Venture GT loose steering in column?

[maim]

well mine has 36000 km on it but it started with 34 and 41. i think my play in 29 was bolt being loose but have never replaced it yet.

 

[MitchRS]

well mine has 36000 km on it but it started with 34 and 41. i think my play in 29 was bolt being loose but have never replaced it yet.

Good to know, I'm at 24000 km's but this thing was beat up by the previous owner so I've been replacing a lot of stuff. I'll start down low and make my way up.

Are you able to verify if your arms that connect at the knuckles have some up-down/side to side play in them? I'm just not sure if this is normal or if they should be fully tightened in place.

Thanks!

 

[maim]

from what i remeber during pre season, i had up and down play in the spindles but all the bushings are still tight but it has had oil lite bushings in it since around 8000 km. straight front to back play is normal. rocking left to right play is not. my 2016 apex xtx started season at 7500 km and was still good and tight on the oe plastic bushings but i am running a bulkhead saver from barn of parts on both sleds.

 

[MitchRS]

I'll be changing all my bushings during the summer as I strip her down and put in some oilites in place. My steering arms have play from side to side so I'll see what the real issue is once I take the spindles out and check for wear, unless the it's just a case of the bolt not being tight enough.

 

[greatwhitenorth]

I realized you posted this a little while back, how did you make your bushings? With a lathe or? I have the same issue in my 09 Venture GT with #34 and #41 having play. I also have some play in the same linkage as RobX-1 has and I have some up and down/side to side play in the arms that connect at the knuckles.

Made them on a lathe. Have read others replaced with OE and get a few seasons out of them if you dont have access to a lathe (pretty easy to replace).

 

[MitchRS]

Made them on a lathe. Have read others replaced with OE and get a few seasons out of them if you dont have access to a lathe (pretty easy to replace).

Nice! I'm jealous you have access to a lathe. The strange thing with mine is that the plastic bushings are fine, my collars are worn out from the inside which is where my play is coming from. the previous owner installed the bracket incorrectly which actually caused the plastic bushings to start wearing out the aluminum which is weird.

 

[bjowett]

A couple of tid-bits.

Grease seals can be added to the steering blocks, they are molded to accept the seals. A simple -214 X-Ring can be used, or Yamaha produces seals for the ATVs that should fit (need to verify).

The idler pivot arm in the swing set steering can be replaced with the unit from an early RX-1. Instead of bushings, it has needle bearings like the pitman pivot arm. Both arms have bosses that can be be drilled and tapped to accept zerk fittings.

 

[MitchRS]

A couple of tid-bits.

Grease seals can be added to the steering blocks, they are molded to accept the seals. A simple -214 X-Ring can be used, or Yamaha produces seals for the ATVs that should fit (need to verify).

The idler pivot arm in the swing set steering can be replaced with the unit from an early RX-1. Instead of bushings, it has needle bearings like the pitman pivot arm. Both arms have bosses that can be be drilled and tapped to accept zerk fittings.

The earliest RX-1 I can find is a 2003? When I look at the steering schematics in partzilla, it shows the same plastic bushings that's in my 09 venture..

 

[bjowett]

The picture shows the bushing, however, the part number will be the same as the needle bearing in the pitman arm. Note that the arm is also different. As far as I’m aware, you can‘t install the bearings into the idler arm that is made for the bushings. The “ bearing“ arm is no longer available from Yamaha, but they are pretty easy to source from the usual places.

Bushing equipped arm.

Bearing equipped arm.

 

[MitchRS]

Oh I see what you mean. I thought you meant that the rx1 has needle bearings in the idler arm. The metal collar that sits in the plastic bushing is what is worn on .ine but it would be a good idea to also get a pitman arm with the bearing.

I'm looking into figuring something for the idler arm I don't want to replace the bushings with plastic ones again.

Thanks for the help