New to me 08 Nytro - bad darting

[Cascadian]

Picked up a 2008 Nytro MTX 153" this season with 1150 miles on it and pretty much stock except a slip on muffler. After riding it a couple times I noticed the darting was pretty much unbearable. At this point I started researching online and it appears this is a common problem with this chassis. I have played with the pressure in the fox float 2 air shocks up front and rotated the rubber that rides above the skis as those are some of the main recommendations I could find. Unfortunately I am still having pretty alarming darting issues to the point I feel the sled is dangerous to ride. When the front is jacked up off the ground, I noticed a decent amount of play side to side in the skis and I am wondering if the ball joints are shot. Could that be possible at less than 1200 miles? Lo0king for any other solutions or things to try before replacing front end components or selling the sled.

 

[DGZRT]

My brother had an 08 Nytro. Start by lifting front end off the ground .
Grab the back of the "A" arms by the bulk head and try and move back and forth. If lots of movement your bushings are shot
Next look down at the shock going thru the arms . If the spring is up against the arms then the bulk head is bent .
look ball joints over for play.
If all this is good move onto the skis. Don't turn your rubbers around ! Make them right and shim the backs of the rubbers https://www.hardcoresledder.com/threads/ski-shims-101-why-and-how.497465/
This is a good read.
Next make sure your toed out at the tips of your skis . My brother had the best results at 1/4" on each ski .
Then set your shocks loose in the front. or let your air out until your arms are level .
My brother liked Ski doos 6.9 skis with the dual carbides . These skis helped . Many have run the Dual keel Turner skis from Yamaha with good luck .

Start by checking the above and give it a try .

 

[74Nitro]

The bottom A arm ball joints on these are a problem and make the steering stick and the sled feels terrible to drive.

 

[grizztracks]

Set the toe out to 3/8"- 1/2" total, If running stock skis install Stud Boy Deuce bars and shim the rear of the rubbers 3/16". Also, make sure the ski rubbers are installed properly... the notches in the rubber goes forward. To improve handling remove the top ball joints and have 2.5 mm machined off the shoulder. This gives it more negative camber which is all the 2008 geometry really needs.

 

[m.schuey7]

You can make all the adjustments but it wont change it much. There are a few fixes that work: Mountaintech A arm kit or JRE Spindles.

 

[grizztracks]

Adjustments on a Nytro are critical to making it handle properly. Maybe more so with the FX platform than any other sled out there. Yes, there are aftermarket options out there that can further improve handling but you still need to make the proper adjustments to maximize a Nytro's performance. I've ran aftermarket spindles along with a-arms and actually did the testing for the Mountaintech trail a-arms. Both are good options but there's much more to it than just replacing parts.

 

[Mountaintech]

Picked up a 2008 Nytro MTX 153" this season with 1150 miles on it and pretty much stock except a slip on muffler. After riding it a couple times I noticed the darting was pretty much unbearable. At this point I started researching online and it appears this is a common problem with this chassis. I have played with the pressure in the fox float 2 air shocks up front and rotated the rubber that rides above the skis as those are some of the main recommendations I could find. Unfortunately I am still having pretty alarming darting issues to the point I feel the sled is dangerous to ride. When the front is jacked up off the ground, I noticed a decent amount of play side to side in the skis and I am wondering if the ball joints are shot. Could that be possible at less than 1200 miles? Lo0king for any other solutions or things to try before replacing front end components or selling the sled.

The balljoints could be shot at that mileage. I had a Phazer with 432 miles that had ball joints that were totally trashed. If you are planning on riding that MTX off trail you definitely want to replace the factory front end. The factory set up fights everything you try to do. The spindles need to go forward 3" and the ski stance needs to get narrower. The difference will shock you.

 

[Mountaintech]

You can make all the adjustments but it wont change it much. There are a few fixes that work: Mountaintech A arm kit or JRE Spindles.

You do not want to put JRE's lowering spindles on an MTX located in Western Washington. The stock spindles are also not the problem.

 

[SumpBuster]

Ski pressure behind the spindle makes the skis want to track straight, but increases steering effort, any pressure in front of the spindles makes a sled dart. That's been my number 1 observations on every sled since they started making independent fronts. Ski Doo used to have a sliding shim back in the 90''s that changed the ski heel pressure. Makes a huge difference, as does proper toe out and a set of duallies or slim jims.

 

[Hooray!]

Yamaha released geometry in 2008 that was optimal for their factory riders. For us means worn parts quickly unless you fix the pressure points on suspension. In 2009 they made a dramatic front suspension change by relaxing the spindles by full degrees, rare to make such an error on a production sled. Mountaintech redesigned the A arms correctly and can explain all the bad geometry fixes. My 2009 they added a frame gusset to prevent bending between A arms, relaxed spindle angle and developed Tuner skis to copy the successful dual runner Ski Doo ski. My Fornt End + thread documents my maintenance, I went with all new front end wear items, 2013 Tuner II skis with the full Bergstrom kit, reverse new stock rubbers, triple points, ski savers and shims in rear. Their system rocks on trails, no darting like on rails. Tuners are narrow and suck in powder if you try to steer the sled, but we have tons of motor so I jet ski it when there is 24"+ snow, use power to steer sled, like surfing, works great. If you ride off trail, curves and a few other skis noted here work well. When I upgrade will be Mountaintech 42" A arms and Curves.