Suspension or A-arms ?

[MisterGraphic]

Hey people,

I have a 2001 Ex with an upper ball joint/A-arm
that needs to be replaced. (Stock)

I'm wondering, should I get a stock a-arm off ebay,
and buy YFZ450 shocks. (Keep that until I have
$ for A-arms / wider axle)

Another thing, If I would use the Stock A-arms with
YFZ450 shocks, would it be worth lowering the rear ?
how much would it affect "stability" ?

Or would it be better to keep the stock shocks and
get +2 A-arms (Burgards).

My axle is still stock, Just wondering if I'll enjoy the
suspension better then the A-arms, or which one's
better to do first.

Thanks for the input!

[katch26]

can you not replace just the ball joint on the 400ex?

as far as the original question I guess it all depends on cost and purpose

[MisterGraphic]

I was told I had to change de complete upper a-arm in order to replace the ball joint.

I was quoted 156$ + taxes at the honda dealer for the "upper a-arm & ball joint" (That's why I was looking at ebay)

I can replace just the upper ball joint ? can you elaborate... haha (Not too familiar with this stuff)

The reason for the shocks was just to know if it's better to upgrade suspension before A-arms... I guess it's kind of a separate question.

[katch26]

I was asking...I don't know. I have the 400 as a backup bike and havent had to do to much to it yet. My quad I can replace the ball joint without the whole aarms, just not sure on the 400.

[Pipeless416]

on 400ex's, when the ball joint goes, the arm goes. as for your question, getting +2 arms with stock shocks will leave you VERY dissatisfied. with that much more leverage on the shock, you will bottom out everywhere. if you get the shocks first, you'll benefit from them right away. then if you really wanted a nice setup you could get the arms and have the shocks set up for them later on.

[MisterGraphic]

Thanks for the explanation Pipeless416,
It's what I thought because of the leverage.

Does anybody have feedback concerning the YFZ450 shocks ?
Are they good for trail riding and mild jumping ?

Thanks again everyone, very appreciated.

[F-16Guy]

If you're going to do arms anyway, why waste money on an arm that you're just going to take right back off? I say do the arms first. You can still ride on them with the stock shocks, but they'll be soft, so you'll just have to be careful about how hard you ride until you get the shocks. I would also recommend 450R shocks over YFZ450 shocks. The 450Rs are almost perfect as is once you have +2 arms, while the YFZ450 shocks are going to be soft. The Yami shocks are also considerably shorter, so it's going to really sit like a stink bug with the additional sag from the +2 arms.

[MisterGraphic]

That's also a good comment concerning the shorter Yami shocks.... I'll think about everything.

Concerning the A-arms, I read in other post that "burgards" a-arm were recommendend.... What do you all think of this ? Better off getting second hand ?