08 m8 stiff steering

[Darcy Ostapchuk]

I just bought a 08 m8 and took it up to the mountains for my first ride on it and on the trails I had a really hard time to steer it. I had to push really hard to get it to turn. My buddy has a rev 800 an you can pretty much use one hand to turn it with ease. Even with both sleds sitting on cement I can barely turn the bars an his you can use one finger. Any suggestions how I can make the steering ALOT easier?

 

[jncmcat]

Try greasing the sled once and a while

 

[Darcy Ostapchuk]

I did do that and it didn't help. We its on concrete and you turn the bars either way the front end lifts up. So I'm guessing thats why it is so hard to turn. How do I fix that?

 

[dabensmiller]

Tightening your limiter straps should take pressure of your skis.

 

[CatMan16]

I would say loosen limiter straps to take weight off the skis. Also check that you don't have a bent a-arm that might be binding on the tie rods

 

[dabensmiller]

I would say loosen limiter straps to take weight off the skis. Also check that you don't have a bent a-arm that might be binding on the tie rods

ok looks like i was misinformed. that makes more sense to me. cheers!!

 

[Darcy Ostapchuk]

I checked the a-arms and they are straight. Also checked the limiter straps an the are pretty lose. What else can I check? I can't ride this sled like this I'm wore out after about an hour. Its really hard to side hill like this as well.

 

[CatMan16]

Lift the front of the sled off the ground so that the skis aren't touching and make sure the steering turns side to side easily. If it doesn't turn easily you need to check all the steering componenst for wear or for something binding on them.

 

[Darcy Ostapchuk]

Just lifted the skis off the ground and the steering moves really easy. Any other ideas?

 

[CatMan16]

It has to be suspension geometry. Try adjusting the front track shock spring. Tighten it up and make the spring stiffer it will help lift the front of the sled. Also check which hole the rear arm of the suspension is bolted in on the tunnel bracket. If it is in the lowest hole it will make it more nose heavy.

 

[Mac Daddy]

check tie rods.they should sviwel easy.Had same prob with mine.Took tie rods off and worked them back and forth.They just got tighter.Same thing when i rode after a couple hrs could barely steer.When your sled is off the ground turn steering back and forth fairly fast for 2 minitues then try to swivel tie rods and i would bet they will be so stiff you cant hardly swivel them.BUY ALL NEW TIE RODS FROM A 2010 IF THEY ARE THE SAME.OR START WORKING OUT.LOL

 

[Crowfoot Woody]

You have more than likely a film of h2o in the spindles. Take the sled inside and when it warms up slam lots good low temp grease into them. When frozen steering a M-Cat is almost impossible.This condition is very common and mountain riders get this when it gets colder also frozen throttle cables.

 

[Darcy Ostapchuk]

Thanks a lot guys I'm going to try that out. I' ll let you know how it works out

 

[tavis43]

mine is the same, not to fun when turning around

 

[907Riders.com]

Had these same issues with my 09 M8 snopro.. all the helm joints were very tight and it would squeak when I turned either direction. It took heating the helm joints and using WD-40 to loosen them all up.

The second part of this problem is the length of the arms on the spindles was reduced to tighten the steering radius. An easy fix is to put on the 05-07 spindles.

Other options include lowering the front of the rear suspension. There is a hole that is 1/2" lower in the footwell. This hole must be drilled out and it is recommended to run an anti-stab kit if using this hole.

 

[Polarblu]

um why are the skis on the ground, its a m8 one the hall of fame sleds pin that bad boy!! they steer way better with th skis up and power down,