Well well, I finley got my rubi back after haveing the frame replaced as well talked about under the "letter to honda" topic.. Everything looks well, except I noticed that the alliment is way toe-out! If one tire is strait, the other is turning about 3-4 inches out. IS this normal? It really drives and steers horrable compaied to before, I asked the shop guy if they checked and they said yes and that all ult machines run major toe out. I can send a pict so you all can judge..
Off to trails, Joe

 

My advice to you is to if there's another honda shop nearby have them look at it and explain your problem. I'm sorry to hear about all the problems you've been having with your ruby but man if I were you I'd report the dealer to Honda and see what they'll do about it. Far as I know your toe in should be the same for both tires. Either that or if I were you I'd sell it and swallow the loss and buy another new one.

 

Oh, I have tried to contact honda with certified letters, the warrenty phone number and also by the address on the honda satiffaction questinoare with 100% Zero responce. There is a closer honda shop and my dad knows the owner, but at the time of purchace he wanted $1K more, so we opted for this dealer- I really dont want to let the closer dealer know I bought one from his comp.. Oh, the toe out is the same on both tires, just very excessive

 

Honda's tires are positioned away from center to a degree to "bite" into the terrain, but 3-4 inches seems like a lot. Usually it is just enough to notice they are not perfectly straight. When driving a 450 I would always notice that it wanted to pull in certain directions when I was riding at speed.

NeWf

 

Yes, 4x4 utility quads are toed out. How much, should be in the service manual. My guess would be only 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Anyone got a service manual for the ruby? As a rule of thumb when they say they checked it, as them a follow up question. You can usually tell by the next answer if they are lying or not.

 

Texmud has a manual, he happends to be just about everyones savior[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] I just got done rideing and the toe has to be way off, i can already see tread wear from a short 5 mile burst of pavement rideing. (rural 1 lane road from my place to the local clear cut)

 

I dont have the manual in front of me but 1/4 inch sounds right.

 

and how do i go about checking it? Do i tie a sting around the quad's 4 tires, or do i measure the front and back of only the front tires?

 

JRM-
The easiest way I found to re-align my 'Cat was to first lock the handlebars strait using my tie-downs, hooking them off to the rear rack. This keeps them strait ahead, the way they should be when you're riding. I then loosened the jam nuts and measured both front and back of the tires (front) at about skid plate level. It took only a few minutes to do it this way, and I got it down to 28 1/4" up front, and 28" in the back. She now tracks BETTER than when I bought it brand new, and tire wear has dissappeared as well. Steering is MUCH better, and she won't "pull" on you anymore if you relax with the bars. In fact, on strait, level ground, I can let go of the bars, she'll run strait ahead no problems at all-before, we'd veer hard left every time. 'Cat recommends between 1/4"-1/2" toe-out, no more, no less. More or less than that will cause the machine to veer off in either direction, and make it harder to control in rough terrain. I think somebody mentioned that Polaris is between 1/2"-3/4" or so????-I can't remember what it was exactly, but I know it was more than the 'Cats recommended values. As Dr.Honda (TEXMud) [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] recommended about 1/4", I'd stick with that-the 3-4" you have now seems WAY off.

Hope that helps, and Best of Luck with the Ruby this go-around. I hope everything is all worked out for you now, and all the evil gremlins went out with the old frame.

Best of Luck, and Happy Riding!

Mike

 

I will have to do that on my next day off (wed). sounds like a easy fix... yeah I do think my quad much more solid now, even the annoying heat shield rattle is now gone! We will know after this winters pounding on slead trail mogulals at 50MPH