On the quest for better steering/handling - RS Venture

[MitchRS]

Hello everyone,

I've been slowly acquiring some parts to help fix my loose steering as well as improving the durability of the components used. As we all know, the steering pivot arms have a weak point as to where the plastic bushings wear out and cause sloppy steering. There's also the steering blocks that affect this as well as the freeplay in the tie rod ends and heim joints.

Here is what I've put together so far:

- RX-1 Pivot arms which both have needle bearings
- Needle bearings to replace the plastic bushings (18mm OD, 12MM ID, 12MM Width)
- Metal collars (12MM OD, 10MM ID, 15mm Width)
- Nylon washers (30MM OD, 12MM ID, 1.5MM Width) The only issue with these was that the product description was incorrect and the ID is 13MM but I'll still use them.

The needle bearings fit perfectly into the pivot arms and then the collar fits into the needle bearing

I also received the arm that moves the steering linkages, the one from the RX-1 is solid steel (bottom arm) and weighs more than the aluminum one from my Venture. I'm wondering if I should use the one from RX since it would be more sturdy... What do you think?

I have some billet steering blocks on the way from Ulmer Racing (Thanks Allen!!) which will remove my front to back and side to side slop in my handle bars. I will also keep upgrading parts as I start putting this thing back together and keep this post updated as I add the next items. Things to upgrade will be all tie rod ends, as well as parts 29 and 9 from the schematic. I'll try to replace #9 with a metal collar of some sort to remove the plastic bushing.

Lastly, I'll be replacing all bulkhead bushings with Oilite bushings and the ski's. I have to decide if I go with snow trackers or a good set of carbides when the times comes.

 

[MitchRS]

I was able to add my billet steering blocks this week. I had to tighten the steering post blocks snug since it is fairly tight when moving the bar left to right. As for the block that holds the the steering post that runs down towards the front, that block is holding the post a little too tight so I will have to play with it to free it up a little.

I kept the plastic collar (part #9) on for now as I couldn't figure out a metal replacement piece with the dimensions from this one. The plastic collar is actually still sitting snug on the post so I'm not too worried about it.

 

[MitchRS]

I was finally able to assemble the remaining of the steering components over the weekend. I ended up replacing all tie rod joints with ATV ones, the ones I got are for Yamaha Banshee, Warrior or Raptor. Since they are bigger and longer, I had to shorten rod #24 and I have created my own #29 with the scrap RX-1 tie rod pieces I had laying around. The only area that I will need to use stock ends is the heim joints at the knuckle due to having no clearance.

I had to cut into the body of the sled in order for the tie rod end to clear the space at the top of the steering column, it's not the cleanest looking as it took me a while to open it up due to the tight space. I also added some grease under the boots of the tie rod ends.

I have zero freeplay in the steering now. and don't worry, I have placed cotter pins in place after I took the photos

 

[pdiddy]

Nice upgrades Mitch! Steering linkage is a toss up - not much to be gained by losing a few ounces there. If you plan to ride it aggressively then go for the RX1 link. Otherwise I'd stick with the aluminum.

 

[MitchRS]

Nice upgrades Mitch! Steering linkage is a toss up - not much to be gained by losing a few ounces there. If you plan to ride it aggressively then go for the RX1 link. Otherwise I'd stick with the aluminum.

Thank you, I cannot wait to try it out this winter and see the difference. I don't do much aggressive riding but i do use a lot self made trails in the forest to get to random lakes and fishing spots. There's often a lot of ruts or hidden stumps I run over.

I plan on finally doing some real trail riding this year also.

 

[MitchRS]

With all the steering components done I was finally able to button up some of the front end over this past weekend. I painted my new bottom A-arms as well as the Apex upper A-arms that I bought. I decided to use Dupli-color Metalcast paint and therefor needed to lay a base of chrome paint. The color came out really well and is a very close match to the red panels of my sled.

I got all my oilites bushings in place along with the Apex spindles and also installed the Apex battery tray I had ordered. Feels good to finally be slowly putting things back together.

 

[MitchRS]

I was finally able to put on my new skis and carbides over the weekend and have the sled off the jack stands. I decided to go with C&A Pro MTX skis which are 8" wide and went with the aggressive snow trackers.