The right front tire was rubbing on the inner fender when turned all the way left. It has stock tires & suspension.

I bought this machine used, so I'm not sure if it was hit hard as I suspect.

Upon inspection I found a very small bend in the back side of the lower right control arm, just enough to put a small kink in the cross bar welded into the arm assembly. It doesn't seem to be enough that would cause the lack of clearance at the inner fender.

I then proceeded to align the front wheels. Everything now has clearance, and equal on both sides. No more rubbing on the inner fender.

Problem now is that the bars are turned slightly right, when the machine is running straight. If I move the alignment back to where the bars are straight, I'm back to having insufficient clearance on the right inner fender while turning left.

Does anyone have any ideas? The steering stops appear to be okay, not dammaged. Is there any way the steering column could have been twisted? Is there a joint or any point on the column which may have "given" if it was hit?

I haven't been able to get into it any further and don't have a shop manual yet. Any ideas or advice are appreciated.

Thanks

 

It doesn't take a very big hit at all to damage an a-frame. One small dent, even as small as you mentioned will cause havoc on your handling.

When you said you aligned the front end to drive straight, that your bars were turned slightly to the right. You need to go back and adjust your tie-rods again. It sounds like you only adjusted one or two rod ends on one tie rod. You will have to adjust BOTH tie rods and ALL tie rod ends to get your bars AND your wheels headed straight again.

KNOWSALOT

 

This won't fix your problem but I put 2 inch wheel spacers on wife's Kodiak, really improved the handling, as stock it is only 42 inches wide, of course wider tires will help, which is next.

 

Knowsalot....
I did make adjustment to both tie rods, left and right, but as I indicated it's like there is a twist or something has given in the steering column. The steering stops at the bottom of the column, don't appear damaged in any way, but seem to limit the turn in one direction more than the other (judging by the bars).

I adjusted the wheels to a point where I had equal clearance, tire to A-arm on lock to lock turns, then I tried to give equal adjustments to bring the toe in/out back.

I don't know what the specs call for as far as alignment. Do you do a slight toe-in, like an automobile? I think as close to a neutral "toe-in/out" would be best, but I'm guessing.

If the a-arm is indeed bent worse than it looks, I guess I'll just live with it for now. The amount the bars are off "straight ahead" is not a great concern.....I don't spend much time going straight anyways!


Griz..My thoughts are to maybe 1 inch spacers and bigger tires in the future. I don't want to go too wide because then I wouldn't be able to load it into my Dakota as easily.


ps Anyone with a Kodiak...
Did your tool kit come with a wrench for the shock adjustments? It seems Yamaha can't supply one, and the dealer didn't know if it would be included if I ordered the whole tool kit.