[shad0]

my brother rolled my quad down an embankment last summer, and i'm pretty sure he bent the frame. here's the situation.

when riding, my raptor pulls hard to the right, and i have to countersteer to keep a straight line. i checked the alignment and the toe is ok, but the camber is way out of wack. the right front tire has an almost straight up and down camber, while the left is 5/8" in at the top. i'm taking my measurements from the edge of the rim.

i don't see anything obviously bent. no paint cracks, nothing i can see. the mounts for the a-arms are not damaged, and i figured that would be the first crush point. the a-arms aren't bent, nor are the tie rod ends. the steering stem is straight and the pitman is centered on the bars. my only other thought would be the spindles or the ball-joints on the a-arms.

as far as i can tell the frame sits level. i used a level across multiple points along the bottom of the frame, as well as measuring the various ride heights. i'm kinda scratching my head trying to figure out what i need to do to repair the bike..

 

[shad0]

ok. well i went out and took some actual measurements. i measured 5 points on each side, going from the upper arm bolt to the lower ball joint, lower bolt to upper joint, top shock bolt to both ball joints, even left bolts to right joints and vice versa. i have come to the conclusion that my frame is square, nothing it twisted or bent between the frame and the a-arms.. but as you can see from the attached pic, i still have a camber issue. do the spindles bent easily enough that i should be considering a bent spindle?

 

[QuadManiac]

Look carefully at the ball joint studs - they have been known to bend, causing the camber issue you describe.

Imagine a straight line going from the top, center of the ball joint, down a straight line thru the hole in the spindle, and out the bottom perpendicular to the spindle... if this imaginary line (which you should be able to 'see' on each ball joint) is off, not straight, on one or more of the ball joints, then it may well be bent.

 

[willykiller]

As Quad says, this is most likely the problem, a bent ball joint, I have personally seen this before...........usually the bottom one but I have also seen the top one bend...........

 

[Limited660]

Ive have had to repair my dads lower ball joint after he slid it into a bank. Just hope its the bottom because you cant replace the top without buying a new top arm

 

[shad0]

well, i took apart the right side today. i don't see anything that obviously says "hey, look at me, i'm bent right here". if it's the left side i'm stuck buying an oem replacement. however, since my frame is straight, i thought i'd hunt around to see if i could find a sweet deal on a set of +2's.

i know of a guy who has some houser long throw +2 a-arms, which would lower my front ride height with stock shocks. however, i also plan to swap in some YFZ450 front shocks, and i worry that will lower me too far to be effective for trail riding and moderate, 3' or less, jumps. the guy wants $250 for the arms, spindles, and tie rods.

the same guy also claims to have a set of JD's that will retain the stock ride height, but hasn't got back to me as to if they are +2's. he says he'll want the same for those, but didn't state what they would come with.

so, would i be too low with the long throw arms and the yfz450 front shocks?

 

[shad0]

quad pegged it. top left ball joint bent.

 

[QuadManiac]

Better than bent frame! Good find.