P1000 Twitchy Steering at speed

[annoyed]

Saw a thread on here the other day where people were talking about the top speed in the Pioneer 1000's and it had me shaking my head. I've had mine (factory wheels and tires) on pavement at 35mph and the steering feels twitchy as can be.

Now I'm curious... is there something wrong with my pioneer/alignment or are people hitting 60+ running aftermarket setups that help with the steering sensitivity?

Even on a few graded dirt roads, it's not fun going fast in this thing. Feels like it wants to dart all over the place - which typically isn't a huge issue, most of our off-road adventures are sub 15mph.


FWIW, 2016, ~700 miles on it (bought with about 500... it's been a jacked up 18 months since I got it). I try to take it out every few weeks and run it around the block to keep things running.

 

[Admin]

 

[Rayger143]

You might want to check your machine. Doesn’t sound normal to me. Mines smooth and all stock steering.

 

[TexasJackKin]

I've had mine (2021 P1K-5) over 60 MPH lots of times, all stock, steering always seems precise and predictable.

 

[BrophyCreek]

Same, stock steering and have run at 50-55 for many miles and 65 a handful of times. Alignment?

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

 

[annoyed]

Welp great... guess I'll be doing an alignment. Woohoo

Guess this will give me a chance to re-center my steering wheel after the dealership did the last recall and got it off center, at least.

 

[JACKAL]

First thing, check your steering shaft u-joints there are 2 of them, visually inspect that they are fully seated and the tightening bolt is in the machined groove on the shaft and the u-joints are secure on all 4 ends without play.

Second, sounds like your toe in is too much causing erratic handling at speed. Honda usually sends them with too much toe out which is lesser of the two evils. It's possible the previous owner adjusted the toe in too much, or replaced a bent tie rod or two and didn't adjust things correctly. Also measure both sides axle to axle front to rear ensuring the distance it equal, a slightly bent A-arm from a collision could be causing erratic steering as well.

Good luck and let us know what you found out.

 

[0860silverado]

They come from the factory usually with a significant amount of toe out. I aligned mine with 1/4" toe in difference in measurement between the centers of the fronts of the tires and the centers of the rears of the tires. Stable as a Corvette.

 

[annoyed]

The previous owner used this as a make-shift golf cart at a lake before they sold the property; to call this thing babied was an understatement. He took it to the dealer every 12 months and had them do whatever they wanted as far as maintenance went.

Looking over a few threads reference alignment, I'll use some steel I have leftover from projects to check the differences between the axles. I'll also count threads to make sure it's balanced side to side.

I'll add checking the U-Joints to everything. Unfortunately it's well over 100 degrees right now; and the garage is stupid hot. May be a little bit before I get to the bottom of it... but I will get to the bottom of it.

 

[Hawk53]

Saw a thread on here the other day where people were talking about the top speed in the Pioneer 1000's and it had me shaking my head. I've had mine (factory wheels and tires) on pavement at 35mph and the steering feels twitchy as can be.

Now I'm curious... is there something wrong with my pioneer/alignment or are people hitting 60+ running aftermarket setups that help with the steering sensitivity?

Even on a few graded dirt roads, it's not fun going fast in this thing. Feels like it wants to dart all over the place - which typically isn't a huge issue, most of our off-road adventures are sub 15mph.


FWIW, 2016, ~700 miles on it (bought with about 500... it's been a jacked up 18 months since I got it). I try to take it out every few weeks and run it around the block to keep things running.

Check your toe-in adjustment