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Steering on 1404 Imp drifts to the right

rodre

Member
My Imp seems to want to go to the right all the time, where I have to almost continually pump the left lever to keep it on track. Obviously this is not normal, is are there any items I can check or adjust before having to drain the C-4 diff to check the steering band condition? I can make tight turns from a standstill and don't hear any moaning or rubbing so I think the bands might be ok. I am guessing there is no field test to help determine the condition of the bands?
 

rockhead

Member
If I were in your shoes, which I may well be, I would

  1. change rear fluid
  2. adjust all external adjustments
  3. verify nothing external is sticking
My 1450 exhibited similar behavior on its 2nd test drive, it was worst when really cold and got better as the machine warmed up, and more of a veering than a drifting. If either the master or slave cylinder isn't traveling properly you could possibly generate drag on that band.


Track tension ? Rookie advising rookie here so watch out,lol, :w00t2:. I have read that if one track is much tighter that could also cause drifting.
 

loggah

Active member
SUPER Site Supporter
sounds like the right hand steering band is adjusted a bit to tight, i would back off the adjustment where it goes against the steering lever. Don
 

cloudcap

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
My Imp tended to drift to one side (I forget which) and replacing/adjusting the brake bands didn't make a difference. When I did a full track rebuild I discovered that one side had a different type of springs -- more arch on one side than the other. When I put everything back together I redistributed the springs so that they were symmetrical from side to side -- one type of spring up front (on both sides) and the other type of spring on the back (on both sides). The cat now drives straight.

Bottom line is that something is different from one side of your cat to the other. Brake bands are an obvious place to start, but other (more subtle) factors are track tension, springs, wheels, prevailing winds, and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

Ron
 

rodre

Member
Thanks everyone, looks like I am going to have to remove the access plate in the rear to be able to look at the steering band tension.

How to test and adjust track tension?
 

rodre

Member
Looking at the Imp manual cloudcapp posted it appears you have to separate the C-4 axle from the frame before being able to drain and take the back cover plate off to get at the steering band adjustment, is this correct?!?
 

cloudcap

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Looking at the Imp manual cloudcapp posted it appears you have to separate the C-4 axle from the frame before being able to drain and take the back cover plate off to get at the steering band adjustment, is this correct?!?

No. This is from memory (I don't have the cat in front of me), but my recollection is that you just remove the pillow block on the rear face of the C-4 and then pop off the back plate. The last time I did this I think I had the cat on my trailer (puts the diff at a better working height) and I believe I used the tie-down chains to down-load the back of the cat (i.e., mash it down toward the ground as if it had a heavy load) in order to get better access to some of the rear panel bolts. But I definitely didn't have to do anything fancy like separating the C-4 from the frame. It was actually quite easy to open up the diff, adjust the bands, and then close it up again -- maybe two or three hours at most. Here's a thread I posted the first time I worked on my brakes.

Ron
 

rodre

Member
That's great, thanks for the link! Looks like the diff oil still needs to be drained in order to do anything with the steering bands. I guess it is the oc-12 that you can adjust the steering bands from above the diff? Now I got to find a shop where I can work on this as it's raining like crazy here. Not necessarily a bad thing as rain in the city tends to mean snow in the mountains.
 

zspryte

Member
Site Supporter
Just a reminder, there are two steering adjusters for each side - one in the case for the bands and one outside/on top of the case for the linkage. If the linkage is too tight, it will make the cat turn. Page 6 in the manual posted in the other tread explains how to adjust the linkage and shows it in Figure 22-27.
 

rodre

Member
If I were in your shoes, which I may well be, I would

  1. change rear fluid
  2. adjust all external adjustments
  3. verify nothing external is sticking
My 1450 exhibited similar behavior on its 2nd test drive, it was worst when really cold and got better as the machine warmed up, and more of a veering than a drifting. If either the master or slave cylinder isn't traveling properly you could possibly generate drag on that band.


Track tension ? Rookie advising rookie here so watch out,lol, :w00t2:. I have read that if one track is much tighter that could also cause drifting.


I think my problem is track tension. This time I went out it was alot warmer, so tracks must have expanded some, and I could hear the right track skipping on the sprocket and touching the underside from time to time. I figure if the left track is tighter and spinning faster that would cause the drift to the right. Does that seem logical?
 

turbinator62

Active member
Site Supporter
SUPER Site Supporter
Looking at the Imp manual cloudcapp posted it appears you have to separate the C-4 axle from the frame before being able to drain and take the back cover plate off to get at the steering band adjustment, is this correct?!?

When dropping the C-4 rear end, make sure you support the unit securely and remove the rear AND the front trunnion bearing. If you only remove the rear one, and allow the rear of the axle to drop, you will hear a loud BANG, as the front cast iron trunnion bearing breaks. They are available from Link Belt, but not cheap.
 

rodre

Member
Thanks for the heads up, I wondered about that as the manual was pretty specific in telling you to unbolt the front and rear pillow blocks. If tensioning the track takes care for the drift to the right I am hoping to not have to dig into this until the spring, when I will open it up and check the internals, brake bands, and change the oil.
 

rodre

Member
Well, it looks like the season is around the corner so I am going to dig into the Imp again. I definitely need to get the cover plate off the C-4 to inspect it this year. I am still struggling with how to do this. I would like to do it on the trailer for better working height but my trailer is for a bigger cat and has the space in the center channel. This gives me nothing to put a floor jack under. I am trying to think of how to raise the body after I support the c-4 with some blocks and loosen the pillow blocks. Any ideas would be welcomed as would another set of hands lol
 
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