I was riding my p700 today and I hopped on my brother in laws big bear 400 2wd and nearly ripped the handle bars off. It steers WAY easier than mine! What can I do to make mine a little easier? (synthetic oil in front dif....)


Thanks

 

Steering effort isnt really adjustable. Its a combination of geometry and wieght over the tires. You could try putting more air in the tires,and switch to 2wd when 4wd isnt needed.

 

ya don't have to hold the yellow lever in either [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

What kind of tires are on the bikes, is your toe set correctly?, you in 4wd?, there are lots of factors in steering stiffness.

 

Check to make sure that your diff lock lever/cable is properly adjusted. If it is too tight causing the diff lock to always be partially engaged, then that would make steering harder. Also check/replace the front diff fluid. Maybe the clutch plates are sticking a little causing the front wheels to partially lock and hard steering. Just some things to check. But in general, a 4x4 will steer harder than a 2x4 even if your 4wd is not engaged because of the front diff and extra weight in the front.

 

ya i thought the same thing then i put 27'' 589's on and it actuly steered easyer then i put the stock front tires on and that heavy feel came back more air will make it steer easyer but ride quality suffers

 

Do you still have the stock tires? I have the P-650 and the stock tires got three miles on them when I passed the UPS guy bringing my new ITP 589's. I don't have any riding time on the stock one's, but my girlfriend just bought a Rincon( it was a funding fiancé thing). Well it was hard to turn so much so for her I was looking for something wrong on the bike. Well to cut it short I got her some Mudlites for Christmas and now it turns like you would expect. My conclusion was that the stock tires are for all around dirt road use, dealer doesn't like to see mud on or in your “ATV“( it brings into question the warranty). I love that one. Anyway the stock tires are flat across the surface, the part that touches the ground from sidewall to sidewall. That produces allot of rolling resistance. When you make a turn the ATV rolls\leans to that side and all that tire touching the ground starts to bit thus making it hard to turn. The new tires don't have that flat face they are more curved and less torches the ground. She was happy witch makes me happy, except that those Mudlites pull circles around my 589's. I'm talking 4 wheel drive mud and she is 2 wheel passing me laughing. I'm getting a set of 28's soon. Those things will flat pull. These conclusions are based on what I see.

 

I hear you.
I had a 2000 Yamaha Kodiak auto 4WD before my 03 P650. It steered like a dream even with junker Bear Claws on it. Never rode a P650 and when I got it home I was horrified at the steering stiffness.
Thanks to Nyroc's bit on the Toe-in I set mine up @ Zero. It helped a pretty good bit. I do think I need to toe it in just a tiny bit because going FAST on hard pak, FLAT, no ruts grassy trails it will dart a few inches side to side. Not often but enough for me to be glad the trail was not narrow and lined with trees.
From the factory they are toed in way too muck causing the steering to want to return to center very aggressivley. This is what you are fighting. Go slow @ full lock and let go of the bars, you'll see.
As read here it did break in and get better but by far the next thing I did dialed it in even better. I put ITP HolShot radials on. She is not as nimble like the Kodiak but 75% better than showroom.
Adding the Elka front spring kit got the front end ride close to the slow speed plushness of the OE Dunlops. I have them at the softest preload settings. It's a great machine in the woods.

For more of my input info on Elkas' do a search here under Elka and my name.

 

Hey thanks guys...... I think I will go to a synthetic front diff oil and set my toe-in @0 for now. Can't afford new tires right now.

Yeah I knew being in 4 wheel drive and locking the front diff made it more difficult I was talking about being in 2wd. When I go to 4wd and lock it in it becomes two hands full.

 

Dariot, All of the info given by the other guys is true. Setting your toe-in to 0 or 1-16 of an inch helps a lot as well as boosting your front tire pressure. Also one of the reasons the prairie steers a little harder than most is the fact that you have that front cylinder hanging way out the front. This puts a lot more weight on the front end. Also, with the diff lock system, there is the added weight of the clutch system in the front diff.

 

I must disagree on the front cylinder weight adding to steering effort. It's a good guess as food for thought goes, but the weight distribution on the P650\700's is @ 47/53, almost even. Most quads are much heavier front to rear so you gotta rule that out. It's in the geometry of the linkage setup and due to having struts instead of dual A-arms. Also the Dunlop's are as BIG a contributor to the effort as is the excessive toe-in.
If you ever get on a Rincon you will see what I mean about the geometry. Honda did a good job. It's like power steering compared to the P650\700's but it's limited slip front end is more forgiving than ours too. Any front diff without a locking mechanism is considered an "Unlimited Slipper" to me.
A slicker oil in the front diff as I have read many times here is supposed to help and I will try it at the next change. It may cause us to use the locking lever more often but it is a good trade off.
To complement the P650\700's front diff, I go places without using the lock lever that my Kodiak used to leave me hanging due to the unlimited slipper. And this is with the great traction the ATR's provide. This is why I traded (good excuse huh?) to the P650. I have only had cause to use the lever as a just incase measure as of yet.
So I am looking forward to the possibility to having a little more relief when I trade oil in the front diff and being more on the ready to grab the lever.