Heavy Steering.....what to do?

[MXD]

I know the summer is upon us but I figured I'd ask. I only put 148 miles on my ER last year but I noticed that it was very hard or "heavy" to turn. I have 144 studs, and 8 inch executives. All else is 100% stock. It felt like it wanted to push and fight me. Granted, the conditions sucked...... Where should I start?
Thanks,
Marc

 

[Iceman57]

Switch to Pilot Ski's. You won't be dissapointed.

 

[MXD]

Did you notice the same things when yours was stock?

 

[Iceman57]

Those stock ski's should be outlawed....lol. They are the worst skis I have ever rode with. All they do is dart and push in the corners, very dangerous. Get the Pilots they will make your sled feel like a different sled.

 

[Sled Dog]

I found when I have heavy steering the snow has built up in the steering mechanism and turning to ice in there. Stopped cleared it out and good to go or go to the front of the sled and grab both skis and move them from side to side to break up the ice and free up the mechanism.

 

[MXD]

Is Pilot the OE's name or the model name? Where do I find them?

 

[Iceman57]

The Pilot's are Ski-Doo skis. You can find them on e-bay, here is a link.
http://search.ebay.com/ski-doo-pilot_W0QQfromZR41 The handles are seperate.

 

[MXD]

6.9 or 5.7?



sorry, I'm kinda new

 

[type787x]

MXD, before you spend money, is your rear sus limiter strap pulled up? It's the first thing I suspect when I hear darting / heavy steering complaints. If it is, put it back to stock and go ride befoe you change skis.

The Pilots will reduce darting and steer easier but they don't corner as consistently as the stockers. But this is a personal preference issue. And personally, I'd rather keep stock skis and leave limiter strap in stock position, than pull up the limter strap and then have to go through a bunch of work and money to cure a problem caused by it.

 

[MXD]

I haven't touched the transfer rod or the limiter strap yet. They are both in the "stock" positions

 

[gotspeed24]

how are the c & A skis compared to the pilots?? anyone compare?

 

[Iceman57]

I rode simmons and compared to my pilots i dont like them as much..simmons are heavy steering and push in soft snow,but are fine in hardpack but heavy..

pilots are very light steering,rail on hardpack,dont dart and also dont push...i think a pilot with a 6" in center and stock 4" outside is the best overal setup for an apex you can get.

Ive rode ones with precisions and YIKES i hated it,simmons are OK but just too heavy for my liking

dan

I have the Pilots on my sled. After spending 2000 miles with the crap stockers, I gave up. You can put on bigger carbides, smaller carbides, shim them up, shim them down, adjust the weight transfer, and you still will have a sled that steers like crap. You can never get it to have good solid steering, (not too heavy) that won’t dart. If you like to pick up the pace and have solid steering that won’t wear you out, good luck with the stockers.

The Pilots bolt right on, (reverse the outer bushing and gain a little in ski stance). I run stock Ski-Doo carbides in the outside, and 6 inch shapers on the center and it steers nice. The darting is minimal to non existent. It is aggressive this way, but I like it . For trail, forget the C&A ski’s. I have 3 sleds we sno-cross race, and they are a RACE ski. Try a 300 mile day on groomed trails; your arms will fall off.

I haven't heard from anyone who doesn't like the Pilots!!!!!!

 

[Bodacious]

Not try'n to sway you one way or the other but.... last winter my Buds 05' Renegade X was darting big time. We checked alignment and compared suspension set up with another 05' X Gade. He still wasn't happy so we put on on new pair of the 6.7 piilots, but on trail that sled would pitch back and forth so hard and often that your shoulder blades and hips would become sore. We threw those off and installed a set of SLT's,.... better,... but still pitched a ton, finally we put on a set of Simmons that I had left over from my 04' X Gade and they worked the best of what we tried. Now this testing was done on a totally different sled and chassis, but those were the results that we encountered.

 

[welterracer]

I put the 5.7 pilots on too.. I havent gotton a chance to try them out yet..

But i had done my homework and i never heard any complaints from anyone about them

 

[welterracer]

you could try using 6 inch carbides..