it. I'm pretty sure that with the stock setup all the break parts sit well inside the rim, but not if you flip the rims!:)

[quadfamily]

CranMan is right, it does expose the front calipers. I don't really see this as a problem though, it may actually help cool them(now everybody will be trying this to help cool their brakes!LOL). If you're going to hit a big enough rock to do damage to the calipers it'll hit other things first, like the bumper and the tires/wheels. The calipers are still pretty "out of the way". Or maybe you're concerned with small rocks flying up and hitting the calipers? In that case I don't think any rocks that are small enough to get thrown up by someone riding in front of you will be big enough to do any real damage to the calipers even if they do directly hit them.

[Scott]

Maybe a solution would be to extend the front with the lug nuts (easy to undo, no cutting/drilling/welding involved) and try to find or fabricate a guard like bikes have been running on the front for years to protect the rotor/caliper. Might look kewl with a red or black plastic guard on the front rotors... Besides, this sounds more to me like a moto-X thing than a woods riding thing.

By going with the lug nut spacers, you're going to put more stress on the lugs, but it doesn't sound like that's been a problem yet. If it becomes a problem, try going to harder bolts, like grade 8 instead of the grade 5's.

As for the tie rods, I've ran reinforced tie rods for 2 years, and some of the guys I ride with have used them for 5 or more years. Pro-Fab has some a friend of mine makes for sale, factory tie rods sleeved in 304 Stainless steel and then polished to a mirrir finish. I think they're like $40 for a set. They look good and last good. Matt has had them on his 440 for over a year. Raced hare scrambles, rode woods, jumped it, no problems.

Just buy some wheel spacers for like $60...they work great.

[Winged Warrior]

I tried the lugnut spacer idea,dont work because there is not enough threads left,But 3 or 4 washers on each stud will let the valve stem clear ,plus take the cap off for extra clearence.:)

I posted a good way to do this in the classifieds forum under "offset rims". There's really nothing to it, and I had NO problems with it. I rode recreational (backyard), but pretty big, MX, with this setup. with stock a-arms and shocks for a while, 3 months or so, and they held up perfect. Not only did my 4-ply tires hold air perfectly, but my tierods were fine. And I weigh 250 lbs. folks. I did notice some bumpsteer though, nothing to really worry about.

[stevengates45]

Wanna see somthin weird?? Look at the back rear hub on this blaster. Got me confused how they did it like this! :huh :huh

[400exRacerX]

Simple.....you just put the hubs on backwards.

[stevengates45]

What I meant was I just didnt get the purpose of him doing that.

[400exRacerX]

The only yhing I could imagine it would be useful for is I guess looks...:huh

[JabberJaw]

It's so people won't know if you are coming or going!

[TrengaBlaster3]

its probably got something to do with drag racing. all the drag racing quads iv seen are really skinny i dont know why they do that though.

[JOEX]

Aerodynamics maybe?

Do those tires have a specific use?