so the handle bars are actually turning left and right, they are more so vibrating left and right?

 

Thanks for your response. Basically if I push the throttle and begin to move slowly the handle bars go left a little and then right. So I guess you could say vibrating left and right. As I go faster and faster there is less movement. when I bought the wheeler, the guy said it has always done that, but it seems to be much more noticeable now then when I bought it last fall. He said he had it in for inspection, but no one was able to figure out what was wrong. I am not sure where he took it, but I am someone who believes that this can be fixed. The turn left and right of the handle bars are not full turns, just a little both ways back and forth.

 

It almost feels like one fo the front tires is flat even though it is not.

I have a 2010 and get that same feeling a lot at slow turns. It's really noticeable if I'm making a sharp turn and begin to give it throttle to take off. I'm always looking down at each wheel to make sure one of the tires isn't flat. I'm new to ATV's, so I'm not sure if this is a normal feeling with AWD or what.

 

first thing that comes to mind is check for any slop in the ball joints on the ends of the tie rods. if you try to wiggle the tie rods or ball joints, they should be firm, there should be no slop there. that would be a place to start

 

Well thanks for the info. I will have to look into that and see what I find. Like I said, it is really strange. Everything seems to line up and seems perfect, but yet when I start to move it is so noticeable.

 

anothe thing could be worn out bushings up on the steering neck

 

upon deceleration do the handlbars do anything strange? when you apply the brakes??
i bought a four wheeler one time that was doing goofy front steering and one of the tires had this big glob of stop-leak cellulose in the tire,cleaned that stuff out and all was good.
BUT it sounds almost as if the front hubs are in four wheel drive for a few seconds,try changing the hub fluid

 

I just replaced all 4 tie rod ends on mine. Two of them were really bad. I had a good inch of back and forth play in my handlebars.

 

if it just feels wobbley i would say ya worn parts but if it pulls hard left to right I woud say your front diff is engaging when it's not supose to. try replaceing the hub fluid with the RIGHT fluid also you may have a broken axleshaft and not even notice it that will cause a pull aswell. chain your quad in place and spin the tires on dirt or something and make sure all 4 tires turn.

 

Well thanks to everyone for your support and info. I know have a few things to check out!! Thanks again

 

Well I just wanted to give all those who care an update on my wheeler. The air pressure in my tires were off a bit, but they are all accurate now. I bled the brake lines and they are good. A buddy of mine who knows a bit about wheelers stopped over to check my wheeler out based on the handle bars going back and forth when I start driving it. As I get faster it goes away. the front end is like jumping. He check the joints and the tire rods and they all looked good. We had to push the left front tire out a little on the tire rod to line up better like the right tire. Well when all was said and done, I still have the same problem. He looked at the tires for wear and what not, but he too was at a loss as to what could be causing the jumpiness in the front. I understand the wheelers are not made for pavement, but the jumping that it is doing is really bad. I mean you can't ignore it. When I am on soft ground you really don't notice it. Anyways, I am looking for more suggestions on what to check or try. the wheeler does not pull left or right either. It just jumps a lot when I get going a decent speed, there is no more jumping. It is a 1997 sportsman and it has about 1950 miles on it. If anyone has any other things for me to check or do, please let me know. Thanks Tank

 

Are you able to swap the front tires with a different 4 wheeler and see if the problem continues?
Or maybe try swapping the front tires from side to side.

My guess, is that there is some play in the front end and its causing the wobble. Removing the tires from the equation would help validate.

 

I have not tried swapping tires. I really don't have any extra to try. I guess I could try swapping the front ones around. I did notice that my front right tire when up in the air does not turn as well as my front left one. I had put new brake pads on the front right, but the tire still turns. I can spin the front left one and it will go for a few seconds, but the front right one does not spin as long. It doesn't appear to be to much brake being applied, but then again, that could be a part of the problem. Either way I am still open for suggestions. The wobble of the front end being jumpy on pavement just doesn't make sense.

 

I had the same problem on mine, i had a torn cv boot, pulled the left front cv off and it was full of dirt, every thing looked good so i cleaned it real well, put new grease in and a new boot, works fine now.

 

First things I was thinking was tie rods, alignment, brakes, a-arm bushings, ball joints, axles, wheel bearings, and hilliard clutches. Slight chance that you could even have a warped/bent brake rotor or hub.

So, you've already ruled out 3 of those.

Check for play where the a-arms connect to the frame. Those bushings wear out.
Check for play in the ball joint on the bottom of the struts.
Check the axles for play, looseness, popping.
What I really think it probably is... and you're not gonna like it...
The clutches in the hubs that engage the 4wd could be grabbing a little.
Might be as simple as a bad armature plate, but could be as bad as having to rebuild your hubs. You should def. check into that. If one of those babies decides to finally go out and lock up when you're doing 30 down a trail, you'll have a really bad day. It'll lock that wheel, suddenly turn/jerk right or left, and you'll probably learn to fly.

 

I get a little 'shaking' in my 800 at low speeds, especially on a hard surface, but I've assumed it's just due to the agressive ITP mud tires the previous owner installed on it.