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ebay a arm extension kit?

6K views 31 replies 13 participants last post by  racinjason68 
#1 ·
has any one tried this kit.will stock brake lines reach? is it any good?
 
#4 ·
This is a good flat-track kit....not good for jumping, or for the most part rough terrain.. Like with most cheap alternatives, you'll wish you'd done it right the first time...getting wider a-arms.
 
#6 ·
Big trucks have thick walled 4-5" steel box beams and re-enforced cross members, not 1" tube steel -
adding that much weight up front to cheaply accommidate width changes your balance of weight, which will in turn make it harder not to nose dive on longer jumps.
longer a-arms paired with a good shock can produce more wheel travel,..a kit such as this is incapable of that.
granted your quad may ride more like a sports car by changing the swing point and making it wider, but it will ride less like a quad, and definetly jump less like one.
Not bashing the product-Its a good idea, especially for the flat-trackers and road riders...but how many of these have you actually seen on other bikes..(especially ones on the mx track or XC)?
 
#7 ·
If your quad every travels more than a foot vertically, Do not touch these kits. You will break something. if you can't afford to do it right, dont do it.
 
#8 ·
I don't understand why anyone would buy this kit. Widening the a-arm pivot points will completely screw up the front suspension geometry. Steering will be affected the most, and bumpsteer will be almost unlivable. widened a-arms are obviously the best choice, but wheel spacers or offset wheels are a much smarter cost-effective choice.
 
#9 ·
DECEPTiON21 said:
If your quad every travels more than a foot vertically, Do not touch these kits. You will break something. if you can't afford to do it right, dont do it.
I challenge your assumptions here. What mechanical engineerig expertise do you have to make such a statement?

I am not only an engineer, but also have this kit on one of my 400ex's. I love it. It is the next best thing to extended A-arms (which I DO have on my OTHER 400ex).

From my (rather rudimentary) analysis of the widening kit, I will claim that it actually STRENGTHENS the A-arm attachment points and frame at these points, since it cross couples the load to both sides. The kit is certainly stronger than extended A-arms, and is less likely to cause frame damage, especially in the event of a single wheel hit or snag.

The only drawbacks, as were mentioned correctly, are additional weight (but I notice little difference between my 2 400's relative to this issue) and that the kit does not increase vertical suspension travel, as extended A-arms do (I DO like the additional travel on my extended A-arm 400). However, all stock suspension geometries remian intact, except for track width, which is the goal here, afterall.

BTW, on the Raptor, stock brake lines will reach, but without as much support. Upgrading to longer lines should be one of your future mods.
 
#10 ·
krwyellowz28 said:
I don't understand why anyone would buy this kit. Widening the a-arm pivot points will completely screw up the front suspension geometry. Steering will be affected the most, and bumpsteer will be almost unlivable. widened a-arms are obviously the best choice, but wheel spacers or offset wheels are a much smarter cost-effective choice.
Your assumptions here are backwards. With the diamondjcustoms (the eBay seller from the original poster) widening kit, front end geometry stays identical in all axes except side to side. And the side to side axis geometry changes in an identical fashion to that of adding extended A-arms All pivot points relative to the wheels are identical to stock. Bump steer is identical to stock.

Adding wheel spacers or offset wheels CHANGE all of the geometries. The steering effects you describe are all attributable to spacers or offsets, not to the kit. Spacers and offsets, by virtue of the fact that they move the tire's contact surface farther away from the rotational axis of the ball joints, increases bump steer to the point where it can be dangerous.
 
#13 ·
And by the way, so as not to make anyone uncomfortable on the subject, I had all the same assumptions about this kit when I first saw it. I looked at it more carefully, talked (via email) with the designer, and then decided to try it, ONLY if I could find a cheap eBay auction. I didn't want to pay retail on something that I did not yet trust I would want to leave on my quad.

I camped on eBay for a month or so, and grabbed one at auction for around $100. I've since seen them go at auction for as low as $80.

Once i got it and installed it, all of my reservations disappeared. My analyses are from looking carefully at the actual installed product. My exuberance over the kit is due to about 100 hours of riding (by myself and many others) since it was installed. The fact that I have a nearly identical quad with extended A-arms has put me in an unusual position to do side by side comparison.

My final analysis is: If you can't afford extended A-arms, this is a great, slightly less attractive, economical alternative.
 
#19 ·
racinjason68 said:
I was going to buy but the thing that kills it, like you all have said is the look.
Am I missing something? Not one word has been mentioned about looks anywhere in this thread.
 
#20 ·
QuadManiac said:
Once i got it and installed it, all of my reservations disappeared. My analyses are from looking carefully at the actual installed product. My exuberance over the kit is due to about 100 hours of riding (by myself and many others) since it was installed. The fact that I have a nearly identical quad with extended A-arms has put me in an unusual position to do side by side comparison.

My final analysis is: If you can't afford extended A-arms, this is a great, slightly less attractive, economical alternative.
Guess you missed something..... And you typed it. I take less attractive as looks.
 
#21 ·
Ahhh, now I see... I didn't mean visually less attractive... I meant from a performance standpoint, lol. The fact that it does not provide the additional suspension travel makes it slightly less attractive (performance wise) to me.

From a visual standpoint, I think it actually looks kinda cool. To each his own, I guess.

Sorry about the confusion. Most people would consider a 3% loan to be much more attractive than an 8% loan... yet they'd have a hard time figuring out what either actually looks like, except to their wallets.
 
#22 ·
First thing that I feel needs to be mentioned is that when these kits first came out (not necessarily from the current manufacturers) the extension was for the a-arms only and no changes were made to top shock mounts. This would produce many of the problems and faults that have been the conventional wisdom regarding these kits.

The question I have at hand remains strength. If they're made too strong it may result in frame damage or in a best case scenario sacrifice the OEM a-arms. Too weak and they'll fold and possibly still allow damage to the a-arms. The OEM shocks aren't all that strong both in terms of valving/spring rates or actual physical strength. I think that a kit like this would be best paired with a shock with a larger/stronger shaft and body like a yfz shock or aftermarket alternative. It's hard to say how each different type of setup would fare in an accident or extremely high impact situation. Very strong aftermarket a-arms could cause similar damage to the frame similar to an excessively strong extension kit. Having had a number of less-intensive incidents with stock and aftermarket a-arms I have an idea how they perform in these situations. Having never had an incident with these types of kits I will not claim to be any kind of expert on those outcomes.
 
#25 ·
i was thinkin about ordering a kit and was wondering if the kit came with everything you need. i dont wanna have to be ordering brake lines and all that crap from other companies and have everything pieced together.
 
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