Review of PRM products bottom frame, and A-arm plate set
 After
picking up my 400EX from the dealership, one of the first
things I noticed was how vulnerable the A-arms and frame were
to damage. I decided to purchase a set of A-arm guards, and
a bottom frame plate to protect these components. Extensive
searches of the internet led me to PRM-ATV products. The price
seemed to good to be true, but everyone I talked with said
that they liked PRM's product so I decided to give them a
try.
I ordered a bottom frame plate (#00339 - $65.95) and an A-arm
plate set (#00341 - $43.95) directly from PRM-ATV. The person
who took my order was friendly, and very helpful.
Within a week my new skid plates arrived. As
I anxiously inspected them, my initial impressions were that
they were very well built. They were lightweight, I had expected
them to be much heavier. The mounting hardware was also very
high quality. Instead of standard nuts and bolts, they included
nylon locking nuts. For those of you who may be unfamiliar
with them, they have a ring of nylon built into the nut. This
helps to prevent the nut from vibrating loose. Vibration can
easily cause nuts and bolts to work loose, a common problem
with the 400EX.
Installation proved to be hassle free. With no holes to drill,
it only takes a few minutes. All that is required is common
hand tools, and about 15 minutes of time. I found it easier
to remove the front bumper while installing the bottom frame
plate. You also need to remove the factory plastic engine
guard (it's not very good anyway).
The bottom frame plate wraps up around the
frame tubes a bit to provide protection against dings. The
fact that it covers the entire bottom of the frame greatly
decreases the odds of a stick or rock flying up from the bottom
and damaging the oil tank or lines. The front edges of the
A-arm guards are raised up to protect the entire front of
the lower A-arm.
After riding with these skid plates for a few weeks now, all
I can say is that they are tough! They have survived everything
that has been thrown at them well. The only battle scars on
them so far are a few scratches.
Another great feature of the bottom frame plate
is that there are holes for both the oil tank drain, and the
crankcase drain. This may not sound like that big of a deal,
but it allows you to service your 400EX without removing the
bottom frame plate, or filling it up with used oil.
I would highly recommend these PRM skid plates
to anyone who is looking for more protection for their machines
delicate underside.
Update 1/14/2001
I have been informed that PRM has raised the price a bit since this was originally written, the bottom frame plate is now $84.95 and the A-arm skid plates are now $56.95. That takes away a bit of the 'bargain' factor, but I still consider them to be high quality units.
Update 3/6/2001
Drew was nice enough to forward some more pictures of PRM skid plates to us, inclding some detailed pics of the rear skid plate - note the ground clearnace measurement.. Drew writes " they're quite a bit thicker and I've
lost ground clearance. I hit things I never would have before. They've
held up great though."
Thanks for the pictures Drew!
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