Making Your Own A-Ams

[00.400ex#55]

I did this about a moth ago, figured you guys might want to see it.
It handles a million times better then stock, and 10 million times better then flipped rims. I can actually hang on to the bars now... yay! I have not rode to many fancy aftermarket set ups, but I can say I preferred mine over an asr/works 400ex and much more then laeger/elka banshee.

It is actually really simple, a few cuts, a few welds, and a whole lot of measurements. It took me a few days to do it; I wanted to make sure I didn’t completely **** up my front end, or worse, have it come apart at 100mph.

I started out by purchasing a set of 2009 450r a-arms. I wanted some with new ball joints, that’s why I chose them. They needed a bit more modification then the 400ex ones would but I only paid 35$ for them. I bought some saw blades and I was set, grand total of about 50$. I already had the tubing, welding wire, and grinding wheels.

When they showed up in the mail, all shiny and new… I cut those ****ers in half! Cut out the shock mount and made some relief cuts by the ball joints and the mounting points. Bent them in and put some tubing on the inside so I could slide it in or out and front to back. Tacked it all together and then cut my extension pieces of tubing.

To measure the camber I used a 2 foot level and a piece of angle iron against the wheel. There should be a 1 5/8in gap at a height of 2 feet, giving me 4 degrees. For the caster I just measured the distance from the ground to the tie rod mounting point on the spindle.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa289/quadracer56/P6160014.jpg

I ground the tacks off and slid everything back together with the new pieces I cut. The tubing is now 2 layers thick, not just a butted together. I made 3 passes when welding each joint together. 1 - the small tubing to the existing a-arm, 2 – the small tubing to the larger added tubing, 3 – on a higher setting connecting both welds together. I then ground them clean and enjoyed a few beers while deciding on my shock placement.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa289/quadracer56/P6170026.jpg

I decided to change the leverage ratio and move my shock in 1 inch from where it should have been. Since my 450r shocks were a little stiff it would make up for that, plus I am now at just over 10 inches of travel.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa289/quadracer56/P6180033.jpg

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa289/quadracer56/P6180035.jpg

[00.400ex#55]

Next I had to do the other side, not as fun as the first one. Had that done up in a day though.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa289/quadracer56/P6190020.jpg

I was looking at some aftermarket ones and some looked very similar to mine. I was debating on whether to put some gussets in or not, I didn’t really want to. I knew I just wouldn’t feel comfortable until I did, so I welded some in. The tie rods were simple but I’m still not sure if I trust them. I think I’m going to make some when I go back to school.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa289/quadracer56/DSC00542.jpg

I rolled it outside to take a few pics and clean up my garage. It seems my foot pegs are missing in damn near ever photo I have. I had some other stuff to do to it that week. I know the tires are on backwards, the lugs are just hand tight.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa289/quadracer56/DSC00541.jpg

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa289/quadracer56/DSC00536.jpg

[rob_990]

nice quad!

[aDviSol2y]

Lets us know how they hold up. My only concern would be the tubing bending. Most if not all extended arms are a thicker tube with thicker walls than stock. It looks very nice and very clean though. You did a nice job.

[powermadd400ex]

looks awesome dude, great job!

[ngates788]

those look pretty ba dude.. whats the initial width gain? +3?

[00.400ex#55]

They are actualy +4, I added 3 inches but the 450r a-arms are about an inch londer to begin with. These handle really good, Im a little suprised. The 450r shocks are awsome too. I got a nice front end for about 250$.

[project400ex19]

what kind of tubing did you use? Size O.D., I.D., guage? Chromolly or Mild Steel?


looks really nice. I have a second frame and thinking about making my own adjustable height subframe.

[tri5ron]

very nice job. I'm always impressed when someone shows a little personal ingenuity, and imagination.
I will be very interested to see how they hold up.
good luck with them, and good job.

[00.400ex#55]

Thanks guys, they have been holding up for a month of hard trail riding so far. No mx on them yet but im sure I will place much better and I wont wear out as quick.

The tubing needed is 5/8 3/4 and 1 inch.

[turbo j]

So will stock 04 Honda 450r a-arms bolt right up to a 400EX?

Nice job on the a-arms. Hope they hold up for you...

[turbo j]

So will stock 04 Honda 450r a-arms bolt right up to a 400EX?

Nice job on the a-arms. Hope they hold up for you...

i wanna see how long they last. :ermm:

[riotact]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by turbo j
[B]So will stock 04 Honda 450r a-arms bolt right up to a 400EX?

I'm also interested to find this out. Great job!!!

[v0lcom13sn0w]

Originally posted by turbo j
So will stock 04 Honda 450r a-arms bolt right up to a 400EX?

Nice job on the a-arms. Hope they hold up for you...

no they wont they're too wide.

[00.400ex#55]

No! They don't bolt up they are way to wide. I Think they will hold up just fine, If they bend **** im only out about 50$.

[QuadCobbler]

You did a hell of a good job on the welding. How is it holding up? any hard abuse yet? Deff. nice job

[Napalm Nate]

This is a great idea and looks pretty good I am strongly considering doing this. I want extended a-arms but dont want to pay 600.00 bucks for them. I own a welder and know how to use it just need to try it. did you make a jig to hold the arms in place to keep them staight.

[00.400ex#55]

Thanks guys. There still on there now have been for a full season and not bent at all. They only have 1 mx race on them but alot of rough trails and big rocky hills.

You do not need to make a jig. I got everything set up where I wanted on the bike and tacked it into place. It was removed for complete welding.

One thing I can suggest is to maybe add a temporary peice between the open end of the arm so it does not get sucked together when welding. I did have to bend one out about 1/4 inch with a 3000lbs floor jack. I ended up blowing the seals on it so I know there strong...

[MtnEX]

Well, first I want to say good for you!

I've always thought the cost for certain quad parts was just insane... and a-arms is one such part.

The cost is just nuts for what they are.
So good for you for making yourself a set.


It wouldn't be all that much harder to make a camber and caster adjustable set either would it?

Arms just cost too much I think, because it's just some tubing and bearings and stuff.



Next, I wanted to comment that your EX is one badazz conversion. CR500R... dang! I drooled.....

I'm real surprised this is the first time I've ever seen it here.


You'd like my R... same scheme... Monster on black...

[00.400ex#55]

Thats how I feel, 1000$ + for some of the better names like roll, gibson, laeger, houser... I mean really there is a few little parts and about 10ft of tubing. I Would still love to own a set of gibson arms eventualy.

If you havn't seen it before heres a little video. I love to show it off. :blah:

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa289/quadracer56/th_P5100086.jpg (http://s203.photobucket.com/albums/aa289/quadracer56/?action=view&current=P5100086.flv)

[bigbad400]

dude thats honestly the nicest custom ex i ever saw, i love the cr500r motor in it, but you should chrome the pipe, i was trying to find one for my quad cuz i blew it up a month ago and i got a real good deal on 440 parts so i tore it up. i wanted one so bad, i searched for a while but never found one i would pay for, theres a million crf450r motors out there thow.


very nicely done and the a arms are amazing, im a cad design student and thats too much for me. i would have had to use a computer and have someone else do the fabricating cuz i cant do that nice a job

[Ryanwolfe911]

Well, like everyone else is saying, it's just a bunch of tubing. Really, if you had the tooling to do so, it wouldn't be terribly difficult to fabricate a complete set from scratch.

Not downplaying what you did man, that's a really nice job, and takes considerable skill and welding expertise.

If I had a bunch of .090"DOM tubing and a mandrel bender, I'd start cranking out my own sets. Hell, they're small enough that you could powedercoat them in a household oven.

[rodeo#11]

hey man props to you for doing something like this...there is no way i could say anything bad about this for starters i can fabricate or weld so i would have no room to talk.. they look great bro and i wonder bout them holding up if they hold up man i think its time for you to make some more and let ebay become your best friend lol

[hypersnyper6947]

Looks pretty sick, great fab work, i want to learn how to weld badly. What type of welder did you use? I love your quad too, except for those rear fenders :huh , but hey to each his own.

[250x_kyle]

if i was gunna weld up my own set id have deff got my hands on a tig welder. but looks good. did you have any problem with the none removable ball joints getting hot?

[00.400ex#55]

It was done with a clarke 180amp mig welder. I was also using flux core wire as I do not have a gas set up at this time. The ball joints never got all that hot, I only welded about 1inch sections at a time and let cool completly.

Im pretty sure I have said before that the fenders are cut like that because of my huge kick start lever. Im not a huge fan of them myself. Im going to be making a flip top sub and getting some lakers this winter.

[rodeo#11]

hey 00.400ex#55 check your pm's

[quad2xtreme]

pretty cool. I love to see fabrication projects.

The only downside is doing this to a-arms with non-replaceable balljoints. It will suck doing it over again. ;)

[hypersnyper6947]

Originally posted by 00.400ex#55

Im pretty sure I have said before that the fenders are cut like that because of my huge kick start lever. Im not a huge fan of them myself. Im going to be making a flip top sub and getting some lakers this winter.

Its going to look really sick once you get the lakers. I would love to get a set but my maiers are in to good of a condition to make the switch.

[00.400ex#55]

I have got a few requests from people to make them a set. Im sorry but I just can't because of liability issues. If you decide to do it yourself I can help you along the way.

Appreciate all the comments though, thanks guys.

[Muddinguy]

how are these holding up ?

[tri5ron]

bump

[IRISH-RACER-14]

are these still on your quad or what?

[Andrew170-440ex]

i have a question...what did you do with the tie rods?

[crlt250r]

Wow.... Old thread.... LOL I'm glad someone found it.. I've been looking all over for a used set of arms for my lt250... Looks like I might just pull the welder out again....:devil: