bent a-arms

[drthrottle]

I bent my stock lower a-arms this weekend @ the mx track.Anyone done this before can tell me how serious this is.Can I keep jumping this thing or will they break?I want to replace them aftermarket of course, it's just a matter of time and $$$.Thanks for your time.

[dreth]

im no pro but i would not jump it because if it does break youcould get hurt. look on ebay for a stock replacement for a temp until you can go aftermarket

[WOracing]

Originally posted by dreth
im no pro but i would not jump it because if it does break youcould get hurt. look on ebay for a stock replacement for a temp until you can go aftermarket

i totally agree

[4fiddyR]

I haven't broke mine yet, but I have worn all the bushings/bearings out in the A arms. If you put it on a stand and spin the front wheels and hit the front brake you can see the A-Arm move, and the bolts are tight.
I'm gonna test the waters of the 6month warranty on this one.

[LUELLEN450R]

LET US KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY LUCK WITH THE WARRANTY MINE ARE SHOT TOO, I FIRST NOTICED IT AFTER ABOUT THE FIRST MONTH. IM GOING TO REPLACE MINE WITH A SET OF HELM URATHENE BUSHINGS THEY HELD UP WELL IN MY 400EX

[ThumPIN_450R]

mine are bent too and i've kept jumping hard including some 70 foot table tops and 55 foot step ups and I haven't broke em yet I'll be the guinea pig here for ya and keep on with what i'm doing and tell you about if the break but take that quad to you're dealer and report it and maybe honda will cover our a arms because on mine they said that mine were the first of that type of thing to happen and if more reports come in they may cover it but honda not covering mine is kind of BS to me on there warantee

[drthrottle]

I'm thinking the same thing thumpin450.If several of us show Honda they're weak, we should have a case.I bought the 3 year extended warranty on mine too, so I'm really going to be hollering. I don't think they're going to just snap.I racing mine tonight (practice), 82 ft finishline jump here I come.

[quadjeff]

I have a stock front end complete for sale. With everthing $150.00 plus shipping.... e-mail me jeff@quadsonly.com.

[WOracing]

i was just washing my quad and i noticed that my lower a-rm is bent also....i noticed that because my right front tire is bent slightly in, so i dont know if this is just my imagination or it really is bent. And if i am going to replace the a-arms, what is a good aftermarket company? I have never purchased a-ams before...thanks for any help:)

[Toadz400]

Is this a problem with the 450R's? A-arms bend easily and the bearings go out too soon? Kinda making me think twice about picking one up...

[WOracing]

Originally posted by Toadz400
Is this a problem with the 450R's? A-arms bend easily and the bearings go out too soon? Kinda making me think twice about picking one up...

Im thinking the a-arms are a problem but the bearings and bushings are fine on them....nothing to serous that you should change your mind about:cool:

[4fiddyR]

It's just use and abuse, the are only mild steel, they are bound to bend. No different than any other, I've done this to two 400EX's, one Raptor, and a KFX 400.
Bushings wearing out and bending of the A-arms is just from the pounding they take while you push your equipment to the limit.
I called my dealer today and told them about my A-arms having play, he told me that he would order new bushings / bearings for me today. No Questions Asked.
He told me if I wear them out when my warranty expires, I'm beat. I think it's fair. I give the Honda Warranty the Nod.:cool:

[Toadz400]

Originally posted by 4fiddyR
It's just use and abuse, the are only mild steel, they are bound to bend. No different than any other, I've done this to two 400EX's, one Raptor, and a KFX 400.
Bushings wearing out and bending of the A-arms is just from the pounding they take while you push your equipment to the limit.

Actually aren't they aluminum? Or is that just the top a-arms?

I haven't bent an a-arm on my 400EX and I've jumped a lot, the top right a-arm is bent but that's from something else.

[86atc250r]

No they're not aluminum.

Just because there is difference in camber does not mean your control arms are bent. There are tolerances that these are built to and sometimes there are variations in camber between the wheels that you won't notice until you start looking closely. The 400EX displayed this type of issue as well. It's the nature of the beast with a mass produced machine without camber adjustment.

The 450R control arms are very strong - if you truely have bent one, it's likely an abuse issue and I wouldn't be expecting any kind of warranty. Fortunately, if you have abused them, they are not very expensive to replace new --- and even cheaper used.

Bearings/bushings --- Honda uses sealed Heims in their control arms. It's likely that if you have forward to backward play on the bolt (not in/out play) that you have hit a tree and have knocked the bearing keepers loose inside the control arm and the heim is actually sliding back and forth. This usually happens to the lower control arm bearings, very seldom uppers.

If you catch it fast enough, you can just reseat the clips and it will be fixed - if you don't find it fast enough, the heim cage sliding back and forth will smooth over the grooves the clips fit in and you will need to buy a new control arm.

If this is the case, ordering replacement heims will not fix the problem as you are replacing a part that is not broken.

The 450R has the same setup as a 400EX - I've raced my 400EX for several years now & have never worn out a factory heim, however, I have had several come loose as described above from tree hits while racing.

[WOracing]

weight savers suck...:D :cool: :p

[kssandduner]

Quadjeff, do you have the stock front shocks for sale, or anyone else? My bro in law is looking for a set for his 400ex so he can hopefully keep up with my 450r. He doesn't race, so it should be a good cheap upgrade.

Joe

[drthrottle]

the paint over the welds of the gusset the shocks mount on between the lower hoops of the a-arms is gone, and when I place a level against the lower edge of the arms they pull away better than an inch before the arch.I compared this to my buddies 450r and it's definately bent.I realize I'm asking a lot, but I wanted these babies to hold up for a little while I got the money to step RIGHT.I also bought the xtnded warranty so we'll see what Honda's got.All those advertisements of Farr sliding the 450 around the corners of race tracks and dunes had stock stuff on them.

[PEPwalshZ440]

don't ride on a bent a-arm!! u gotta be stupid!

[ThumPIN_450R]

Originally posted by drthrottle
the paint over the welds of the gusset the shocks mount on between the lower hoops of the a-arms is gone, and when I place a level against the lower edge of the arms they pull away better than an inch before the arch.I compared this to my buddies 450r and it's definately bent.I realize I'm asking a lot, but I wanted these babies to hold up for a little while I got the money to step RIGHT.I also bought the xtnded warranty so we'll see what Honda's got.All those advertisements of Farr sliding the 450 around the corners of race tracks and dunes had stock stuff on them.

mine is exactly the same as you you have happening to you exept mine is only on the standard 6 month warrantee but it's a warrantee none the less and I find total bull shat that honda won't cover mine and as you for you're comment pepwalshz440 i thought the gull wing a arm design was the way to go:D

[4fiddyR]

In service Honda's PDF of the parts microfiche they call them bearings, and mine move forward and back, all but one lower moves. Like I said earlier, they are replacing them for me with my 6 month warranty. I also ride mx, no trees where I ride to hit.

[drthrottle]

pepwalsh, easy on the stupid stuff bra.I've bent some frames and never had something just break on me.These mild steel frames are designed to flex, maybe bend before they break.I've been behind 2 quads(1 raptor, 1 400ex) that had axles blow up.They were landing big jumps, but both were liftime waranteed axles(an excalibur & ??) aftermarket bad***** axles that broke like TOOTHPICKS on the same jumps I was making on my 400ex sus.Some of us have 2 run what we broung.

[86atc250r]

Re-read what I said - I bet new bearings won't solve your problem.

Those are caged heims. They are held in place within the control arm pivot by "C" clips on either side. When you hit something (anything - even a bad landing), sometimes those clips will pop loose causing the bearing assembly to slide around inside the control arm cavity.

As the bearing slides around, the grooves that the clips fit into get worn away --- then it's new control arm time.

In my experience - racing cross country & motocross, those bearings themselves are extremely durable - As I said before, in 5 years of racing my 400ex, I have yet to wear even one out. However, I have had many of them go thru the process detailed above.

With my experience, I would have to say unless you have absolutely horrible maintenance habits (and even then) it's practically impossible to have one or more of those heims "wear out" in the time the 450R has been available.

Do yourself a favor and check them out - you may save yourself and your dealer some time and trouble.

Of course - I guess I might not have any idea what I'm talking about --- you make the call...

[PEPwalshZ440]

sorry drthrottle didn't mean it like that. But neway, what are you gonna do???

[drthrottle]

It's cool pepwalshz. I gotta run them until I have the $$ to get the good stuff. Takes about $2500 to do the front end right. Maybe I'll take up a collection. Can I get an AMEN!

[PEPwalshZ440]

yea man do your front end right, not half ***. That's how i look at stuff.