What causes a sled to dart back and forth on packed trails? Is it the skis or the track or just something I'm not doing right? I feel like I'm not in control of my sled when it does that. Pls advise.

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are your tie rod endings shot? do the skis move a little bit without the bar moving?

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I dont know if your sled has it, but under the hood on my sled it has a troubleshooting sticker. It tells you what to adjust if its doing something weird. So check and see if your sled has it, it will help you probably.

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Check your ski alignment. A shop manual will walk you through it better than I can.

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get the dual runner carbides for your skis, they make it so your carbides don't get caught up in the tracks infront of you. it'll keep your sled from wondering side to side. i have the same problem with my zr 600.

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Your skis are most likely toed inward causing it to dart violently. They are supposed to be toed out something like 1/8 " or something, dont know the exact measurments.

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Thankyou all for the great tips!

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You have a mtn sled. They just tend to dart. If you want to spend the money the darting can be nearly eliminated with a set of Slydogg skiis. Otherwise you can also play with your suspension to releave ski pressure. You have a newer sled so I am assuming that it does not have wear issues.

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Yes check to make sure the skis are alligned properly. It also could be to much ski pressure. You may have to adjust the suspension to balance out the sled for your weight and riding position.

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This is the same very question that my wife asked the first time we went snowmobiling together. I found that her skis were traveling in the same path as mine and I tend to move around quite a bit. Your sled looks quite new, so I would rule out any major alignment issues to begin with. I would guess that you are simply getting stuck in someone else's tracks causing your sled to dart back and forth. Make your own path and you will be just fine.

Good luck and welcome to snowmobiling!

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I had the same problem when I ran single runner skis on the XLT I owned. I put a set of dual carbide skis on it and the darting went away! In anut shell...Get dual carbides and your problem will be solved.

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Carbides

Get new at least

How many studs do you have?

Dual carbides work better. I have new carbides and when I hit someones dual track, I get stuck in their track and its pretty nice to have duals

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I called up bergstrom skegs and they gave me a set of anti-dart strips that they patented along with a set of skegs and a set of these special wedges that you screw into the rubber piece that fits into the bottom of the spindle and on top of the ski to make the ski bounce back better from hitting a ditch or something all for 20 dollars or so, they work great, my 19 year old sled goes around trails and tight turns such like its on rails. Well I should say the skegs were $20 and they gave me the anti dart strips and the wedges. Great people, great customer service and super fast shipping. They get all my business now.

those skegs have also last me 2 seasons so far and havent even started to wear out yet

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All sled do that in packed trails. Your carbides are just finding the path of of others sled. but you could get a set of dually carbide and that should stop it.

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Thanks for the good tips. I think I'm going to see about getting some skis with double carbides.

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another easy fix for that sometimes is to remove the carbide and put a couple washers on the back end of the carbide post threads and reinstall.it will ensure the back section is contacting the ground with more pressure than the front and help to make it dart less.give it a try.

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yeah I might just give that a try. Thanks!

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Here's a cheep fix most people can do at home. I did it on both my sleds and it helped a lot. This is not my story. I found it on another cite.
This is true for sleds new and old, regardless of ski type or material.


In February 2000, my wife and I bought our first new sleds. Two identical Yamaha Vmax 500's, sleepy silver. We were told at the time, that they were 'state of the art' snowmobiles, and I wondered about those steel skis...

We were soon made aware of a serious darting problem with both of these sleds. I knew it wasn't in set up, assembly, or any of the excuses we got at the dealer. It was happening equally in both sleds.

I began a search for a cure, and quickly found no help. I talked to about 50 people from all over the industry, and no one provided useful information on the subject. I was soon looking at trading in for another brand!

I bought two pairs of C&A Pro skis, as I was told these would cure the problem. Well, they didn't! But they sure carved better! And steered lighter too. I was happy with the skis themselves, but I knew I had to dig deeper into my sled to find an answer.

It came while talking to Scott Bergstrom, who mentioned an old school fix of placing shims behind the ski spindle. He explained that the shim forces the rear of the ski down, and usually fixed the problem. I happened to go to Hacker's Yamaha the next week, and spoke with Rick. He concurred that a shim would do the trick. I was renewed with my mission!

The factories design sleds with many necessary factors, most we never know about, if we did, we'd be engineers working for them. One of the built in parameters on Yamaha's in particular (that baffles people to no end) is what we'll call, 'ski runner pressure'. SRP for short.



SRP is not what you think! It's not how many pounds are on each ski. That would be the combined weight of sled and rider, plus additional gear, divided by a bunch of algebraic equations that would make me puke. SRP, for our purposes, is the balance from front to rear.



Specifically, the nature of how the weight is distributed through the wear bar, keel, and the rest of the ski.

On most Yamaha models, we find a darting problem, and no adjustments can fix it. I have two '00 Vmax 500's, keep in mind that all sleds from '97 and up which came with steel skis are the same in this respect. The exception, usually, seems to be the SRX. I find that only a few of these sleds have darting problems.

With regards to sleds with factory steel skis, the problem lies, 95% of the time, in the SRP. After talking with a Yamaha engineer, I knew I was on to something! He claimed that before '97, Yamaha made the SRP so it was rear biased. They got complaints about this, and switched to a front bias. I thought to myself, how about a middle ground???? Duh!

So with the help of a couple of people in the industry, Scott Bergstrom and Mr. Hacker, I set out with a plan. With an old drive belt in one hand, and a hack saw in the other, I made my first set of shims.

Shims? Yes, shims. Super easy to make, and all you have to do is dig that belt you threw away out of the garbage can.

Cut the shim to fit tightly inside the ski spindle. You can measure it, or hold the belt up and mark it with a pencil. Either way, you need the shim to fit snugly under the spindle.

The next step is to place it on top of the rubber bumper. Each brand has a different shape and size spindle and bumper, so be prepared to test and see what results are best for your sled.

I recommend putting the shim on top of the ski bumper, and gluing or screwing them in. Your choice. They will fall out the next time you cross a road or jump through the air, which was what happened in my case. When the pressure that holds it in is gone, like when the ski tip is pushed upward, the little shim will be history. I used RTV with good results.

When putting them in, tilt the sled onto one side, and have a buddy push the ski tip upward until you make sufficient room for the shim. They should fit snug! Glue or screw from here.

Now, I know I'll be asked questions about specific models, so I'll try to answer them right now.

Steel ski sleds, came with a plain ski bumper. Use the full height belt shim. Your darting will be all but gone.

Plastic ski sleds came with an 'S' code bumper, which is taller in the rear than the plain unit. With these, I found the full height shim to be a little too much. It's your option to whack off the 'lugs' on the inside of the belt, but in doing so, you should be just right.

The factory Yamaha plastic skis have a mounting block under the spindle, so the shim may need to be tweaked a bit for sleds so equipped. Here's what you're looking for in all cases, any brand or model:

With fresh wear bars, the front carbide pad (or 2" front of center) should be 1/8"-3/16" off the ground, with the rear touching. Do this with a flat surface, of course!

This goes for any brand of sled, any brand of ski, wear bar, or what ever. What you'll have, is a ski/wear bar that slices into ruts, and carves their own grove.

Spend the time doing this mod, if it doesn't work, you've got something seriously wrong!



Here's how my story goes. I bought $600 worth of skis and wear bars, only to realize that it wasn't the skis. I did gain performance with the C&A Pro's, and highly recommend them. I wore out the Bottom Line carbides in short order, and talked to Scott Bergstrom. He made bars for my application, and parted with some wisdom I'm grateful for. Another product of his I highly recommend with any ski, is his 'Ski Savers'. They help 'hide' the bar from ruts, and help cut down on darting somewhat. They add two additional 90* edges to help any ski carve like your uncle on Thanksgiving. They also protect the ski very well.

Now, you're asking yourself if you should believe this. Is this right for me? Is this my problem? Go out to your sled right now, and look at the wear patterns of your wear bars. If you see a tapering toward the front, thinner in front than rear, then you stand to cure your darting by this method. If not, set up your sleds front end, something is wrong. If so, do the mod, and thank me later.

I get emails from guys who's wife's sled darts all over, or the ass end swings all over the trail. Wives complain more than guys! It's also why the live longer, when something is wrong, they go to the doc and fix it! Guys are supposed to be tough, so if your sled darts, and you think its manly to take up two lanes of the trail, think again.



Here's the set up I wound up with:

C&A skis

Plain ski bumpers

Full height shims

Bergstrom Ski Savers, any length will help

4" Bergstrom Skegs carbide wear bars



Let me say that I do not run studs in either sled. If the ass of your sleds wags like a dog at any time, you're darting! Studs don't help darting! Fix the SRP, and you'll cure your problems.

Both of my sleds now carve very hard, in all conditions. Powder snow is the one exception, but the C&A's dig in very well there too. There are times on trails where I have to slow myself down in corners. It surprises me how fast I can take a hairpin, and if I let my mind wonder, I'll keep pushing it until I scare myself.

Good luck with your set up, remember to play with your suspension set up, make it right for your weight and riding style, you'll be much happier with your sled.





John Guest

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Dually runners is usually the only thing that totally gets rid of this,but get the 4 inch dual carbides ,,thats 8 inch's total for each ski,, and find the 5/16th host bar ,cause's alot less drag

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Awesome tips. Thanks guys:-D

I'm not sure. I ride but don't know alot about the anatomy of my sled. lol

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I got the 'toe' adjusted on my snow mobile.Have yet to see if it works. It ws quite a bit out of adjustment.

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That would be a reason for problems. Also if you go with dually carbides, go the same length or longer. Someones math is bass ackwards.

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