After 12 years of driving a Honda 300 2wd I finally upgraded to a new Ruby. I had read that the steering for this brute was supposed to be really light. I did not expect it to be as light as the 300 2wd but I did expect it to be lighter than it is. A friend of mine has a 2001 4wd Rancher and the steering on it is light. My Ruby's alignement looked way off to me when I got it, both front tires were toed way out, very obvious, I thought this might make a difference, I corrected the alignment by eye balling it - made very little difference. Has anyone else compared the steering on a Ruby to a 4wd Rancher? Was there a big difference? If not, mine does have a big difference, what could be the problem?

 

There is something wrong. My wife hates our Rancher because of the steering. The Rubicon steers 10 times easier than out Rancher.

 

Well that's just great. Wonder what it could be? My buddies 4wd Ranchers steering felt 10 times easier than my Rubicon. The only thing that makes any sense to me is that the front differential must not be working correctly.

 

Check your toe-out setting. Make sure it is correct. Also check your tire pressure. The lower the pressure the more ground contact you have, the harder it is to steer.

 

Tex is right- The first time I rode my Rubicon I hated the steering- almost thought I had made a mistake by buying it. I put the tires at 5.0 p.s.i.
and it made a ton of difference

 

I have a new Rubicon and it too looks toed out
I'm getting ready to take it to my honda dealer
and have them get it back lined up but mine doesn't steer hard at all I would take it to the dealer and have them look at it I'm pretty sure it
isn't the differential air up your tires and then try it I'll bet thats your problem

 

They should be toed out but only to a certain spec.

 

I'll check the tire pressure when I get home tonight, they didn't look low to me. Don't suppose anyone knows the toe out spec or if it something that can be done at home correctly?

Should I expect this thing to steer as easy as or close to a 2wd or is that a pipe dream?

 

The toe-out specs are in the service manual which you should get. The easy way to adjust it is talked about here: http://charm.air.on.ca/cbjaps/ATVZone under Tech Tips. You should not expect any full time 4wd ATV to steer as easy as a 2wd.

 

I agree with TexMud: If a Rancher is steering easier than your Rubicon, then something is wrong. Our Rancher in no way steers as nice as the Rubicon.