Steering problem, any ideas?

[fishmounter]

97 xcr when traveling 30 miles per hour or faster the snowmobile gets squirrely at 50 mph it really jumps from side to side and hard to stay on a straight line. I did hit a bolt sticking out of concrete that did not bend anything, skis are tight with no play and steering is tight with no play.

[Macgyver55]

First thing to check is the toe. Measure the distance between the skis at the front (center) and again at the rear (center) to determine if they are in line correctly. Normally about an eighth inch toe out will help reduce darting. The adjustments are made on the tie rod ends. You could also back off the ski pressure some with the shock adjustment for a bit more help reducing darting. These two things combined should help quite a bit.

[fishmounter]

Hey thanks for the reply and will give it a shot, thanks...........

[BoxMN]

I know it is really basic question, but this one got me before (I am relative newbie with just 4 years expereince with sleds) - are the carbides good? Meaning, not just a quick check, but a good check? On my xc500 I didn't look enough, and they were wore in middle (bottom center) but not on upper ends of the "banana shaped" skis. Good luck!

[NAMASafetyDirector]

The way the rear suspension is set up can and will have an effect on the steering as well. If the front track shock is shot or soft it will add more weight to the front of the sled causing the steering effort to be increased and exaggerate any misaligment, carbide wear, loose tie rod ends etc. Also the position of the front limiter strap (on the rail) can and will have an affect on this as well. If the limiter strap is short and has the front of the rail pulled up you will get the similar effect as mentioned above. Check these things, put on a set of new carbides and as mentioned above, set the toe to about 1/8" out and it should be better for ya!