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Electric Power Steering

Simplespeed

Expert
Joined
Jan 8, 2022
Messages
492
Age
65
Location
1191 Sauk Lane , Saginaw, Mi. 48638
Country
USA
Snowmobile
2006 Apex , 2017 Sidewinder LTX -LE
Tell you how you can tell if you got your sidewinder sled handling dialed in … Get on a newer sidewinder and if you don’t notice a big difference between them then your sled is set correctly. My 2017 is very comparable to my new 2024 Ltx with power steering as far as the effort it takes to steer it … Now to be fair in this comparison, my 2024 only has 4” carbide and my 2017 has six duel carbide.. Both are very easy to steer and both rail around the corners with ease… Not complaining here just stating what I have noticed after 35 miles during some break in…
 

The real benefit of the power steering is at low speed, especially when you have a lot of carbide. The faster the speed, the less the power steering is felt.
 
Yes you are correct and I was aware of that. My point was if your older pro cross non-power steering sled is comparable to the newer EPS ( Light Steering ) effort at lower speeds with good carbide then your running or on your way to running a pretty good set up.. On the other hand if your sticking them ski’s into the ground so hard it takes alot of effort ( hard steering ) then you have room for improvement and you can make adjustments that will improve your steering effort.
 
Tell you how you can tell if you got your sidewinder sled handling dialed in … Get on a newer sidewinder and if you don’t notice a big difference between them then your sled is set correctly. My 2017 is very comparable to my new 2024 Ltx with power steering as far as the effort it takes to steer it … Now to be fair in this comparison, my 2024 only has 4” carbide and my 2017 has six duel carbide.. Both are very easy to steer and both rail around the corners with ease… Not complaining here just stating what I have noticed after 35 miles during some break in…
I have a 17 LTXLE and I would very much like your formula on mine to steer and handle as you claim yours does . I have a stinray front spring and cannot seem to find the sweet spot for steering effort and ride comfort . Thanks
 
I have a 17 LTXLE and I would very much like your formula on mine to steer and handle as you claim yours does . I have a stinray front spring and cannot seem to find the sweet spot for steering effort and ride comfort . Thanks
In order to help you lets start in detail at the beginning what was changed, adjusted, and added to better understand where your at. Need more information on your weight fully dressed, studding, carbide, explain what and why you added a stingray spring ? Miles on sled as all this information is critical to getting it right..
 
Tell you how you can tell if you got your sidewinder sled handling dialed in … Get on a newer sidewinder and if you don’t notice a big difference between them then your sled is set correctly. My 2017 is very comparable to my new 2024 Ltx with power steering as far as the effort it takes to steer it … Now to be fair in this comparison, my 2024 only has 4” carbide and my 2017 has six duel carbide.. Both are very easy to steer and both rail around the corners with ease… Not complaining here just stating what I have noticed after 35 miles during some break in…
I agree. I have a 2018 t cat always had nice light steering. I did put a gse power steering on before last season. Only got to put 20 mi on it last season and can’t say i really noticed any earth shattering difference. Maybe when I get a few miles on that will change
 
Its not the stingray spring. Unless your 130 pounds soaking wet or 285. Been running this spring on all my sleds for a few years now. We need more details on your front shocks/springs/limiter strap, your weight, skis, carbides etc
 
Its not the stingray spring. Unless your 130 pounds soaking wet or 285. Been running this spring on all my sleds for a few years now. We need more details on your front shocks/springs/limiter strap, your weight, skis, carbides etc
I agree , thats why I asked him for details..
 
I have a 17 LTXLE and I would very much like your formula on mine to steer and handle as you claim yours does . I have a stinray front spring and cannot seem to find the sweet spot for steering effort and ride comfort . Thanks
Ditch that center spring and go back to a dual-rate setup.
Limiter strap suck up 1-2 holes. Arctic Cat 6" trail skis with Snow Studs Double Down carbides (choose your carbide length based on the amount of studs that you have)

I tried that Stingray spring on the center shock on my Viper and it wasn't worth a crap. I like the stock 90/250 center spring that came stock on my 17 LTX SE (worked well on the Viper too). Your LTX LE would have had the QS3R center shock with a different dual-rate spring spring setup from the factory, as far as I know.
 
Tell you how you can tell if you got your sidewinder sled handling dialed in … Get on a newer sidewinder and if you don’t notice a big difference between them then your sled is set correctly. My 2017 is very comparable to my new 2024 Ltx with power steering as far as the effort it takes to steer it … Now to be fair in this comparison, my 2024 only has 4” carbide and my 2017 has six duel carbide.. Both are very easy to steer and both rail around the corners with ease… Not complaining here just stating what I have noticed after 35 miles during some break in…

Well honestly if you're running dually carbides on the older non EPS sled, its going to be easy steering. You can put mega pressure on dually's and it will steer easily, but they will also push really bad in the corners with any speed at all. Put good carbides on that actually steer with enough pressure to plant them decent, and you'll see how much easier the EPS steers vs the non EPS machine.

I ran the BOP mechanical arms on my old 17 along with Aggressive Snowtrackers which are known to steer easily and go where pointed, it steered plenty easily for me, but the EPS machines are so much better as far the cushioning effect with hits to the skis, and are easier to steer by quite a large margin still.

I found out really early on the old RX-1's days that dually were rear for eliminating the darting and making steering easy, but no amount of ski pressure or limiter strap tightening could make it rail corners with them bolted up to the skis. Putting back single carbides made it a awful bear to steer with the aggressive ski pressure I added for the dually carbides. Any sled I ran dually carbides on could not be run quick thru the corners, I don't care what they were bolted onto. So just putting dually on any sled make it steer easily as they float on top of the snow and not dig down in the corner. It's like steering it with the front end off the ground.
 
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Well honestly if you're running dually carbides on the older non EPS sled, its going to be easy steering. You can put mega pressure on dually's and it will steer easily, but they will also push really bad in the corners with any speed at all. Put good carbides on that actually steer with enough pressure to plant them decent, and you'll see how much easier the EPS steers vs the non EPS machine.

I ran the BOP mechanical arms on my old 17 along with Aggressive Snowtrackers which are known to steer easily and go where pointed, it steered plenty easily for me, but the EPS machines are so much better as far the cushioning effect with hits to the skis, and are easier to steer by quite a large margin still.

I found out really early on the old RX-1's days that dually were rear for eliminating the darting and making steering easy, but no amount of ski pressure or limiter strap tightening could make it rail corners with them bolted up to the skis. Putting back single carbides made it a awful bear to steer with the aggressive ski pressure I added for the dually carbides. Any sled I ran dually carbides on could not be run quick thru the corners, I don't care what they were bolted onto. So just putting dually on any sled make it steer easily as they float on top of the snow and not dig down in the corner. It's like steering it with the front end off the ground………..
I believe your testing and experience to be true and accurate. I also believe the chassis has room for enough adjustments to make most set ups turn better in most ( not All ) cases. Now that being said every single set up will be a little different to get spot on.. Twyztid above stated you have to match carbide with traction and this is true no mater what you run. Really what he was saying you need to balance these two first then start with chassis adjustments.. I believe you can make most winders turn better around the corner without replacing parts. I will try to get pictures posted of my set up for everyone to look at and if it helps them turn better then it should be safer for all. Pushing in the corners is no fun and it’s dangerous to all.
 
Ok here is my current set up on my 2017 LTX-LE complete with current pictures and exact measurements on this set up.. Front shocks are adjusted as follows 45 threads or 3 1/4” from top to spring retainer. Dial on One , bottom rebound adjustor on 7 clicks.. IMG_0589.jpeg
IMG_0589.jpeg
 
Front Track Shock … There 8 threads from top to spring retainer or 3/4 “ Limiter straps are full lenght and not shorten.. They are tight when sled is at rest just sitting there no slack… Dial on front track shock is on two ( 2 ). Rear Springs has adjustment nut set on stiffest setting . Transfer Rod in rear has had plastic blocks removed and replaced with a proper size peice of Radiator hose.. Rear shock dial is set at Two (2)
 
Studding on this sled is 1,575 Mega Bites interior band two (2) studs , Single Round Aluminum plates with tall aluminum nuts.. Carbide is currently 5 1/4” duel bars on Tuner ski’s . When studs hole were drilled they under size which makes for a very tight hole and less stud flex.
 


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