Hey had a question for you guys/girls that did this... My wife has a 300EX and I have the 400EX and we let people borrow it and came back a little messed up. The 300EX drives straight, but the steering is off center when doing so. As far as I can tell the steering to the wheels going straight is off as well as the head light being off. All 3 really don't match. Is this hard to fix?? Should I take her to the dealership or something I can do at home?

Any input is appreciated.

 

Do it yourself, unless you want to pay the dealer $65 an hour to do something that will take you about ten minutes to do.

Use some tie down straps on your handlebars to hold them straight, then loosen the nuts on your tie rods, then twist the tie rods until you get your desired toe out/in setting, then tighten the nuts back up.

 

Thanks man. I've never even seen the tie rods, but taking her apart this weekend so I'm sure I'll be able to find what you're talking about. I'm assuming it should be pretty easy to figure out. Thanks for your reply.

 

You have four things going from your frame to the front spindles.1-upper a-arm. 2-lower a-arm. 3-brake line. 4-tie rod.

It is really easy to align the front end. Don't be skeerd.

 

Hey man, thanks again for your reply. A little FYI about me is that I'm all thumbs when it comes to being mechanically inclined. I have a 300EX, 400EX, and a F4i, but I don't do much with them as far as fixing them. I can change er oil, but that's about it. Also the vocabulary jargon that comes with bikes is all new. I know your basics like sprocket, chain, tire, lol.

What the hell is a spindle?!? Anyway, I like your quad--looks great. Thanks again for your help man.

Paul

 

Hey man oddds are what everyone else said is true. Check and see if anything is bent. My friends 300ex steering stem bent and it wasnt that bad of a hit but a nice one. It seems like the 300ex doesnt take much to bend,so check that out if its bent it could set you back a couple of bucks

 

If it's bent, I'm not going to buy a new part for it. Geez, I don't mind it going a little crooked to save the bucks. It's a quad and not my CBR so I'm ok!!! I hope it's not bent. Damn.

 

That's true, some parts are meant to bend before others break. I would remove the tie rods, and roll them on a flat surface to make sure they are true. Its usually better to replace bent parts rather than go thru odd wearing tires prematurely.

I was pretty much all thumbs 'till I got into quads. Now, I'm the ones my buddies come to when theirs aren't running right, or have broken parts. I just started dismantling them, keep all your parts in a large steel bowl, then reassemble it like you disassembled it.

If you think you might be in a trouble spot, take a picture, or make a drawing of it.

 

Quadfather,

Thanks for the input. I took her apart this weekend and have a few more questions. I know the upper arm and lower arm connect with a bracket with 4 bolts. I loosened the 4 bolts (didn't know if I was supposed to or not, but did anyway) and followed the lower arm down to the bottom. I'm not sure what the tie rods look like. I know the lower arm connects to some arms that connect to each wheel, but not sure what I'm supposed to be looking for. I'm trying to be logical and thought I needed to loosen the big 'ol nut on the bottom of the lower arm that has a safety pin in place so I did that too. After I was trying to re-align her up and wouldn't budge. I'm not sure if the tie rods are the arms connecting to each wheel or not. Sorry for the confusion and talking like a total putz, but your input is appreciated and I thank you in advance.

Later

 

The tie rods are the round, silver rods with some threads exposed on each end, and a bolt at each end. They also have a ball at each end. The inner tie rod end connects to your steering stem, the outer tie rod end connects to your spindle. There is also a notch cut into the tie rod, so you can slip a wrench over it to turn it, so you can adjust your alignment.