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1999 FOREMAN 450 WHEEL ALIGNMENT

13975 Views 19 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  The Foreman
hello everyone, im new here on the forum. im glad to see that there is such a place. here's my first issue if anyone could help me.the front right tire on my 450s looks like its toed out to much and the fourwheeler pulls to the right.i called the honda dealer and they said that most of them are supposed to be toed out.does any one know how much toe and how i measure it? i know how to adjust it just need some specs. bye the way this site is awsome. i just bought this 450s and i love it.

thanks arran
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i am not sure if there is gonna be any specs. Because when you put weight on the front end the tire driection changes a lil bit. I say just do it by eye.
alignment

thanks for the advice, i think im gonna just put both straight ahead and see how it rides.the dealer said some are supposed to be toed out but maby things would be better if they weren't, i guess its gonna be a trial and error kinda thing. but i'll post my results.
I did mine by eye, and pointed them both straight.
ALIGNMENT

thanks man, im gonna point em straight. hey does anyone live in the west of cleveland ohio area that wants to ride?there's not that many people round here that do much riding. if there is let me know, i live in amherst near the ford plant.
Why are some towed out anyway???

I noticed mine are towed out alot.. Going straight it almost looks like im turning (haha maby not quite that bad).

Is there any reason for this? why do they do it
Ok I maybe wrong but I believe that the toe out is to cause one wheel to pull against the other keeping the vehicle in line which may not be noticable at low speed and you wouldn't really notice it while going over bumps, but if you had street tires on and was traveling down a road you would notice the quad would probable drift to one side or another.

So ARRNB you know how to adjust them, to find the toe out you need to mark the center of the wheels on the tread, jack the front end up, point the wheel straight ahead, then measure the distance from center of the front of the wheels and then measure the other side (the back). Take the first measurement minus the second then rotate the tires 180 degrees and do it again. Take the adverage of the two measurement (the first measurment should be larger) and the toe out for the quad should be between 0.79 inches and 1.97 inches (20-50mm)

If you measure it once and then rotate the tires and measure again and find a large difference between the two, you may have something bent, a bad rim, or something else that causes the tire to slightly wobble.

But if it was me I would do it by eye, and have them go straight to slightly out because you probably will never be going straight down a hard road, with no bumbs at high speeds. Or if you were racing it may be more of an issue. But like my wife always tells me I could be and probably am wrong on this whole thing. Hope I could help
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Great information...thanks a lot!
ALIGNMENT

we'll thanks everyone for the tips, im gonna play around with it this weekend. i'll let ya know how it works out.
Lift Kit

One other thing I saw while I was doing maintance today
I pulled off the front wheel and then realized if you or any one before you installed a lift kit that should effect the wheel alignment, by increasing the angle of the A-arm you indirrectly decrease the ratio length of the ty-rod which would give you a greater toe out.

Good luck this week end, and I am sure it will require many many test run until you get it right, I know mine need lots of test runs this weekend
TEST RUNS

well i work all week and hope that when i get of work the weather will be somewhat decent. but nope, not here in ohio. its cold and eaither rains or snows every day. but......this weekend it's supposed to be a little nicer, so im just gonna have to explain to the g-friend that i need to do a lot of test runs before the weather gets bad again. hehehehehe, the time is comming near to ride every day. oh and thatnks for the help.
Hey Aaron how do you like the warn 424? I have one on order. Did you install it yourself or was it already on?
I don't have one but my buddy put one on his Rancher a couple months ago. Worth every penny!!!

You can do a search for that topic too. We had quite a lenghty discussion a while back.
warn 424

well, the warn 424 is great. its a good ad on. just remember when your riding DO NOT TRY TO SWITCH TO 4X4 IF THE REAR WHEELS ARE SPINNING....... i stress this because i read it ten times in the instructions and even though i brainwashed myself i tried to switch it this weekend when i new i was gonna get stuck and the wheels were spinning.it made a bad sound. but it seems to be ok. i just don't think it could take to much of that abuse. as far as installing it. (it was slightly a pain) auctually it was quit tricky. getting the new axle in was frustrating. you really have to mess with it a few times before it will go in. the instructions will get you there but here are a few pointers.....the boots are really important in making this go together. there hard to push on, but when there on there on. and it gives you a lot more space to fit the axle in. you most likley won't get the axle in without having the rear boot on 1st.the spring and the sleeve on the engine side all have to go on at the same time.then you have to try to get the front boot on the diff side.once thats on just put er back together.as far as the axle guard. i left the old one off. the instructions don't say anything about that. mount the cable is kinda tricky to. be careful not to drill the gas tank when making the holes for the mounting bracket. i almost did.oh and one more thing. when taking apart the handle be carefull not to loose any of the SMALL PARTS. and try to take it apart as little as possible. the brass sleeve seems to be hard to put back together after a few dissasemblies.we'll i hope this helps you a little. it took me about 3 hrs to have the job complete and im a pretty mechanicly inclined person.if there are any other questions you may have just ask me. oh and one other thing. when your done and try the thing. its kinda like a 5 spd car and switching without using the clutch. it sometimes won't switch back and forth unless you have no power to the wheels. like if your in gear and moving you have to make it kinda coast . thats the only way mine will switch. let me know if yours ends up like that.
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G
Do not tow the wheels in!!

Hi, I just registered in this forum but have been watching it for a while. A little advice about the tow of atv wheels. Towing the tires IN or STRAIT ahead will make the bike very unpredictable and scary to ride at any speed, they need to be towed OUT by 1/8 of an inch. If they are towed strait ahead or in the front end will dive with minimal steering input I can guarantee you will not like the aftermath. In case you are wondering I work on ATVs and know first hand what effect tow in has on stability (long story involving pain and blood and broken bike parts )
Well hopefully they listen to you JJ
My Formeman pulled to the left !!

When I was on a all day ride, my foreman was pulling real hard to the left. I later noticed that one of my back tires has a little slack.

After checking the air pressure in All of my tires and getting to the proper psi, it rode great! One back tire was at 2 psi and it should be at 3.75 psi for all tires.

I still have a large toe out. Did you getting ours in line help?

I have had a piece of trim board on the side of the tires from the rear to the front at axle height and when I got one side stright the other side was way out. If I strighten the handle bars, both are out some.

What do you think? is it better to be stright or a little out? (alignment)

Thanks
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Re: Do not tow the wheels in!!

QUOTE ("JJ450S":2hpg7wyl)
Hi, I just registered in this forum but have been watching it for a while. A little advice about the tow of atv wheels. Towing the tires IN or STRAIT ahead will make the bike very unpredictable and scary to ride at any speed, they need to be towed OUT by 1/8 of an inch. If they are towed strait ahead or in the front end will dive with minimal steering input I can guarantee you will not like the aftermath. In case you are wondering I work on ATVs and know first hand what effect tow in has on stability (long story involving pain and blood and broken bike parts )
Welcome! Also, good advice.
The toe-out on a TRX450 is :

35mm toe out ..plus or minus 15mm ...
Wheel Alignment

Thanks for the info. The proper tire inflation is important. I am glad to here that I do NOT need to make the alignment.

Thanks
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