Wreck Repair Help

[jstatham 27]

Well my Daughter let her friend drive her ATV and she lost control and hit a tree. Luckily nobody was hurt.  It took me a while to get it loaded up on the trailer and get it back home.  I took the tire off and it looks like to me the only thing that got damaged was the front rack and up and lower ball joints.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to tell if the control arms are bent and do you see anymore damage.  What ball joint would you recommend? The tie rod looks OK from what I can tell.  I am going to pressure wash tomorrow and try to tell what is going on.  Any help will be greatly appericated.

 

 

[shadetree 5,977]

2 hours ago, jstatham said:

Well my Daughter let her friend drive her ATV and she lost control and hit a tree. Luckily nobody was hurt.  It took me a while to get it loaded up on the trailer and get it back home.  I took the tire off and it looks like to me the only thing that got damaged was the front rack and up and lower ball joints.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to tell if the control arms are bent and do you see anymore damage.  What ball joint would you recommend? The tie rod looks OK from what I can tell.  I am going to pressure wash tomorrow and try to tell what is going on.  Any help will be greatly appericated.

 

 

for parts, dont cheap out, buy oem ball joints from honda...NOT AMAZON OR EBAY !. looks like the tie rod is ok from what i see ?. as for the a-arms being bent ?, only way to tell for those is when it comes time to bolt it all back together..otherwise...its a gamble if they got bent or not ?. what year, make, model is this ??. i see foreman on the side panel, but the front bumper does not look like a trx450fm foreman to me. this a foreman rubi ?. prob is..because the trx450fm foreman's did not come with disk front brakes.

[jstatham 27]

7 hours ago, shadetree said:

for parts, dont cheap out, buy oem ball joints from honda...NOT AMAZON OR EBAY !. looks like the tie rod is ok from what i see ?. as for the a-arms being bent ?, only way to tell for those is when it comes time to bolt it all back together..otherwise...its a gamble if they got bent or not ?. what year, make, model is this ??. i see foreman on the side panel, but the front bumper does not look like a trx450fm foreman to me. this a foreman rubi ?. prob is..because the trx450fm foreman's did not come with disk front brakes.

This is a 1996 Foreman 400 with the 450 head. I just completely refurbished it around Christmas and added the disc brakes. I am pretty sure you were helping me out then as well. Any advice for straightening out the rack.  I was going to use a chain or strap and hook it to the rack and a tree and use reverse and the throttle to bend it back.

[shadetree 5,977]

3 hours ago, jstatham said:

This is a 1996 Foreman 400 with the 450 head. I just completely refurbished it around Christmas and added the disc brakes. I am pretty sure you were helping me out then as well. Any advice for straightening out the rack.  I was going to use a chain or strap and hook it to the rack and a tree and use reverse and the throttle to bend it back.

there is all kinds of ways to bend racks back, i use my shop press most times.

[Fishfiles 20,147]

By using a 450 head on your 400 you are de-powering your engine.  The 400 head has a smaller combustion chamber than a 450. The 400 head would have given you more compression.  

 

i have a 450 with a 500 jug and piston and a 400 head on top 

[Fishfiles 20,147]

This is the 400 head and the 450 head , all the valves ,springs , etc , etc , the only difference is the 450 has less compression than the 400

[jstatham 27]

12 minutes ago, Fishfiles said:

This is the 400 head and the 450 head , all the valves ,springs , etc , etc , the only difference is the 450 has less compression than the 400

I actually have a 450 piston and running the 400 head. I am Actually looking for a new 400 head we broke some bolts and the helicoils aren’t holding and leaking oil. Do you have one for sale?

[Fishfiles 20,147]

I still have those two heads  in the pic , one is a 450 and the other a 400 and both have been worked , don't want to sell them at the moment ,  I have two 450s  -----  

[jeepwm69 7,751]

That sucks man. 

 

When my sister and one of her idiot "friends" hit a tree on my 500 back right after I bought it new (had 600 miles on it) it busted the plastics, bent the front bumper and rack, tie rod, wheel, and frame.

 

I replaced the tie rod, bumper, front rack, and wheel, and it was only after getting it all back together that I realized the frame was bent too.  Looking at the frame itself I could never see anywhere it was bent, but the whole machine looked "off".  I eventually bought a used frame and swapped everything over.  Only after I put the stripped frame flat on the ground could I see where it was twisted/warped from the impact.

 

Hopefully your machine will fare better.  The guy driving my 500 hit a tree at about 30mph trying to jump a hill on it. 

 

OEM ball joints are just as cheap as aftermarket, and are better quality. 

 

I'd replace the ball joints and put it back together and if the arms or frame are bent you'll be able to better see it when it's all back together.

 

Glad no one was hurt.  Wheelers can be fixed.   People aren't as easy.

[jstatham 27]

I got it back together tonight and was able to bend the racks and pop the plastics back out. I did notice the frame was a little bent on the left side where the rack bolts up. I did notice the drivers side inner cv boot is ripped. Any recommendations on what boots to use? I can tell the steering is a little off but I am going to look at this weekend and see what I can figure out.

[toodeep 1,760]

All Balls for replacement boots. They are exactly OEM spec (you can still use oem clamps), cheap, come with grease and universal clamps if needed.