One of the biggest
improvements that can be made to correct this problem is the
addition of extended long travel A-arms. Knowing the 450R had only
been released a short time ago, not only was there the question of
whos arms I would run, but who would even have them avaliable. Not
knowing where to turn, I went to my search engine as I often do to
see what was out there and avaliable.To my surprise there are
actually several companies already offering them. When I felt as
though I had done my homework thoroughly by reading and pricing
every set of arms I could find, I decided one company stood out
above the rest, offering both the quality I was looking for and a
competitive price.
The A-arms are
manufactured by a company called HERRMANN RACING. Located in
Pennsburg,PA, HR is a branch of a much larger company known as
GREEN LANE TOOL & DIE Co. They are a family-owned machine shop
that has been around since 1957. HERRMANN RACING manufactures high
quality aftermarket racing parts for most sport quads.
I contacted H.R and explained to them what type of
quad I was building and the harsh desert enviorment it would
endure.They recommended either a set of plus 2 or plus 3 longtravel
arms to get the handling under control, along with a set of ELKA
19'' zero pre-load , quadruple-rate spring shocks to smooth out the
rough stuff .The arms are very competitivly priced at $775, and I
went with a compression-only adjustable shock to keep costs down to
a relatively-cool $1,070, since
adjustable
rebound and compression brings the shock cost up quite a bit
(around $350 more).
I opted for the plus 2
arms opposed to the plus 3 to achieve more stability without
becoming too wide. I also ordered up a plus 4 axle to match the
increased width that was about to be added to my front end to
further stablize my ride.
The day everything was to be delivered, I began
the task of dis-assembling my stock front end. I wasn't even
halfway done when the big brown UPS truck stopped in front of my
garage. This gave me a much needed break from wrenching to inspect
my new parts.
All I could think was "if
they preform as well as they look, this was money well
spent."
I had ordered them in HONDA red
powder coated to match the plastic, and the color and craftsmanship
couldn't have been any better. Everything was perfect to the eye.
(H.R offers the arms in array of colors.)
The second half of disassembly seemed to go a lot more
smoothly than the first, now that I had a final product to look
forward to. After removing the last bolt, I immediately began to
reassemble everything using my new arms and shocks.
There were two very-noticable differences - heim
joints and link pins, which was something I was specifically
looking for in this purchase. Heims and link pins are much stronger
than traditional ball joints, but there are pros and cons to both.
Heims and link pins do require a bit more maintenance as far as
lubricating them and keeping them clean of debris. But you'll never
have to worry about a torn boot and chances are you won't ever have
a foiled ride due to breaking a link pin, as they are much stronger
than the traditional ball joints.
After reassembling and adjusting my new front end,
I couldn't wait to test so I loaded up and headed out. We made
several passes through a section of deep whoops I had ridden many
times before and made some slight adjustments to the factory
settings on the shocks, each time making them a little bit softer
until finally they were soft enough to bottom out then fo back to
the previous setting.
As expected, the new front end made a huge
difference from the stock set up. I was able to push the quad
through the whoops an entire gear faster and with greater control
and stability.
Yes, the mod did
come with a heafty price tag, but anything worth having usually
does.
Check back to see how the long term
reliability of everthing is working out, although we don't expect
to find any problems. HERRMANN RACING Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/OffRoadDotCom
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