I bought a 2003 Artic Cat 400. Its a manual transmission. I'm new to the site and thought I'd reach out for advice with my first post.

The engine is running very well but it is pulling to the left. I'm assuming there is damage as the previous owner told me he hit an aluminum v-hull boat frozen upside down while on a lake a couple winters ago. The front tires and wheels took serious damage and were replaced. I'm assuming the fact that its pulling left still has something to do with the accident. I noticed the tie rods appeared to be bent. Would replacing the tie rods make that much of a difference? Do you think a small bend to a tie rod would cause it to pull to the left?

If you look at the picture you'll see the front tires are larger than the rear tires.
Would you suggest I change that as well? Is it acceptable to have larger front tires than rear tires?

Any feedback would be appreciated as again, the engine seems sound so I thought it was worth the gamble. Thank you!

 

tie rods being bent do make a diffirence. i would get it replaced. i would also measure from the frame to the hub on both sides and make sure the front tire wasnt pushed back any.

the tires are acceptable. my AC 400 has 26' front and 24' back tires and it drives well that way. but my AC400 is a lumbering piece of crap anyway.

ill give you a free piece of advice, chance the foot shifter! its a huge pain in the *** to do the whole heal-toe thing when your rideing. plus if you leave your foot on it when you go over bumps, your foot will rock back n forth to absorb the shock. going back n forth like that moves the clutch and will cause premature wear, not to mention causeing you to go into the wrong gear!

believe me buy a normal toe shifter, like $25 on ebay.

 

Yeah the tire size will not effect the steering as much as bent tie rod ends. You might check and see that the tires are aligned correctly. If you turn the handlebars until the tires are straight check that the handle bars are straight as well. Then put a white mark on the center tread of each front tire and on the back side of each front tire. Measure between the front tires you should be 1/8 inch toe-in. That is 1/8inch shorter on the front than the back of the front tires.

If your tires are not aligned correctly then it can steer hard. As for the heel-toe shifter. Some people swear by them and some at them. I have nearly 15,000miles on my 2003 AC400 and the heel-toe shifter is fine with me. Only other thing I would suggest is to put a set of fender flares on it. This helps to keep mud and splashing water off the riser. They are about $40 but worth it in the long run.

Welcome to the forum.

Swampy

 

Correct me if I'm worng, but the gearing (ring/pinion) are the same front to rear right? If so, how is it, that its Ok to run unmatched tires? that will cause some serious gearing issue's will it not?

 

CatKrazy, I believe you are right. I assumed that "larger" meant 12inch wide front tires and 10inch wide rear tires. If the diameter is larger then when you run in 4wheel it would cause some extra stress on the drive train. I am pretty sure the ring/pinion gearing is the same on the front and rear.

Stock tire widths are 9in front and 10in rear (I believe) and you can run the same width all the way around. But if the tires are actually taller that is different.

So Rynomac are the tires actually taller? If you look on the sidewall of the tire you will see a number like 25-10-12. First number is tire height, second number is tire width, third is the rim size. Preferrably for your machine the first number should be the same (tire height). Stock rims are 12inches. From your picture you definitely do not have stock rims or tires on the front.

SJ

 

Thanks guys for the feedback. The front wheels and tires aren't stock. They're AMS Trax 25 x 8 x 12. The back wheels are stock but I'm not sure about the tires. They are Dunlop 25 x 11 x 12.

I'm also questioning its 4x4 as I'm not getting up hills like my friend is in his Yamaha Bruin 350. I'm concerned that not all tires are pulling as they should.

 

on that model you wont have a diff lock so 4 wheel drive is really 3 wheel drive. in some cases you will see both fronts working together but usually its one or the other. also, im not sure the hills your climbing. If they're mudding ,steep, dry or what but my 500 with stock tires did horable. a friend with a more aggresive tread(ITP 589's) went in places with 2 wheel drive that i could not in 4 wheel drive. About your pulling to the right, along with the tie rods, look for any cracked paint up by the A arms,shock mounts, ect.. that will indicate a bend of some sort, maybe slight but its bent. I had an A-arm mount bent slightly on me and i couldnt find it for years. finally i figured it out when i did some serious hard looking. good luck with the bike and hope you get it all figured out.