Sport atv toe-in-toe-out

[Anthony_C]

OK Guys and Girls, I've been playing with my toe-in on my DS650. I set it to 3/16" toe-in with a total of 3/8". I'd like to share what I found, well most ATV's have a little play in the tie rod ends. Mine has about 1/16" to 3/32 and they're good. I remember replacing the tie rod ends on my 300 Honda 4X4, and it made no difference at all! Getting to what I did. I placed a straight edge from the rear wheel to the front wheel, and carefully eyed the direction of the front wheel. I used 2 bungie cords to hold the handle bars straight, and adjusted each tie rod so my 2 front wheels were toed in 3/16". Well here's what happened, I decided to take a ride around my house a few times. I pulled into my garage and made sure my handle bars were straight ahead. I checked the right wheels toe, and it was 3/8". The left side was straight ahead. I scracthed my head, so around the house again I went. Pulled bck into the garage, and checked it again. It was the same. The right wheel 3/8" left wheel straight ahead. Now this time I tried it once more. I got the same reading again. Now I made my adjustments on each wheel to 3/16" I went around the house, pulled in the garage . This time it was on the money, so when you think you have your handle bars straight. You may not! Now my wheels started turning and turning, I was thinking of a toe-in gauge I remember seeing when I was a kid. So I started looking and looking on the internet. I found one! I didn't get it yet, when I do get it. I will be happy to share my opinion with you on how well it works. This coming Wednesday night I'm headed for the Hatfield McCoy Trails in Southern WV. I'll let you know how the DS handles when I get it up to the twitchey speeds. The DS's have that twitchey feeling, and I've read it more that once. When you get it up to about 50 to55 it starts that dance. Well I aim to fix it without buying A arms. The camber is negative, and that's a good thing. My caster is not bad, meaning the lower balljoint is further forward than the upper balljoint. If it were a knig pin, the top would be at 11 Oclock, and the bottom would be a 5 Oclock on the right side of the 4 wheeler. The left side the top is at 1 Oclock, and the bottom is at 7 Oclock. So the caster is OK as well. Which means I have a positive caster.So I'm gonna call my work testing and experimentation, and I will be happy to share it with all of you. The toe gauge I ordered is made by S&G tools #SGT61100, you can see what it looks like using google. Just type in SGT61100 and you'll find it. Anthony

[Ajmboy]

Very interesting. I am curious how it rides. I used to work under a Hunter alignment rack for about 5 years when I was a bit younger, at Sears Auto. We used to bang them (alignments) out. With my atvs, I do everything by eye.. Not the correct way ofcourse.

That gauge is nice, you'll be able to do your cars too..

Keep us posted!

[Sc0tt]

Yeah definitely let us know how it goes and with the alignment gauge.

[Anthony_C]

I will more than happy to share what I found, and how it's working out. Thanks for the intrest, it makes me want to figure it out faster. But the slower you go, the faster you get there. When you're going backwards of coarse. It makes me more determined to work on it. Ajmboy, I guess you understood exactly what I was talking about, I like that so if I make a mistake on sharing something you can help me out with the frontends. I'm not a frontend technician, but I do read up on what makes a better controling frontend. My 4 wheeler has the right axis for a fair handling off road. I'd like everyone to understand what the frontend needs to handle. The sport ATV's in my opinion could stand to be toed-in. Remember these ATV's are not real heavy, they are under a 1,000lbs. So they will handle with a toe-in setup, and they're not doing 100 MPH either. We ride on dirt, mud, rock, and gravel. I like to get the rear to slide around a turn so the inside wheel doesn't come off the ground. Go to this website, and read how a frontend works to keep you on track. Anthony

Caster, Camber, Toe

[Anthony_C]

Well the DS handles like a rock, no more darting from left to right at high speeds. The damper does it's job, it's like a totally different quad! The toe-in 3/16" did the job! It always handled well for it's size and weight, not as good as the lighter spot quads. Like the Honda 450R, or the Yamaha YF450. The DS will never handle as well, unless there's a maniac riding it! I'm not a maniac on it at all, I just love the power and how it climbs without getting real aggressive on the rocky trails. On the steep loose trails, you must be aggressive for the speed and momentum to get to the apex in one piece! I had a great a Hatfield McCoy Trails, we did 167 miles in three days riding. Looking forward to returning in the fall. Anthony

[Sc0tt]

That sounds awesome. Glad it worked good for you. I would like to ride a DS sometime.