2009 RS Venture GT 2 up ski lift, tippy in twisty trails

[venturenorth]

i just got sled, only 900 miles, i am usually riding solo, mostly in twisty, wooded trails......and altho sled is designed for 2 up touring, i find i am having ski lift and tippy feeling in twisty trails....really have to slow down or will drift or tip......i believe sled is set up for 2-up, firmer settings.....now having to really lean and work on seat to stay in control....have bergstroms on to control push, too...

any suggestions to set up suspension for more 1 up riding, or am i stuck....? thanks

 

[Sled Dog]

Tighten your limiter straps one hole and compress or shorten your front shock to put more weight on the front skis. Keep us posted how it works.

 

[dfapexride]

Venture north,

front shocks have already been done like the previous post suggested. I'm not sure about the limiter strap. you might want to find out stock hole position then adjust if it's still stock.

DF

 

[oldguy2]

I think he means the front skid shock. They are set really stiff from the factory. Back the adjuster nut almost down to the bottom of the shock. only leave a few threads. You may have heavy steering after, so loosen the front shocks as well, and then keep adjusting a little at a time until you find the right spot between good steering and no tipyness.

 

[whitedust1]

Helped venturenorth yesterday...Front shocks are as hard as possible no adjustment left. How do you get the center shock nut to turn no spanner wrench in standard tool kit to fit huge nut. What do the 2 threaded rod nuts in rear of skid do? How much does clicker affect ride on rear shock?

 

[oldguy2]

The front shocks should be loosened(spring lengthened) after you loosen the front skid shock. There are actually two nuts. One is a lock nut. You need a spanner or possibly some water pump pliers. The two threaded rods are transfer rods and I think they have something to do with weight transfer. The limiter strap stops the front of the skid from dropping too far.

 

[yamadoo]

I had good luck with Lowering the ride hieght by Skis loose on spring so when haging just enough tension to keep from rattling, and loosen the spring on the front skid shock to soften it up and let the sled settle down on the skiis.

I run the rear rear shock on soft as well. Not great but alot better than stock. My son rode it and said, wow what did you do? So it is a noticable improvement.

Yamadoo

 

[whitedust1]

Wow we have 2 completely different front end sets ups all the way soft & all the way hard? I would agree softening the center shock will bring more weight on front skis too + more ski pressure. But too much ice to even get at center shock adjustment & not easy. We did soften rear shock cam to softest position & was medium & felt more progression thru the travel which was different not sure better but up to Venturenorth. I'm thinking easest might be to pull limiter down as next thing. On #1 hole now. How many holes should we tighten & what is negative side of this less travel?

 

[whitedust1]

Oh forgot to add venturenorth is running snowtrackers not Bergstroms as 1st stated. He has zero darting none at all just worried aboutt ski lift & tippy.

 

[venturenorth]

2009 rs venture gt tippy when riding 1 up......

just tightened up the limiter straps one hole, seems to have lowered the sled a bit....will test ride and see if helpsd in twistys....next step would be loosen center or front shocks?

 

[Koenig]

I have the same 2009 Venture GT, new to me this year with 1400KMs, basically brand new, just broken in! 1st ride was scarey.... machine was tippy and uncontrollable (probably why the lady sold it!). I, 1st, softened the ski spring preload as well as the skid shock spring until they(springs) were all just loose when machine was jacked up(front & rear) off the ground. I also placed the rear torsion springs at the lightest of 3 settings. Adjusted all shocks 6 clicks in from soft... took it for a drive.... better, but not great. Next, added 1/4" more tension to the front ski springs, better again but still not happy! Lifted the rear track off the ground, loosened the skid shock spring to the max, sat the track back down, placed limiter straps in #2 hole(stock =#1), readjusted skid shock spring to just less than loose(track off the ground) and another drive.... Best yet!!! still not 100%, but much better. Still more minor adjustments to make, one at a time. Oh, yes, this machine was shoed with Snowtrackers.
This machine is one heavy pig..... the trails are somewhat groomed, but the edge of the trails are still soft, and ride the edge is asking for trouble. As a touring machine, excellent comfort, all the bells & whistles, really enjoyable, but did I mention... heavy!!!

 

[oldguy2]

Yes the front skid shock is a pain to get at. lift the back up so the track drops. you need to loosen that skid shock if you tightened the limiter strap. the shock is pushing down but the strap is holding it up. when you soften the skid spring, it lowers the front of the sled and puts more pressure on the skis. if you don't soften the ski shocks, then you end up with hard steering unless you have eps. if you soften them too much you get tippyness. you have to try to understand how the suspension works and how the adjustments affect it. I went through the same thing. Just make one change at a time.

 

[venturenorth]

special wrench for shock nuts ?

well, is there a supposed to be a tool that fits these big front shock adjusting and locknuts..? i don't want to mess these up with a big channel locks..??????...nothing in my tool kit that fits.....

 

[Koenig]

My toolkit had the adjusting spanner... pretty cheap, but works... barely! I have a much better adjustment wrench that was purchased for my last toy/car.... Other threads have mentioned using a flat screwdriver, inserting in one of the slots and trapping loose. Another used channel locks...! The tool that came with the machine now acts as a 2nd wrench to re-tighten/lock the 2 adjuster nuts together. Lift the track off the ground.... much easier to work the adjustment nuts...

 

[SounderMN]

Re: special wrench for shock nuts ?

well, is there a supposed to be a tool that fits these big front shock adjusting and locknuts..? i don't want to mess these up with a big channel locks..??????...nothing in my tool kit that fits.....

I have used a pipe wrench on it with much success. I think you will just need to soften everything up to lower the ride height. I have a vector and that all made a huge difference. Do a search for theCatMan setup, and use similar settings to start with.