hey guys can anyone tell me how to do a wheel alignment on a hond 420, thanks

 

Its basicly the same on all 4 wheelers. The toe is about the only adjustment posible, and that is done using the tie rod, and the rod ends. Its basicly a turnbuckle, so turning one way shortens the length and going the other way will make it longer.
Start by rolling the quad forward.Have the handlebars point the quad straight ahead. If you position it by going in reverse, the setting may be off, due to backlash and slack in the parts.
Get some long straight sticks. I bought some aluminum yardsticks from Home Dump, and they work great.
Make the air pressure correct in the tires, and make sure the quad isnt leaning either left or right. Using the yardstick, and keeping it level to the ground, touch the yard stick at both the forward and rear side of the sidewall of the tires, at mid tire. Youll need help, because it takes a few hands. Get the kids involved. Now do the same on the other front tire.
Now using a tape measure, measure the distance side to side, at the front of the tire, and at the back of the tire.The distance between measurements needs to be about 26 inchs apart. If you cants get the rear measurement, which can be almost imposible on ute quads, make two measurements in front of the tire, at a spacing of 26 iches. Mathmaticly its correct. If the distance equals each other, the tire has no toe. If the front is a bigger measurement, it has toe out, which almost all 4wd quads require. The sportys use toe in. It has to do with have driven tires on front, they tend to toe in under power, so the tires are 'preloaded' to be toe out staticly.
If its not in spec ( which the dealer can provide the specs), use the tie rod to shorten or lengthen the distance. Try to adjust both sides, and it only takes a little bit. This keeps the handlebars perpendicular, and not cocked to one side.
Heres a article on the front end geometry,
http://www.radioactiveracing.com/setup.htm

 

Wow thanks for the help Hondabuster, that is very cool of you to take the time to write that out, thanks alot it really helped me out

 

Welcome to the forums

 

I have a question about alignment but it is on 06 Rubicon... On my wifes, when you have the handle bars straight, one tire points a bit out and the other in... basicly it is like the handle bars are not centered. When you run down the road with totally equal tire pressures, the handle bars are not exactly straight.

Not under warranty and I should have listened to her when she was whining about it while it was under warranty. How would I correct that?

I do grasp the technique on aligning using the tie rods because I have used it more than once on my Ford Truck mud puppy. :-) No sense in taking it to the shop when the next week it will get knowcked out again ....

 

Check for a bent tie rod first. If they are both straight, then one has been adjusted too far, and the other was adjusted to it. This usually happens the first time an alinement is done, becasue it takes so little turning to have an effect. Usually the side youre turning to...say right , means the right side tie rod is longer than the left. Some times a tape measure, if you can get it in there and read it, will show which is longer.

 

none

 

Do you have the specs for 2006 Rubicon?

 

none

 

jamie the way i adjusted the toe out on my rubicon was as follows. first make sure the handlebars are straight, then take a long piece of brick layers string and tie one end to the trailer hitch stretch the string around the left rear tire with string centered in the middle of axle hub,now stretch string to the center of the left front tire going around the tire and across the front of the ruby to the right front tire around the center of the tire and then stretch the string to the center of right rear tire around the tire and back to the trailer hitch where both ends of the string is tied. keep the handlebars straight, string tight and centered on the middle of the wheels .measure from the back out side edge of the front tires to the string.
measurements are 5/8--3/4 inch. just make sure they measure the same with handlebars straight. note don't adjust the measurment to less than 5/8 inch or the steering will be to quick and may be dangerous at high speed.