This month we put some serious front suspension underneath our Project Z400. We chose the complete Long Travel Suspension kit from Holz Racing Products. This front suspension includes Long Travel A-arms, tie-rods, and front brake lines. The Holz kit is designed to increase front travel by 3 1/2" over stock. Required is some 18 1/2" long-travel shocks - we chose TCS long travel shocks. The LT Z400 Long Travel Front Suspension Package from Holz Racing Products is constructed from chromoly and then tig welded. It adds 2" per side. When a narrower width is required we will run with 4+1 rims so that our width is only 2" wider than stock. The A-arms come with replaceable high quality PFTE stainless steel ball joints. Included are quality delrin pivot bushings and 17-4 stainless sleeves. The A-arms come with a powdercoat finish. Unlike some of the other A-arm kits, you do not have to buy bushings separately or try to save your stock bushings. Disassembly First thing you need to do is get your Z400 up on a stand. We used our Pro ATV stand from MotorsportsProducts.com. This puts the ATV up at a nice working height. With the Z400 on the stand you need to remove the tires and the front bumper so you have easy access to the complete front suspension. Next you can remove the front shocks and get them out of the way.

Project Z400 on our Pro ATV stand and ready for work.	Now we have the front tires off, the front bumper removed for easier access, and the shocks removed.

Just one bolt top and bottom allows you to remove the stock front shocks. Keep the bolts, we will replace the shocks with TCS.	With the shocks removed we measured travel of the stock suspension. We measured approximately 10" without shocks.

Before removing the stock A-arms we measured the amount of travel in the stock front suspension. We measured approximately 10". True travel is really about 1" less than this because the travel is limited by the stock shocks. Now we can remove the rest of the front suspension. We started by removing the brake calipers from the spindles then tied them back out of the way. The tie rod ends can them be removed from the spindle. You will need an open end wrench on the bottom to keep it from spinning in the spindle while the nut is removed on the opposite side. To remove the spindles your going to need a ball joint seperator to get the a-arms separated from the spindle. If you don't have one you can probably get one at most any auto parts store. Some even offer free rentals.

Just two bolts to remove the calipers from the rotors and spindles.	Next we removed the tie rods from the spindle. The tie rod end has two flat sides so you can hold it from spinning.

Put extra grease on the ball joint remover and it will slide in better and keep from tearing your ball joint boot. Nice to save even though you won't be using them again.	With both ball joints separated you can remove the spindle.

Put plenty of grease on the ball joint seperator tool and on the ball joint boot. The grease will help it slide in and will save the boot from tearing. It does not really matter if you tear the boot since you won't be using them again, but it is nice to have an extra a-arm for your other Z400. If you leave the ball joint nut on just a few threads it will keep everything from flying around the shop when the two separate from each other. After both top and bottom are separated you can remove the spindle.

Here is the stock lower a-arm and the Holz lower a-arm.	This is the Holz upper a-arm with adjustable camber and the stock lower a-arm on the bottom.

This is the lower ball joint. Holz uses replaceable stainless steel ball joints,	This is the upper stainless steel ball joint with adjustable camber.

Now that the spindle is removed simply remove the two bolts holding each a-arm in place. Set the stock a-arms aside and you are ready to start the installation of the Holz front a-arms. Installation Put grease on the stainless steel inserts and slide them in the new a-arm. Attach the a-arms to the frame with the original bolts. With the a-arms mounted to the frame you can now install the spindle. You will need to use the original spindle nuts to attach the new ball joints to the spindle.

You can see how much more droop the Holz a-arms have over the stock a-arms on the left,	Spindle attached to Holz a-arms.

Before proceeding with the shock we took some measurements with the new Holz a-arms installed. Now we were measuring over 12 1/2" of travel top to bottom and our new shocks will not limit this. Most of that travel is added droop as the upper measurement is very close to the same as stock. This means 3 1/2" more travel than stock. Looking good! Follow the same steps on the other side then you can move on. Tie-Rod Installation

If you didn't already remove the tie rods from the steering stem you can do that now. With the tie rods off you will need to remove the stock tie rod ends. These will be reused. Note: The jam nuts with the yellow finish have left hand threads. A bench vise will help with this process. Apply some never seize to the tie rod ends when reinstalling in the Holz tie rods. With the tie rod ends installed you can reinstall the tie rods on the ATV. Go ahead and leave the jam nuts loose as you will have to adjust the toe later anyhow. Torque the tie rod nuts to 43 lb-ft.

The stock tie rod is on the bottom and the new Holz tie rod on the top. You can see that it is several inches longer. You will need to move the oringal tie rod ends to the new tie rods.

 

It is easier to tighten the Banjo bolts on the new lines if you reinstall the caliper first.	New Holz braided line attached to the stock Suzuki master cylinder.

With everything connected back up you are ready to bleed your brakes. You will probably need a helper for this unless you happen to have one of the one man bleeding kits. You should fill the system with DOT 4 or better fluid. You should open the bleeder and allow the lines to fill until it starts dripping out the bleeder. Then open the other bleeder and let it do the same. With new brake fluid in the system you need to get your helper to assist you with the bleeding process.

• Fill the front brake reservoir with DOT 4 fluid to the top of the inspection window or the upper limit line. Replace the reservoir cap to prevent dirt from entering.
• Attach a hose to the air bleeder valve, and insert the free end of the hose into a receptacle.
• Squeeze and release the brake lever several times in rapid succession and squeeze the lever without releasing it. Loosen the air bleeder valve by turning it a quarter turn so that the brake fluid runs into the receptacle, this will remove the tension of the brake lever causing it to touch the handlebar grip. Then close the air bleeder valve, pump and squeeze the lever, and open the valve. Repeat this process until the fluid flowing into the receptacle no longer contains air bubbles.

• Place the ATV on level ground and set the handlebars straight.
• Make sure all the tires are inflated to the standard pressure.
• Have a helper sit on the seat of the ATV.
• Loosen the locknuts (1 and 2) on each tie rod.
• Measure the distances (A and B) between the front wheels. Subtract the measurements of A from the measurements of B to find the toe-in. If the toe-in is not within specs, adjust the tie rod to the right or the left until the toe-in is within the specified range. A - B = Toe-In. Standard toe-in is .2 inch +- .16 in.
• Temporarily tighten the the four locknuts.
• Check that the distances (C and D) are equal, as shown. If the distances are not equal, adjust the tie rod to the right or left until the toe-in is within specification. Check the toe-in again by measuring distances A and B.
• If the toe-in is not with specification, repeat the adjustment as above until the proper toe-in is obtained and distances C and D become equal.
• After adjustment has been made, tighten the four locknuts to 21 lb-ft torque.

 

Holz Racing Products
6226 Chasteen Road
Lynden, WA 98264
Voice : 360.398.7006
Fax : 360.398.0267
www.holzracingproducts.com

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