When a rear tire is 6 1/2" inches off the ground the other rear and the same side front are also off the ground. I'm NOT happy.

I just backed one of the rear tires onto a floor jack and started jacking it up. The other two tires came off the ground at the same time.


Would someone do the same to their IRS Cat and tell me how high you can go before the other tires come off the ground?

Thanks.

 

I am don't have a jack or else I would check it out for you, I am courious to find out what it is myself. I would think it would be better, as Arctic Cat doesn't use a sway bar like the other makes. Although I know the Outlander has a very different setup.

WOW, another post by me that doesn't answer the question... Sorry...

 

Maybe put some weight on the seat (bags of concrete, fertilizer, salt) before you raise it? Maybe your quad needs some weight on it to keep those other wheels on the ground.

 

Put half the rated load of the racks on and try it again.

 

Jeffoxsr; I guess I would want to know why you are jacking only one corner? Why not just jack the whole rearend under the center of the frame. Makes a lot more sense, then the front two tire will most certainlyy stay on the ground. I always use my ATV/Motorcycle jack and lift the whole thing off the ground. You can get one at Harbor Freight for $60, cheap at the price and safer too.

 

I don't think I made myself clear. Sorry.

I wanted to see what kind of articulation I would get with my independent suspension.

I jacked up one corner to simulate going over some type of terrain to see if the other tires would stay planted.

Since AC is known for having the most suspension travel and the lack of a sway bar I was curious to see how the AC performed under the same simulation.

Thanks for the responses guys.

 

Jeffoxsr, Ok, I see you goal. You can't expect the suspension to work properly without at least your weight added to the seat. When you ride you are on board and that is weight there to help hold the machine down while the single wheel moves up and over an rock or whatever. I demonstrated this to the wife this weekend by driving the right side over a concrete wheel stop that was 6" high. Try that rather than jacking, it's more real world too.

 

I did that and the other rear stayed planted while the same side front tire came off the ground at 7 1/2" instead of the 6 1/2" without me on it.

I have other tests planned also.

I figure the AC under the unloaded test would be at least 12" before the tires came up.

Thanks.

 

Static tests of suspensions are not very accurate, because they don't add in momentum. Jacking one corner is nothing like hitting a large rock at 30 mph, where you have the forward movement of 800 pounds of quad and rider to compensate for. If a suspension will flex fully with no load, it will probably bottom out very quickly under actual riding conditions.

One test I inadvertenly performed was clipping a 6" tree stump at 20 mph with the rear wheel while turning a corner. I definitely felt the hit, but the Cat tracked true and did not wobble around. My buddy riding behind me said he could see one wheel hop up while the other wheel stayed flat on the trail. Very good articulation, under real world circumstances.

 

I understand that it seams that with all that travel you should have tons of articulation but if the suspention was that soft it would create one heck of a tippy, unstable ride and they would have to add swaybars to help with the roll and this would create a big vicious circle. I feel that AC makes a good compramise with the suspentions on there ATVs for there intended use.

Rich.