I am talking about a steering stabilizer, not the AC anit-roll bar stabilizer for the rear suspension. I was contemplating getting one for the 500 auto and was wondering if anybody has some experience with them?

 

I know of one guy running a steering stablizer (the other type you refer to is an anti-roll bar or anti- sway bar. I don't like them either for a ute) and he is an idiot that buys every gizmo that comes out. With proper front end alignment you shouldn't need a stablizer.

 

It is an 05 500 LE that is completely stock. I am unhappy with the under steer number one, another thing is the bars can be ripped from your hands on a wooded trail ride. I can handle it fine, however I am more worried for my father and or wife if they are operating it.

If you want to instruct me on how to adjust the factory suspension geometry so that this is not a problem than I would do this first, however why does Cat not set it up that way to start?

 

A steering stablizer will not stop the jerking of the bars when you hit something. The only two things that will do that is to not hit the root or rock or slow down or both. Most of these accidents are cause by riders not paying enough attention to the trail hazards (personal experience speaking here), usually with excessive speed for the conditions involved. I ought to know. I get stupid or distracted often enough that I replaced my front rims after only 2 years on my 400. Interestingly enough, the 2001 250 still has the original rims, unbent. The stablizer will increase steering effort noticably. FYI, I'm 60 years old next month, so I know about being old, disabled too and riding. In the last year I have stopped trying to stay up with the youngster who heal a lot faster than I do from the mistakes.

 

Ugly88, When you say steering stabilizer I assume you mean one of those small shock adsorbers to dampen steering effort when going over rocks and such. As Bear notes, one of these will not help your "understeer" and steering effort will be significantly increased; not a good thing since AC has pretty high effort to begin with. As for "understeer," the anti-sway bar noted is available from your dealer for about $130. I installed one on my 650 and it made a very significant and positive difference in overall handling. The machine is much more fun and enjoyable to ride. It's one of those few options that seems to actually work and is worth the money. There is some loss in articulation, but this will not be a problem unless you ride a lot of technical stuff. Additional handling improvements can be had with stiffer side wall front tires. A lot of "understeer" is actually the front outside tire rolling under during cornering - a common complaint with AC. A stiffer sidewalled tire can change the ride in a negative way, but if you know that going in and can live with it, no problem.

 

When I said "dampen steering effort" in my above post, I really meant "steering kick-back." My bad.

 

You are right JimJa, the anti-sway bar will help understeer. My big complaint isn't the outside tire rolling under, Its the inside tire coming off the ground in turns when doing high speed road running. But I won't install an anti-sway bar because I go fast less than 2 percent of the time and I won't give up the suspension travel the anti-sway bar robs you of.

 

Bear, The AC anti-sway bar isn't that stiff that the inside rear lifts during high-speed corners. My pucker factor would be too high if that happened and I'd take it off. Perhaps it might on paved roads. Same for articulation. Yes, you do lose some, but again it depends upon the riding you do. As I recall you mentioned some time ago you do a lot of two-up riding with your wife. Understeer certainly wouldn't be a problem riding two-up. At least I KNOW it wouldn't with my wife on the back - I'd get an ear full (and probably be deaf in that ear) if I drove like I do by myself - spirited.

 

Most of our riding is trails with some really rocky steep trails and downed trees thrown in. I'm not a great fan of riding fast on the roads. Other traffic worries me and I've been so much faster than any but the very fastest quads can go that I just am not interested in the fast aspect of it anymore. Most of the time the wife rides her AC 250, but like on this last fall's trip to the China Hat Campground in the East Fort Rork OHV Area in central Oregon in Sept. She rode the AC 250, 4 out of 5 days. But that last day, we had some friends show up with one more person than quads. So the extra person rode her 250 and she rode with me on the 400. We do have a rear seat box with cargo box quick release kit and fender protectors with foot pegs so she doesn't move around much and sure doesn't cling to me anymore. Even with the seat and foot pegs the 250 was really light in the front end, hell it's light with just one person on it, with as far set back as the engine is. So fast or steep were never tried and we have never dumped it when riding 2 up on either machine (knock on wood).

 

i put a set of good 6 ply tires on and it made a big difference for steering stabalizing. as mentioned by jimja the softer sidewalled tires will fold under the rim. i didn't notice much ride loss though, maybe a lil but the handling is much more improved. i think i got about 75-100 miles on my stock rims and tires and the front rims are all chewed up from the tires rolling under the rims.