mdkuni
New member
My buddy hit a barbwire fence that caused some serious toe in. I adjusted the ski's back to toe out, but the only problem is the skis have about 1-2" of free play in them. I can grab one ski and hold it so it will not move and grab the other ski and am able to move that ski about 1-2". It does not matter which side I do this with. This is causing some serious darting. The sled is setup right, as I do have toe out and shims installed. I cannot figure out what is causing all of this free play. Any ideas?
yamaholic22
Active member
is the bell crank loose? All the ball joints getting very worn? Gotta be in those spots somewhere.
mdkuni
New member
Not sure. Nothing really jumped out at me when I was looking. I was just hoping someone could pinpoint what this is by the description. I will have to take a much closer look, as I didn't the first time as I wanted to go ride.
yamaholic22 said:
Yep that's what I would look at as well but I'm kinda suprised that you didn't check that when you adjusted the ski alignment. There aren't too many places in the steering circuit to check for play. Steering column, column connection at the drag link, drag link connection at the bell crank, bell crank tightness, and the steering rods and joints at the bell crank and steering arms.
Do the handle bars move when your holding one ski and moving the other?
Do they move when you check both ski sides?
1 to 2 inches is a lot of play between the skis, I don't think sloppy heim joints would cause this much movement. My guess is either the bell crank is loose or you haven't tightened one or more of the rod ends completly. Was one of the holes in either the bell crank or steering arms damaged in the crash causing movement of the bolt in the hole?
Is it possible that the teeth in one of the spindles and or one of the steering arms were damaged causing slop in the steering arm?
Good luck and let us know what you find.
Greg
mdkuni
New member
I looked at it kind of quick when I was doing ski adjustment but did not see anything obvious so I just left it to see how in handled. The handlebars do not move when I hold one ski and move the other. I did make sure the rod ends were both tightened good, so I know they are all right. I have a couple other things to do to the sled so maybe I will take a closer look at it this weekend. It is my dad's sled though and with all this snow I am wanting to be out there riding my Apex, so that is why I have not looked at it to closely! Thanks again for all the help guys, I will let you know what I find.
mdkuni
New member
I looked over real good and I have it fixed. First of all the nuts on the bolts that hold the ski to the spindle keep coming loose, so that was causing some free play, I will have to lock tight them because it seems like after every ride now they are coming loose. What I believe to be the main problem was the nut and bolt at the top of the spindle was pretty loose on one side and kind of loose on the other (is there a spec I should be tightening these to, I just cranked them so they were nice and snug). I tightened these up and the free play is back to where is should be! 
Thanks for all the help.
Thanks for all the help.
terret725
New member
make sure ur steering nuckled didnt sprip ive had taht happen more then a few times. i drover home one time having to turn one ski every time i ahd to take a sharp corner. if u find out whats wrong i have an entire im parting minus one of the steering rods. so if u need anything let me know.