Slop in Steering/Handlebars on 06 Apex GT

[Homer]

I did a few searches on this and did not come up with anything. I bought an 06 Apex GT earlier this year. There did not seem to be alot of freeplay in the handlebars/steering mechanism when I got it. After a 550 miles in the UP, I seem to have quite a bit of movement in the bars without any movement in the skis.

Is this a normal condition, or is there some problem area I should look at? The sled has about 3200 miles on it.

Thanks!

 

[apexgt4life]

yea same here, have heard its normal, does not seem right though

 

[studdog]

Need to replace bushings in steering assembly. They start to wear after 4000 miles or so. They are covered by warranty.

 

[schmeg]

There is a fair amount of play which acually comes from 2 different ball joints in the linkage and where the linkage joins the control arms. Loose bushing can make it worse. Lift the front of the sled off the floor and try to wiggle the ski spindles back and forth. Some play is normal. A lot isn't. Allen Ulmer sells some nice replacement bushings.

 

[06RTXRider]

I had a similar problem with my apex and did some searching and found the metal bracket that holds the lower bushing on the streering column had come loose and was egging out the mounting holes on the chassis. I snugged these down as tight as i could get them and will have to further inspect this summer. This accounted for approx. 1/2 of the play i had.
The remaining play seems to come from the lower bushing itself as well as the small ball joints in the linkage itself.

There are so many bushings/linkages in this setup the smallest amout of play in each joint really adds up when you get to the end of the handlebars

 

[bigbigrichie]

my dealer is trying to claim my skis are causing the slop i have, because they are bigger aftermarket skis Dont know if warrenty will cover this i only have 828 miles and theres way too much slop all ready