As a reminder, once you've got both lock nuts tight, be sure you can rotate the tie rod.

If you lock them so one end is at one side of its range of motion, and the other one is at the other, the tie rod can bind as the suspension moves.

 

My 07 Rubicon was like this when I got it. Driving straight, the handlebars were pointed slightly to the left. When you held the bars straight, the atv veered to the right.

Stopping the atv on a flat, level surface with the bars straight, the right wheel was toed out more than the left.

I measured the length of the tie-rods and the right one was longer than the left so I removed the right one and set it to approx the same length as the left and reinstalled it.

Now the bars are straight when the atv is going straight and the front wheels are toed out the same now when the atv is at rest.

Toe-in is still within factory specs.

Mine came from the factory set-up that way and it was very obvious, to me, that something wasn't right.

 

i see, yea i looked at some pics of the bike the day i got it and it was like it then too so im in the same boat as you, i guess when i get my first service done, only another 3 hours of riding, i'll get a wheel alignment...and i wont be paying for it lol. thanks guys.

 

Yeah, the first riding trip with the Rincon, one of the wheels toed in really bad. The lock nuts were spinning loose on the tie rod...

 

The nuts on the tie-rods weren't loose in my case Jeffin. In fact, they were tight as all get out!
I figured since one tie-rod was longer than the other that someone at the factory messed up when assembling the rods or setting the toe-in.

The 05 Rancher I had didn't show this quirk.

 

i was out for a closer look tonight, planning to do the alignment tomorrow after work. at a closer inspection it seems like the right one is toed out too much and the left one isnt toed out enough, making it nearly impossible to get the handle bars straight to tie em down. am i able to loosen the tie rods before adjusting the handle bars?

 

If the bars aren't straight when going down the road, you can set them at the same length and see if that fixes it, then set the toe by adjusting both rods an equal amount if you have to change the toe- thus maintaining the bar straight/quad straight relationship.

I have used a dial caliper for that, by setting it so its overall width fits between the lock nuts on one side, and using that as a reference when adjusting the other side.

Due to tolerances in the frame and other factors, though, it is not unusual to have one tie rod set at a slightly different length than the other one to get the bar straight.

 

Rancherman, look at my other post to you. Don't wory about the bars until you set the toe correctly. You don't even need to tighten the lock nuts for setting toe. Then, once toe is correct, adjust the two rods equally in order to set the bars straight. Then tighten the lock nuts. Just make sure you can rotate the rods back & forth when the wheels are all the right and all the way left after the whole job is done.

 

im going to go at this tonight i think, wish me luck haha

 

Be patient. If you haven't done it before it can take some trial and error to see how much of an adjustment on the tie rod makes how much of a change in the bar, and toe.