14" Wheels

My Rhino had 14" rims on it when I bought it. The tires were bald from being driven on asphault at a campground. I went on a ride in Bergoo and the guys there said to put 12" wheels and tires back on it because 14 would just give me a lot of flats. I now have a full set of 12" wheels and tires (half worn) but like my clearance the 14's give me. I was wondering if you guys have noticed that 14's are more prone to a flat than 12's?

If you stay on top of air pressure
you should not have any more trouble than you would with 12"


You should not get more clearance with 14" wheels

tire size would add clearance but not wheel size.

jmo

Why would rim size make a difference on getting a flat? I'd call bs on that. Rim size doesn't change ride height, tire diameter changes ground clearance.

14" more susceptible to side wall pinches. Tire height will increase clearance, not wheel size.

From what I have found, air pressure makes all the difference between getting flats and not getting flats. Still sometimes you will get them but the air pressure right will prevent alot.

mrwvsportsman wrote:

14" more susceptible to side wall pinches. Tire height will increase clearance, not wheel size.

But 14" rims look better.I tried 14" one time and I will stick with 12" unless I go to a Wildcat and 12" won't work because of size of rotors I hear.

Like all have mention above. Air Presure!!! I had 2 sets of 14" beadlockers. If I ran below 12lbs of air pressure you can bet I would end up with a side wall pinch.

Also, the combo of having to run 12lbs. or more PSI, You also loose a little bit of ride quality due to less tire flex. For 3 years now, I'm back on 12" wheels and I run 8lbs. front and rear and have had NO FLATS. I'm knocking on wood as I type this!!!

Now with saying that, for high speed cornering the 14" do better. Especially with big horn tires. They are prone to push in the front. With the 14's in the corners the rim is not trying to come out of the rim lol... they make for a more rigid ride.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling now!!!

14s will pinch the sidewalls unless you run alot of air. When you run alot of air you lose lots of traction and the ride gets rough. There is no way I would ever run 14s. If I bought a new machine with them, I would swap them out as soon as I got home if 12s would clear the brakes. Low profile tires are for cars on pavement, not side by sides. I run 10-12 lbs in mine, and I could not imagine running 14-15 in a 14" tire at bergoo as rough as it is there.

Thanks for all the comments. I bought a new set of the Pro Comp tires. I usually stick with ITP but I didn't in this case. At Thrills in the Hills I was 5 miles in and pinched the sidewall. Had just put the tires on the day before. I replaced the tire so $100 out the door. Was thinking of getting a new set of ITPs for the 12" rims and using them.

Seen a lot of 14's pinch the sidewall

Billy has a set of five 27" ITP Blackwater Evolutions for sale. Can't beat it! They would be sold if I had the coin.

I went thru a full set of Bighorns due to sidewall punctures on a 14" rim , Low , high pressure front and rear , everyone was a pinch. When I had 12" on my ranger I never had a puncture and put it into rocks much harder. I did like the handling but when I got one ride on a new tire that got pinched I said that was enough .

Looks like I will work towards putting 12's back on. For now I will ride with a spare, air pump and a plug kit.

dsawdy wrote:

Looks like I will work towards putting 12's back on. For now I will ride with a spare, air pump and a plug kit.

Run at least 14 psi. Carry lots of plugs. People on here have plugged holes in sidewalls the size of a quarter buy just keeping on shoving more and more plugs in the hole, and some of them are still running like that with no trouble.

Will do. My spare still has the plugs in from Burning Rock but its leaking and flat. I pulled them out and I am going to take it to a tractor tire repair and get a BIG patch put on it. The local tire shop here would not put a regular patch on it. They said the hole was to big and the patch would push through the hole.

I have been riding a long time and I have never had flats on the trails until this incident. The hole was def. my fault as I was going to fast. I did not have enough time to slow down before I strted hitting the rocks. BTW Rocks SUCK.

I just sold my spare set of rims (14's). I put a new set of big horns on them just get them sold. I went thru a lot of tires, front n back. I really feel it was due to the 14 inch rim. Rolled tires off the rim. Sold them to someone that put them on a sportsman 850. I'm running 12 inch beadlocks now n would only ever consider 14's if I used them on an atv. Just my 2 cents worth. I ride hard so that may be part of the problem!!