Pulls to the right?

[Doc Harley]

Out of the gate my sled pulls (kinda hard) to the right. I put more weight on the left & try to counter steer. Just curious if anyone had same & solved it?

Like I don't have enough issues. Lol.

 

[KnappAttack]

The cross shafts and bolts in the suspension act as torsion bars when tightened in the suspension. It's putting more pressure on the left front and right rear driving the sled to the right. The reason is the bolt twist when tightened down and become torsion bars.

When I have the suspension apart, I preload the right front and left rear to normalize the pressure. I install short 2x4s under the left front and right rear and then use an impact to tighten everything up while standing on the right front and left rear. Confusing right?

The key is you dont want more pressure and weight on the left front. We band-aided it at the racetrack by lightning the left limiter on the front arm to allow more pressure to the right front, to keep the sled going straight, otherwise it will always drive right due to the torsion acting on the suspension under power.


Also, if your compensating by leaning left its counterproductive. Sounds weird, but it needs more weight on the right side of the sled. If you leaned to the right and keep the weight low on the running boards, it would plant those picks on the right harder bringing the sled back to the left. The only way leaning left works is if you can literally jerk the sled back into line, and I dont know many that are that big and strong enough to do that on a Winder.

 

[Doc Harley]

So if I'm reading that correctly I need to pull the skid, loosen all the bolts, add 2x4's to left front and right rear corners.
Then go ahead and torque them down?
Kinda try to distort the rails in that way?

And yes, you make sense in regards to weight distribution.
Cuz the way I was doing things sure wasn't working. Lol.

 

[KnappAttack]

So if I'm reading that correctly I need to pull the skid, loosen all the bolts, add 2x4's to left front and right rear corners.
Then go ahead and torque them down?
Kinda try to distort the rails in that way?

And yes, you make sense in regards to weight distribution.
Cuz the way I was doing things sure wasn't working. Lol.

Yes, while standing on the right front and left rear with your weight, Kinda like a game of Twister, then tighten it all down. Bolts and cross shafts acting as torsion bars will naturally make the sled go right. Because as they get tightened, they get preloaded the opposite way their getting tightened. Ultimately, you want the rails sitting flat and putting the same amount of pressure down when you flex it up or down either way on the front of the rails.

 

[Doc Harley]

Yes, while standing on the right front and left rear with your weight, Kinda like a game of Twister, then tighten it all down. Bolts and cross shafts acting as torsion bars will naturally make the sled go right. Because as they get tightened, they get preloaded the opposite way their getting tightened. Ultimately, you want the rails sitting flat and putting the same amount of pressure down when you flex it up or down either way on the front of the rails.

Completely understand. Thank you for explaining.

 

[KnappAttack]

Worry about the suspension last. Just get it running and on point first.