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Dustin b

500 to 450 swing arm swap

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I have a 2006 foreman 500 and was thinking about doing a 450 swing arm swap. To get the stretch. i know i will need the 450 tube and a 450 axle shaft. Any modifications that I need to know of by doing this? 

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welcome to the forums , I'd chat with fish, he's done more honda mods then anyone here, i believe. especially utility Honda's 

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no problem, glad to help, he'll probobly chime in here soon, and being you only have a few post you can't send PM's till you get a few more post, i think 10. 

 

 

Edited by _Wilson_™

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18 minutes ago, Dustin b said:

I have a 2006 foreman 500 and was thinking about doing a 450 swing arm swap. To get the stretch. i know i will need the 450 tube and a 450 axle shaft. Any modifications that I need to know of by doing this? 

Welcome to the forum Dustin , I have read about the 450 to 500 swing arm swop , don't really  know about it , I have 450s not 500s  , built my own 6 inch swing arm on my 450 and 3 inch for my 300 , I can guide you thru building one >>>>> 

 

I don't remember how much longer it is , you would need a longer drive shaft ,  longer shocks or relocate yours , brake cables would also be an issue 

 

 

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This is how they do it :

 

"" So I ordered parts based on what I read online. I bought a 450 Swingarm (used off ebay $50, part# 52100-HN0-670), 450 driveshaft ($50 new OEM Honda), 450 foot brake cable ($15 new OEM Honda), All Ballz SwingArm bearing kit (Part# 28-1056 02-04 tapered style bearings) and I bought a Moose Racing U joint for extra strength (part# 1205-0201). Here's the goods:

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Here is the link to the 450 to 500 swop , the 450 swing arm is 2.5 inches longer than the 500 , there is cutting and welding to the swing arm for it to work , so it is not a drop in swop , didn't read it all the way thru , so shocks , I still don't know what they use , I am not a fan of all balls parts or Moose parts listed above   

 

https://www.hondaatvforums.net/threads/foreman-500-to-450-swingarm-swap-how-to.33633/

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Wow , went back to reading the thread , Moose bit him on the butt : and I read where he said the 450 and 500 brake cables are the same size 

 

Quote ""  Wanted to update this thread. Don't buy the garbage Moose u joint. Here's why: and I've only put about 150 miles on it.
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After looking over his swop build , it was a failure , LOL  ---he might have had too much angle on it 

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Oh man, that suuuucks- especially the piece that got knocked off the edge of the output bearing case 😢

 

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Take two swing arms , use the back end of one and the front end of the other , spike the square tube side for strength , after welding the round tube , cover the round tube side with a pipe cut in half and sandwiched over the weld ---- you can get up to 6 3/8 of and inch extension , cut it any length you want , the drive shaft needs to be cut in half , a collar machined and welded back together to the length to match the extension 

 

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You need the 450 Swingarm, the driveshaft, and the right axle tube.  That's it ( unless you plan to use a footbrake.  I just removed mine)

 

Unbolt your rear end/swingarm, and pull it out.  Swap the right axle tube out for the 450 tube (the mounting flange is in a slightly different place) and bolt up to the 450 Swingarm.

 

That's it.  No grinding, welding, cutting required.

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Here's a quote from the late Duke70 on doing this from another forum. Before his passing he use to make/sell the brackets to relocate the shocks.

 

Quote

I built a lift to work with it instead of cuttin the top of the shocks

I'm also in the prosses of extending the 500 arm so it will be a
direct bolt on and I will have to change very little on the lift for it
that I designed for the 450 arm on a 500



Swing-arm Conversion 450 arm on a 500
Foreman & Rubicon

98 to 04 450 arm and drive shaft, the 450 arm
is 2 1/2" longer then the 500 arm the u-joints
are the same so you can use your stock u-joint
the 450 arm is about 1/4" wider where it bolts
on between the differential an the brake drum

Pivot Bolts: left side is a 17mm allen bolt
right side is a lock nut on a 17mm allen bolt
this requires a special tool to remove
some use a steel punch to remove the lock nut
which can mess-up the lock nut and if you hit
wrong can also mess-up the treads, be very
careful doing this, I made a tool to do this

Pivot bearings: there are to different part #'s
on these bearings this does not make a difference
1 set of bearings are ball & the other set are needle
bearings they will both work

Swing-arm: where the arm bolts up to the differential
the O-ring on the 450 arm is smaller then the 500
when you take the 500 arm off the O-ring should stay
on the differential leave it on there and the 450 arm
the O-ring should still be on it as well use them both
this will make for a tighter seal

450 to 500 rear-end mounting: loosen the right side
alxe tube from the differential, do not take these nuts
all the way off, where the arm bolts to the tube by the
brake drum, you will take a hammer and slightly bend
the tab to the right, this will give it an angle/taper
this will help on mounting the 450 arm on the 500 rear-end
it's still a tight fit, once you get it together place the
bolts in the bent tab and snug them up as well as the nuts
on the differential

Shocks/Lift: some cut the top of the shock off and take a
piece of pipe and weld it to the shock to extend it to makeup
for the the difference in the arm's but this puts your shocks
at a bad angle and will make it ride like a tank
I designed my on lift to move the bottom of the shocks forward
which makes for a nice ride

 

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