97 TXT Suspension

[DaveMJ]

I've been helping a neighbor with the steering on their lifted 97 TXT. The cart would wander all over the place and it was difficult to drive in a straight line.

I replaced the steering rack (frame mounted), tie rod/ends, king pin bushings and hubs/bearings. Cart drives a lot better now, on smooth roads its fine but if you hit a bump it tends to lunge to the left or right. It's much better than before, but still not quite right.

Shocks seem OK, if I rock the cart it settles after one bounce. When I looked at the rear end I noted that the leaf spring is bent the wrong way. At first I thought it was put in upside down when the coil over was done, but that appears not to be the case.

Would this have the described effect on the cart's steering?

[TexTurbo]

Dave,

The rear springs are WORN OUT... they really need to be replaced (dont forget to check the bushings..both ends).....will that cause your steering issues ?? not sure. BUT....
Your carts front steering setup only has one real "alignment" adjustment, and that is "toe-in"
best explained as the front edge of the front tires should be 1/8-1/4" inward..
Over-exagerated by this very rough example.. view from above the cart, looking down...

Rear tires l l

Front tires \ /

do a search on "toe"..... you will find a lot of info.....

Hope this helps !

[Sideways]

How much air pressure are they running in the tires?
I had the same issue with my Medalist and ended up lowering the tire pressure until my setup ran smoother and straighter.

[DaveMJ]

Originally Posted by Sideways

How much air pressure are they running in the tires?
I had the same issue with my Medalist and ended up lowering the tire pressure until my setup ran smoother and straighter.

I've tried 15 and 20 PSI, no change. How low did you go?

[DaveMJ]

Originally Posted by TexTurbo

Dave,

The rear springs are WORN OUT... they really need to be replaced (dont forget to check the bushings..both ends).....will that cause your steering issues ?? not sure. BUT....
Your carts front steering setup only has one real "alignment" adjustment, and that is "toe-in"
best explained as the front edge of the front tires should be 1/8-1/4" inward..
Over-exagerated by this very rough example.. view from above the cart, looking down...

Rear tires l l

Front tires \ /

do a search on "toe"..... you will find a lot of info.....

Hope this helps !

Thanks for the input, I set the toe in when I installed to new tie rods.

[slonomo]

Originally Posted by DaveMJ

Thanks for the input, I set the toe in when I installed to new tie rods.

How far did you set the toe in? On these carts I've found that zero/straight up is best. The front suspension is a straight axle and they typically like no toe setting at all, just straight.

[DaveMJ]

I set it to 1/4" toe in. It's fine on smooth roads, so I suspect it's someing other than alignment (could be wrong).

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[BlueChez1]

I've been working on the same issue myself with a 96 TXT. Replaced everything that you did. One thing that I noticed is the tie rod ends seemed to have some play in them especially at the steering arm end. After messing with them I noticed that the stem on the tie rod end protruded through the steering arm and the washer was sitting on it. That stopped the beveled section of the tie rod end from seating in the idler. I increased the size of the washer (Internal diameter) and it calmed the sloppiness down a bunch. Also make sure that the bolts for the spindle arm lift riser are tight.

[crash12888]

I also on straight axles run my toe at "0" in.
Keep in mind these tires are 8" to 10" wide and only 48" apart with suspension designed for speeds roughly 12MPH.
Any toe in or out will cause the cart to dart in the direction of whichever tire has more load or weight on it.
I like to run stock tires 15 to 18psi because of the heavy sidewalls.
You can almost run them flat, while the aftermarket tires vary so much with ply rating and sidewall thickness I wet a portion of concrete and drive over it and adjust psi to the contact footprint.
But then again, it depends on what you drive on, dirt/gravel verses concrete/asphalt.