1997 Bigfoot pulls hard to the left

[Trapper Dano]

My 1997 Bigfoot chronically pulls to the left, so much so that I am constantly bumping the right brake to keep it chicken tracking down the trail. I used the brake so much the Argo never gets up to speed and the engine bogs down. It Does it with tires and or tracks on so I think it is something in the braking or a bearing maybe? Wheels on left side all seem to turn normally, no more drag on one than any other. I bought this machine a year ago and have yet to have a good outing in it. Am starting lose my patience with it. Unit has 500 hours on it now, outside of the driving issue it runs like a top. Anyone else ever experience this, appreciate any and all input! Dano

[Toys4Me]

IS the left brake dragging at all? Is the tire pressure the same all around?

[curtisbyrne]

i know its easy to loose patients with these machines that have so many moving parts but its key to try your best to stay calm and take steps trouble shoot problems which we will all help you with.
1.check tire pressure on both sides(less air will make the vehicle drag on one side and turn)
2. do you have all the same tire on both sides?
3.jack it up and check the bearings if you believe it has something to do with it.
4.remove firewall and inspect you brakes.how thick are your pads,are your rotors nice and strait with no warps?,jack it up and see if you can spin the tires by hand and see if one side is harder to turn or dragging.
5.check idler chain adjustment (1/8 is proper deflection of chain)
normally you should be able to turn wheels by hand when jacked up. do these things and report back!

[Trapper Dano]

IS the left brake dragging at all? Is the tire pressure the same all around?

tire pressure is all equal at 4 pounds. Had 2 bead leaks fixed, wasn't the problem. How can I check to see if brake is dragging? Set the machine up on axle stands and try to spin tires or is there some other way?

[Toys4Me]

Jack up that side and spin tires. Have a helper spin the tires and listen to see if you hear them dragging. Also jack entire machine up and see if you feel a difference in resistance from side to side.

[Trapper Dano]

Thanks Curtis, frustrates the H#ll out of me. Bought it to keep my son safe trapping in the woods and I just cant seem to get it right for him. Have kinda brushed over the brakes, will have to check more thoroughly and the rotors, and test bearings again at same time. I haven't looked at the idler chain tension before will have to check it to. Tire are all Goodyear Runamuks, equal pressure 4 pounds, I even measured them all and put the smallest up front largest in the middle and the others at the back

[Trapper Dano]

Yeah was thinking that might be the best way, get the whole machine off the ground and compare side to side.

[dirtdobber]

Question for Argo folks: does that unit have splined axles or pinned/bolted? If pinned/bolted and pins/bolts have sheared on the left side it would pull in that direction.

[ARGOJIM]

DD it will have splined axles.

TD are all the tires, when on tires 25x12x9 or 25x11.50.9 or mixed? You may have to do a circumference check and align tires from side to side and front to rear height wise (tires and track tires). The Argo's all seem to pull to the left naturally but not to that extreme.
An easy way to check one brake issue is to grab the plunger between the stick and master cylinder and see if you can turn it with 2 fingers, it shouldn't spin free but should be turnable with your fingers, if not that brake is partially applied.

[Canadian_Zuk]

just take a 1/2" wrench and back off the left brake caliper and see if the problem goes away, a lot quicker than jacking it up. it only takes seconds to adjust the brakes and you can do them with the firewall in place. I had a 96 Vanguard that the left brake would tighten up and drag sometimes.

[ARGOJIM]

just take a 1/2" wrench and back off the left brake caliper and see if the problem goes away, a lot quicker than jacking it up. it only takes seconds to adjust the brakes and you can do them with the firewall in place. I had a 96 Vanguard that the left brake would tighten up and drag sometimes.

He should have hydraulic brakes.

[Canadian_Zuk]

He should have hydraulic brakes.

Opps, I assumed the 97 and 96 were the same.

[palermo]

not Sure if this reply is too late for you but an easy way to start would be to jack the side of your Argo up and free spin the tires. In neutral they should spin pretty easily make sure both sides of spinning the same amount of force and work your way back from there if the wheels are tighter on one side next logical step would be check your chain tension. If that is OK next would be to make sure your brakes are hanging up. very simple adjustment, a turn of a screw.. I know it is been said before there are a lot of moving parts but actually they're not. They're pretty basic machines and pretty bulletproof. my 1999 vanguard isnt measured in hours but in miles as it gets heavy use for long distances. ive put on approx 500 miles last year alone. keep the bearings greased every 20 hours and oil chain the same time, youl have this machine for ever.i hope this helps you.

[Coast2Coast]

I had the same problem with my 98 conquest. I never actually noticed it till I got it out ice fishing on the lakes and it was exactly as you describe: reach 25kph, pull steering lever and drop to 15km/h, repeat all day long making a jig saw pattern across the lake. At that time I tried letting the air down to 1psi in one side and 7 psi in the other side and it didn't make a bit of difference. I thought maybe I got it backwards, so I pumped the tires on the opposite side up and let the air out of the other but it was the same result.

After all the troubleshooting steps listed previously in this thread I concluded that the drive chains must be stretched more on one side than on the other. But then spring came and the problem was out of site out of mind, and I replaced all the chains this fall. But I haven't put the machine out on the ice yet this year to see if it fixed it, this thread reminded me of the problem. I will try and get the machine out this weekend to test.

[Trapper Dano]

Finally got a chance to spend a couple minutes on the machine. Adjusted the idler chain left side was looser then right, snugged it up to match right side at 1/8 of an inch. No difference still, seems to drive straight initially but as soon as it warms up it wants to go left again. Will do it in as little as a 5-600 yard run. hope to try and check the bearings and brakes on Sunday.