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Steering Spindle Plates

Posted: November 26th, 2013, 10:02 am
by dwadholm
My right spindle plate was getting rounded out and the spindle was starting to get damaged. I tried some JB Weld to fill in the gaps but it broke off within a couple of days.

The kids have been running it with the wheels and I had the toe set up pretty well but there is still 1"-2" slop in the steering.

So then I found a new plate on vintagesleds.com and put that one in. Last night my kid clipped the right ski on the power box in our back yard and now there is 2"-3" of slop.

I should note...it doesn't have any bushings on the posts. I just picked them up last night and was going to put them in when he took it out for a spin to test the new needle/seat and had the above accident.

So here is my question. Do I take it apart, put in the bushings and hope for the best. Use a little JB Weld again? Get the alignment squared up and have the plates welded on (can you do this without melting the busings)?

I know they are not designed to take a direct hit but these plates seem pretty week.

Posted: July 10th, 2015, 5:27 pm
by snoeproe
Post is a bit dated but I'll give my recommendations anyway.
The steering in these sled has a lot to be desired. The heim joints are too small and week. They are very sloppy. The plates your describing are also sloppy. The steering rods are sloppy and the spindles are sloppy.
Guys who race these sleds often do a lot of replacing of these steering components. They buy new spindles, plates and put the bronze bushings in the bulkhead. They replace the steering rods and go to a much larger ball/heim joint. This tightens up much of the slop in the steering in these sleds. Is this work and expense necessary for a yard sled that's rode once in a while? Propobly not.