How to Change the ATV/SxS Tires on Your Off-Road Vehicle?

If you’ve been a Can-Am Off-Road vehicle owner for a while, you’ve been living up miles of adventure and memories. With all that fun under your wheels, it might be time to change your ATV or SxS tires. Here’s how to do it!

When should I change my Can-Am tires?

Your Can-Am SxS or ATV tires are your connection to the terrain. They are vital to performance and control no matter what kind of terrain you’re riding. Just like oil, coolant, drive belts and other wear items, tires have a usable life.

The expected life of your tires depends on the type of tire and terrain. Tire tread depth is the key indicator in determining if it’s time to replace. The minimum recommended tread depth is 3 mm. In addition, if you notice any unusual wear, cracking or other anomalies, you may need to consider replacement.

How to Change ATV Tires?

Here are the essential steps to changing the tires on your Can-Am SxS or ATV.  Just be sure to follow the recommended torque specs in your operator’s guide. Let’s get started.

STEP 1:

Park the vehicle on a level surface and apply the parking brake. Be sure to immobilize the wheels, which will remain on the ground, with wheel chocks. For the Outlander ATV, shift the vehicle into four-wheel drive.

STEP 2:

Loosen the lug nuts. Do this before you lift the wheels off the ground so the wheels don’t spin while you loosen the lug nuts. Note: do not remove the lug nuts completely until the next step.

STEP 3:

Raise the vehicle with a floor jack and secure it on a jack stand. Remove the lug nuts and remove the wheels.

STEP 4:

Loosen the beadlock screws (if equipped) on the wheel to remove the old tire.

STEP 5:

Mount the new tire on the wheel by applying tire-mounting lube on the inner bead of the tire and wheel, opposite the beadlock side. This ensures a proper seat when inflating the tire.

STEP 6:

Mount the inner bead over the wheel, making sure to mount the tire from the beadlock side only.

STEP 7:

Center the tire and seat the tire’s outer bead in the shoulder of the beadlock inner ring.

STEP 8:

With the tire on the rim, start tightening the beadlock screws by hand. Take care not to cross-thread the screws. DO NOT use an impact wrench to tighten the beadlock screws.

STEP 9:

Tighten the beadlock screws in a criss-cross pattern as outlined in your operator’s guide. Torque the beadlock screws to 3 N·m ± 1 N·m (27 lbf·in ± 9 lbf·in) on the first pass and check to make sure the tire is still mounted straight on the rim. If the tire is not straight, loosen the screws and realign. Note: for Can-Am Off-Road side-by-side vehicles, the proper torque is 14 N·m ± 1 N·m (124 lbf·in ± 9 lbf·in).

STEP 10:

If the tire is aligned and straight, tighten in the same criss-cross pattern a second time. Torque the beadlock screws to 8 N·m ± 1 N·m (70 lbf·in ± 9 lbf·in). Note: for Can-Am Off-Road side-by-side vehicles, the proper torque is 29 N·m ± 1 N·m (21 lbf·in ± 1 lbf·ft).

STEP 11:

Inspect the gap between the tire and beadlock clamp ring. The gap will be equal all the way around. DO NOT continue if the gap is misaligned. Repeat Step 9 if alignment is off. This is illustrated in your operator’s manual.

STEP 12:

RIf the gap between the tire and beadlock clamp ring is equal, then torque all the screws in a circular pattern to 11 N·m ± 1 N·m (97 lbf·in ± 9 lbf·in).

STEP 13:

Place the wheel back on the vehicle and tighten the lug nuts by hand in a criss-cross pattern as outlined in your operator’s manual.

STEP 14:

Torque the lug nuts to a spec of 100 N·m ± 10 N·m (74 lbf·in ± 7 lbf·ft).

STEP 15:

Inflate the tire to the recommended pressure.

Be sure to check out the rest of our vehicle maintenance tips and how-to guides in the Can-Am Owner Zone of our website. Don’t forget to follow Can-Am Off-Road on social media for more awesome content too!