2007 Honda TRX450ER A-Arm ISSUE!

[jerdenn]

I have a 2007 Honda TRX450ER that I setup to race flat track with and added some aftermarket parts to get the atv setup to race. I added Durablue front and rear lowering kits, 10x5 ITP T9 front wheels, 10x10 ITP T9 rear wheels, nerf bars, kill swith and that is about it. On July 19, 2007 I was in practice before a race, which just happened to be a TT Flat Track race and had just went over the last roller that was about a foot high, then went around turn 4 and headed down the front straight away doing about 40-45mph when all of a sudden I come to a complete stop and end up going airborne. I went about 20 feet and landed on my left hip with my arms braced out in front of me. The first thing I thought flying through the air was this is going to hurt bad! I jumped right up and then fell back down because my hip was locked in place. I waited until the medic arrived and had them check me out. I was pretty banged up....thought maybe I cracked my hip and my wrists we a little sore and stiff. I sat on the atv while I was being towed back to my pit area and looked my atv over. The right wheel was hanging down by the bottom a-arm and the top a-arm was completely seperated from the top ball joint. Wow I thought.....how in the heck could that happen? I put it on the trailer and left it alone for the night because I was so bummed out that I didn't even get to race it and it is broke up pretty bad. Later on that week I unloaded it from my trailer and rolled it into my garage. I jacked it up and took a good look at things. I couldn't believe what I saw....the ball joint on the right upper a-arm totally seperated from the ball joint. I also notices it bent the new ITP T9 front right wheel, front spindle, tie rod, both upper and lower a-arms, the left rear ITP T9 wheel at the center, front hood, front headlight, and some other misc. parts. I did some investigating and noticed Honda had a recall for the 2006 Honda TRX450's a-arms with the a-arm seperating from the ball joint. Well I called my dealer and told them what happened and they called Honda to tell them about it. They said to take pics of the atv. I took pics and took them down to dealership which in turn sent them to Honda. Some tech at Honda in California said that there is no recall for the 2007 models and they weren't going to cover it. So I called my insurance company and had them get a hold of Honda to get them to look at it physically instead via pictures. Honda sent out their investigators and gathered the information. The information was sent to Honda and after one day of reviewing the information decided they are responsible because I altered the suspension of the atv by adding the Durablue front lowering kit. When I found that out I was livid! So I decided to call Durablue and tell them what was happening and they said that Honda will say anything to eliminate them from being at fault. The funny thing is that the lowering kit didn't put any odd angles on the a-arms or anything. It actually mounted the shocks on the inside of the stock shock mounting bracket and made the shock sit lower than the a-arm. How in the heck can that cause the ball joint to seperate from the a-arm? I didn't hit anything with the atv during practice, I didn't hit anyone during practice, I wasn't anywhere near anyone else during my practice, so how in the heck did I cause this to happen when there is a known problem with the a-arms? As far as injuries go, I ended up with 2 broken wrists, a possible cracked hip, two possible torn rotator cuffs and future arthritis in all those areas. I am still aching after over a month. I am getting nowhere with Honda and don't feel I should have to get a lawyer to get them to honor their product. I tried to get a hold of the Honda Rep for this area and he won't return my calls or anything. The dealer can't even get him to return their calls. What is it with these big companies? They get your money and then they don't give a crap? The bad thing about these type of issues is that the dealership loses a customer and that affects them more than it affects Honda! They just don't give a hoot. Don't get me wrong....I love my Honda Atv and have had many of them over the years and have never had any issues until now and now I can't believe they aren't doing what is right. The real sad part of this is if it would have happened 30feet earlier I would have been killed because I just went over a little jump. I could have been easily killed in the spot I wrecked if I would have hit just right. My wife doesn't want me to ride it at all because of the risk of it happening again. But I paid over $7000 for this thing and I should be able to ride it and get my moneys worth.If anyone out there knows someone at Honda that can help me out, I would be very happy. I don't want this thing to turn into a bad deal. I just want it taken care of. I have pics as well that I will post in the next post. Thanks!

Jerry Denniston
Ottumwa, Iowa

[jerdenn]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e191/kyd-dynomite/450rwrecked003.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e191/kyd-dynomite/450rwrecked002.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e191/kyd-dynomite/450rwrecked001.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e191/kyd-dynomite/450rwrecked035.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e191/kyd-dynomite/450rwrecked034.jpg

[jerdenn]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e191/kyd-dynomite/450rwrecked026.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e191/kyd-dynomite/450rwrecked025.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e191/kyd-dynomite/450rwrecked009.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e191/kyd-dynomite/450rwrecked008.jpg

[07250ex]

that stinks ...welcome to the site

[pro-rider46]

i would off told honda that i could have died on that defective piece of machinery and that they could be seeing legal action from me in the future. and i am scarred for life. i am not wanting to go to legal actions but if i have to i will. all i want is for you to replace your defective product that i paid a lot of good money for. and say i am looking at a nice yfz at the moment. then see what honda will say

[jerdenn]

The crappy thing is that if you mention lawyer to them they will not talk to you any longer. They are real evasive. I have tried to figure out their e-mailing system so that maybe I can slip an e-mail into one of the employees and hope they relay it to the right person. Their e-mail system is internal so that nobody can communicate with them from the general public. If an employee divulges something the company doesn't want them to then they can be sued for sure. I know that the american honda e-mail system is in this fashion suchandsuchuser@.ahm.honda.com. I just don't know how they do their names. I only know one guys name that works for Honda and he is the rep that won't return my calls. I told them that I could have been killed. The other odd thing is when the honda rep came down to view the atv I told him I took the aftermarket parts off because I was told Honda wouldn't cover the damage if they found out I was racing it. He told me that is not right because this thing is made to race. Well to me it doesn't sound like they want you to race it. Sounds like they just want you to let it sit on a pedestal and look at it! He also asked me if I was planning on seeking any other damages from Honda if they agreed to pay for the damages. He said I don't have the authority to decide but just hypothetically. I told him no...just my atv repaired and my doctor bills and he said ok. It doesn't look like they stand behind their product. Heck, even Stevie Wonder can see that it's a defective part! If you guys can spread the word about this and get people to come on here and see the post, it might get back to someone from Honda who can help. Oh yeah....the atv was only 2 months old when this happened and ridden about 8 times! I guess I got my money's worth! :ermm:

honda put out a recall for that,,,put the front back to stock and take it to another dealer...

[07250ex]

Originally posted by pro-rider46
i would off told honda that i could have died on that defective piece of machinery and that they could be seeing legal action from me in the future. and i am scarred for life. i am not wanting to go to legal actions but if i have to i will. all i want is for you to replace your defective product that i paid a lot of good money for. and say i am looking at a nice yfz at the moment. then see what honda will say

Good idea

[Sjorge450R]

Originally posted by speedyquad
honda put out a recall for that,,,put the front back to stock and take it to another dealer...

i was just about to say that. That looks pretty nasty. I would be freaken a chit to some one if that happened to my brand new quad. Let us know how you make out.

[hondarider101]

Originally posted by jerdenn
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e191/kyd-dynomite/450rwrecked026.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e191/kyd-dynomite/450rwrecked025.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e191/kyd-dynomite/450rwrecked009.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e191/kyd-dynomite/450rwrecked008.jpg wow
that stinks

[jerdenn]

I did call them about a recall for these a-arms. They told me NO! The recall is for the 2006 Honda TRX450R/ER and not the 2007 models. I don't see how there shouldn't be a recall because according to the recall this is what happens on the 2006 models. Well evidently they didn't get the problem fixed. In the 2006 recall notes it says that there were 7 warranty turn ins for this issue on 2006 models and no injuries. Well this is a 2007 model with an injury. I wonder if they would have recalled it if I wouldn't have been hurt? On another sad note....if I would have been killed, my wife wouldn't have even known where to start. She doesn't know anything about ATV's and wouldn't have known what to investigate if it wasn't driver error. It just shows that in business money is the key to everything. I'm hoping Honda will change their mind and recall them in case someone else gets hurt or possibly killed and it could have been prevented.

[IMSROLL450R]

Hey man Ive had VERY similar problems with my bike and Honda. At this point you can't be nice to them at all or even cooperative they have to think that you ARE seeking legal action. The truth is you really could have gotten hurt or killed because of that and they know that. The bike looks brand new theres no reason for a separated ball joint like that, it simply has to be defective. I involved my uncle who is a lawyer and eventually got my bike taken to the dealer and given the full look over and everything was fixed that was caused from the crash. Immediately after it was done I cancelled my warranty and never dealt with any of those Honda shops again. I actually rarely deal with them at all anymore I just do work myself or have a buddy help me. My advice would be that you have the power to get something done you just have to go about it the right way. They will try to blow you off but if you involve the right people they will listen. I even wrote them numerous letters to no answer. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Welcome to the site!

[jerdenn]

They are such a huge corporation that you don't even know how to contact anyone. They keep all contact inside the company only. The only place you can call fo rhelp it customer service. They are only there to listen to you complain. They can't even escalate anything. I tried it and they told me they can't do anything because my incident is being investigated and I have to communicate with the dealership. What the heck is the dealership going to be able to do? tell Honda that they aren't going to sell Honda's anymore if they don't take care of me? Honda could care less. I am getting to the point where I am about to take it apart and ship every darn part piece by piece to Honda and tell them to stick it up their behinds. I was told by another Honda dealer that he has had the same problems with Honda. They don't care and they don't want to hear about your problems. He said that if it was Suzuki or Kawasaki, they take care of the situation right away. Kind of funny when Honda is the largest producer of these products out there and they can't even take care of their customers, but Suzuki or Kawasaki who is smaller can take care of their customers plain and simple. I knew I should have researched them more thoroughly! I almost bought I Suzuki LTR450R and now I wish I would have. If I get anymore word on the deal I will post it in case someone else comes up with the same problem that I have.

[IMSROLL450R]

I do agree with the fact that they should honor their craftsmanship but the fact is its a high performance bike and things do break, its just bull**** they wont back it up. Even though they have bad customer service I will still never ride anything but a Honda.

[jerdenn]

As a consumer you shouldn't have to deal with stuff like this. The dealer is there as the go between you and the mfg and there can't get anymore done than you can. It isn't like I took the atv up on Mt. Everest and tried to jump off the mountain. I was on a flat track going down the straight away. It shouldn't take a trocket scientist to figure out what the heck happened and to take care of it. Well since they decided the Durablue lowering kit caused the balljoint to seperate from the a-arm, I have to get them involved. It's just a crappy deal all together. It just goes back to the fact that Honda just doesn't care! I hate feeling this way about something that I like, but I can't accept this as being my fault. It would be different if I slammed head on into something by my own error but it wasn't! Anybody want to buy a like new 2007 Honda TRX 450ER? :D

[oldracer]

Originally posted by jerdenn
I did call them about a recall for these a-arms. They told me NO! The recall is for the 2006 Honda TRX450R/ER and not the 2007 models. I don't see how there shouldn't be a recall because according to the recall this is what happens on the 2006 models. Well evidently they didn't get the problem fixed. In the 2006 recall notes it says that there were 7 warranty turn ins for this issue on 2006 models and no injuries. Well this is a 2007 model with an injury. I wonder if they would have recalled it if I wouldn't have been hurt? On another sad note....if I would have been killed, my wife wouldn't have even known where to start. She doesn't know anything about ATV's and wouldn't have known what to investigate if it wasn't driver error. It just shows that in business money is the key to everything. I'm hoping Honda will change their mind and recall them in case someone else gets hurt or possibly killed and it could have been prevented.

call Garvis Honda in Des moines
just give the service guy your vin#. he will treat you right.
some 07 models are on the recall.
then all you need to do is take them the stock a arms and they will hook you up with replacements on the spot.

[jerdenn]

I don't know if you can turn it into another dealership when you have already made a claim with another. Garvis will have the same Honda Rep that the one does that I went to here in town. The Garvis Honda place is the one that gave my insurance company the Honda rep's name and number. The Honda rep was pretty peeved that I had his number too! He asked me where I got it and I told him my insurance agent, which is who actually gave it to me too. Now when I call him he ignores my calls and won't call me back. I am getting pretty frustrated because i forked out $7,000 for a product that I can't even use. I will call Garvis and see what they say. Thanks for the info!