Off Trail Mike
Gone Riding!
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2009
- Messages
- 703
- Reaction score
- 39
- Points
- 838
- Location
- Bathurst, NB, Canada
- Country
- Canada
- Snowmobile
- MTX
Had same issue on my MTX. Noticed the steering way stiffer than I remember and compared to my Summit, it was ridiculously stiff.
Disassembled the OFT relocator, and polished all the aluminum mounts to make sure there were no burrs or anything else that might cause a fit issue with the oilite bushings. Basically your oilites should freely move in and out of the aluminum mounts when assembled and clamped, and there should be a bit of a gap between them. On the work bench, I used two 5/16 bolts to clamp the bottom mount tight and the included hex cap screws for the top mount. Once everything was moving well, I reassembled on the sled.
I installed and tightened the bottom mount first, and made sure I had some slack to move the steering shaft up and down (maybe 0.020"). I then tightened the top mount to make sure I still had the same slack, so the mounts weren't jamming along the the length of the steering shaft.
After confirming the OFT was free, I greased all the heim/ball joints and applied grease to the lower pivot arm (the piece that your tie rods and steering link is attached to). This piece was definitely dry and in need of grease.
Test drove the sled yesterday and night and day difference.
I don't think the OFT relocator was contributing much to the steering tightness, but if you don't bend the lower bolts to the proper angle, it will definitely bind your lower mount. I had that problem when I first assembled.
To me the biggest offender was the lower pivot arm. It doesn't have a grease fitting but there is a needle bearing in there, so make sure you are getting some lube into the top and bottom. It looks like a beast to remove, so that's wasn't an option for me....
Sled has 2400km's on it for reference.
OTM
Disassembled the OFT relocator, and polished all the aluminum mounts to make sure there were no burrs or anything else that might cause a fit issue with the oilite bushings. Basically your oilites should freely move in and out of the aluminum mounts when assembled and clamped, and there should be a bit of a gap between them. On the work bench, I used two 5/16 bolts to clamp the bottom mount tight and the included hex cap screws for the top mount. Once everything was moving well, I reassembled on the sled.
I installed and tightened the bottom mount first, and made sure I had some slack to move the steering shaft up and down (maybe 0.020"). I then tightened the top mount to make sure I still had the same slack, so the mounts weren't jamming along the the length of the steering shaft.
After confirming the OFT was free, I greased all the heim/ball joints and applied grease to the lower pivot arm (the piece that your tie rods and steering link is attached to). This piece was definitely dry and in need of grease.
Test drove the sled yesterday and night and day difference.
I don't think the OFT relocator was contributing much to the steering tightness, but if you don't bend the lower bolts to the proper angle, it will definitely bind your lower mount. I had that problem when I first assembled.
To me the biggest offender was the lower pivot arm. It doesn't have a grease fitting but there is a needle bearing in there, so make sure you are getting some lube into the top and bottom. It looks like a beast to remove, so that's wasn't an option for me....
Sled has 2400km's on it for reference.
OTM
