after stripping my bike down, and taking out the radiator and oil tank to get the stupid steering stem out i found a couple little probles, well besides the steering stem being bent, my radiator is bent, i dont know how it got bent or if it wsa rom the crash but it is slightly bent and im not worried about it it works fine and worked after i crashed and nothing leaked out so im not worried about that, and then i also found out when i was taking out he tierod that my right upper ball joint is bent, its hard to see in the pic but ya can tell in person if ya look at the treads, and then also alot of rust around the POS Z frame welds, and where the steering stem mounts to the frame there is lots of stress and paint started to chip off, and i also smashed some lights i got at fibertech, they were only $28 and they actually worked better than stock

since i got the radiator out and the steering stem out, im going to gusset where the steering stem mounts at the top and then later when i get time and money to PC my frame im going to gusset by the engine mounts where is see there is rust

Man Shocker, it looks like you had a major getoff/crash. Hope you are alright.

Time for some upgrades...

Yeah im fine just had a sore shoulder for saturday and half of sunday but im fine, my friend is gonna see how much of a deal he can get me on a TBR +1 steering stem since he makes them and works for them, if its really good i wil lget it or im thinking of making one, but i think im going to make one for like $10 then get it powder coated, but im not sure how much PC would cost for a stem, then i think i will run with the ball joint liek that for a while since its really not that bad and also the radiator is fine, oh and im going to get some new lights that are a little bigger kind of like medium sized baja lights, but depends how much they cost

Aren't you running stock shocks on wider a-arms?

Can you tell if you have any Radiator core damage from the bends?

ummm, errr...this is a BAD combo.
Do we need to explain it all again? I think you were warned of this alreeady.

What the front end had nothing to do with this crash, i crashed because i kased my rear wheels on a very bad jump, trust me this jump is horrible, besides my ball joint bent backwards not upwards and my stem bent because i crashed, now what is ther to tell me?

and i know that having +2 arms and stock shocks is a bad combo and the extra leverage from the arms are just way to hard on the shocks, and the only problems ive had with the shocks is that they are too soft, other wise thats why i gusseted the shock mounts, and im also going to gusset the rest of the spots needed

Listen here you little s***, no need to be a wiseass. You asked for helps/idea's and you got them. So I suggest you STFU.

Hey settle down alright, sorry but i phrased it wrong, im just saying that i didnt bend the balljoint because of my arms, if it bent from just jumping it wouldnt bend backwards it would bend upward,

and i realized i did ask wrong in my last post, but i meant to ask what else do you see wrong? i really dont know how to ask it but im sorry ya got affended buy it but im not trying to be a little shiat, and i didnt ask for help, i already know whats wrong with my bike i just wanted to show ya guys what had happened

he's a pro rider Mike....dont worry

and the world turns

so do the days of our lives.

ahhhh, The young and the restless or should I say "old"

I don't get it...why they on you shocker? You be pee pee ing people off? Your bike is a mess...another testimony to why I don't buy used bikes anymore....best of luck to you.....

I didnt get my bike used, I got it brand new from alba, alba puts all their parts on it, and then i have spent my own on it, and i havent been pee pee ing people off, i guess mike to it the wrong way because i didnt intend to make anyone mad andwhat i dont get is i didnt really ask any questions i just wanted to show what had happened on saturday, and no one told me so or anything, im confused and mike hasnt said anything so im as confused as you are, and banshee350 is like he always is so nothing new from him

I think Shocker is doing a great job of learning to race, and making the best with what he has to work with.

Now, if we have people that have never broken anything, always made the correct choice on all products installed on their whatever, and have been winning every race since thier first one - they can meet up at the gate, next race is on August 21st.

To make things more interesting, if someone shows up and wins the pro class from this Board (other than Dustin1), I'll pay them $250, if they don't, they pay Shocker $250 - sounds fair, right?

Ill be at El Cajon monday night on my all stock Z..

Getting my ass kicked of course - but having fun none the less. As for the "race" Tron - You'd have to pay me 250 just to line up..

Thx rubberneck for the helping me understand what he said, i think this is the nicest you have ever been, seriously well atleast to me, i totally see what he meant to, but the way he said it it could of meant both ways but i see exactly what he meant,

chummin el cajon is a rough track, i dont do most of the jumps out there but i think since its so close and cheap its fun, if i figure what im going to do and get my stem together and my bike together i will try to head over there, effinbees77 said he did the middle jump which is 97' good for him his going crazy,

hey Tron i think that sounds fair is your daughter going to be healed by then? she could of won or atleast gotten 2nd last race

oh i figured what im going to do about the stem, i should start on it tomorrow and hopefully finish it tomorrow, depends what time i get over to CA metal

In regards to your first photo, of the ball joint - it seems it's out too far. Ya it's bent & needs to be replaced but, is it possible to turn the top ball joints in some so there isn't so much thread on the outside of the a-arm? Does that make sense? It seems as though there's a lot of leverage on those, especially when landing (or crashing ). You'll also have to turn the lower ball joints in the same amount so you don't throw your camber off. I don't know the details but Brittney broke what appeared to be a lower ball joint. Possibly because of the same reason. Just something to think about.

August 21st @ Lake Elsinore MX park (Round 5)
August 27th @ El Cajon MX Park (Friday night, not a series race)
September 4th @ Lake Elsinore MX park (Round 6, final of series)

Um i dont think i can bring that ball joint in anymore because it will throw off the camber, the bottom one wont go out anymore theres not enough thread for the bolt to to fit all the way on, oh and im thinking of going to el cajon on monday so i can do the doubles, if i get my bike fixed, im actually going to do the stem today and ill either call and get prices and dates on PC'ing or ill just primer and then put many coats of black and clear on, id rather PC it

Yeah i think im pretty comfortable with it and im going to start doing that rythm section, i just dont like that one step-down after the first double in the rythm section, the one i kased the first time and almost went over, that was funny but it hurt my ego, and this time im gonna clear that darn table i couldnt clear

im getting real pissed off, ok yesteray i got 1" .120 midl steel for my stem and it was to small for the stem clamp, so i went back today and got 1 1/4" .120 and it was to big i dont know what to do, is there a diference between .090 and .120 outside diameter? or what isnt .090 and .120 the thckness of the wall? because i cant seem to figure it out, i measured the stock steering stem and it is 1" diameter i measured my grab bar which is 1" diameter and the bushing/clamp sat perfect on it, so i measured the tubing i got yesterday which measured exactly 1" like the grab bar and the steering stem and i tried the bushing/clamp on it and it fit to loosely wtf is happening? im getting effin lost and running out of time

Isnt the stock stem powder coated? Powder coat can add alot to the total diameter of the tube.. Just a thought..

This will be my first time on the track - So Im wont be looking to make any jumps etc.. I just want to start getting in shape for Sept..

Yeah the stem is powder coated but not where the upper bushing is. if ya look at yours there will be about 1" ro so on each side of no paint. oh and i aslo have another piece of 1" tubing that the bushing/clamp fits perfect on, and i even held the 1" i bought right up to it and it looked the same, im totally confused, im gonna go crazy pretty soon

i have a party on saturday im going to and then my moms b-day party on sunday so i really need to do this tomorrow so i can put my bike together on monday,

oh and chummin el cajon is a fun track you will probably do about every jump that i did last time, this time im hopping to hit the doubles, but last time i reall didnt do much, just a step-up, table tostep-down, stepdown, and a table or 2 and 1 double, it doesnt seem like much but to me im just getting use to it, we can watch effinbees77 and a couple pros and experts hit the middle jump which is 97', i can clear like 4' of it

Shocker,
Speaking from experience from 12 years of racing ATV's is you really don't want that upper ball joint coming apart or breaking on you. This is one area not to skimp on. In my day I would replace the ball joints and the spindles (Stock 250R) every 6 months regardless of visual condition. Having a spindle break at speed in the desert is not a fun outcome. The inherent design of those arms is going to put a lot of stress on the ball joints. If you can adjust both the top and bottom to have less shank showing it will be a lot stronger. But you are right to keep the camber in check when you do this.

For the shaft, my guess is that the factory is using "metric" sized tubing hence the difference in size. You can use the larger size tubing and have it turned down to fit. Make sure that whoever does your welding on the shaft is qualified for the job. Another area you do not want to have a failure.

My 2-cents on the radiator is don't sweat it as long as it is not leaking. Doesn't really look that bad to me.

The bottom is in as far as it goes, im thinking of have a bit of negative camber (i think) where the top of the tire is inward and the bottom is outward a little, that way ill have less b joint sticking out, im gonna talk to burgard (who makes the arms) because the ball joint boots are cracking and everyone is having that problem, and maybe they will send me some new ones and maybe a new ball joint,

it is metric size on the shaft, it is 1.16 i got it today,

for the radiator, im not going to sweat it at all, im not sure when it got bent, i think it was from the crash,

oh i drained all the coolant/water out of the rad. i put it in a clean bucket do ya think i should buy some new coolant or should i reuse the stuff i saved?

New coolant.

A little bit of negative camber is allright but don't go too far. It's not like you have a Laegers Pro-Trax front end on there. Pro-Trax front ends are for those that work weekends and can't race.

Hey thats not fair, if i had money for an LT front end i would of baught a LT front end, but i dont so i didnt

for the coolant i have heard nothing but good about engine ice, where can i get some of this crap? should i do a 50/50 mix or since its pretty hot in summer should i do a 75/25 water/coolant mix?

Ok hey effinbees77 ya know how my stem is bent? thats not why it was so hard to turn,

it was because the upper part of the frame where the bushing/clamp for the stem bolted is bent back, thus causing the stem to not be straight and have major stress pints, im having trouble explaining exactly what it is but i know for sure what the problem is, and i know exactly what im gonna do, im taking pics as i go along an ill post a summary with pics of exactly what im doing, so im not gonna tell ya what im doing know because its to hard to explain and its gonna add confusion to me and you guys but trust me its gonna be very safe and its gonna work

I think you already told me enough to be concerned.

I'm hoping your just going to take it in and get the frame professionally straightened and strengthened OR just replace the frame all together, right? Right? I hope.

I'm not knockin' your metal fabbing expertise but, are you sure you want to attempt a "fix" to a bent frame on a quad your going to ride & race? I know you didn't SAY you were going to fix it but that's what I'm getting from your post.

I think I saw an '04 Z400 frame on Z400Central for 5 hun or so.

Ok i fixed it, i made the stem i did awesome welds, these are my best welds ever im not joking they a really good, i took pics and will get pics up later when im all done, but seriously it is very very good, it turns great to, i notice that when i turn very sharp to the left that it gets a little hard the last 1/2" of turning but its not that bad just a littlle noticable, i made a little spacer about 1/4" that i put between the bushing/clamp and the frame, and 1 washer on each bolt, it worked and helped alot, im going to gusset the part that is bent to ver extra safe, i will probably gusset it tomorrow, but im so happy, and i like how it is 1" higher, and i dont sit very far back at all, actually i dont even sit farther back, mine im so excited that im typing at like 810753903 words a minute, i better settle down or ill pop im going to gusset the stem and then ill get pics and post a summary/revies of what i did, but trust me it is very strong you will be very proud of me

if you ever need help welding and have a light in your garage to work at night, let me know. i have over 5 years exp welding, and its better to be safe than sorry. that, i live less than 10 min away. i can see the track from here.....almost....kinda

washers? Spacers?? Bro - what are you going to do when that thing comes apart on you?? I sure hope you know what your doing - cause that ground comes up hard when stuff breaks off when hitting a jump or whoops..

Chummin, I sure hope you're not on the track at the same time.

SHOCKER, I think you should take some of the advice these guys are giving you. They're not posting it for their benefit. They're trying to look out for you and make sure you have a safe bike.

I have to agree with chummin on that one....you just dont half arse chasis compnents and expect them to work/ preform well

it takes aftermarket copamanies alot of time and experience to make a quality product

so chummin....you gonna go hiking?

Yeah i know that ya guys are looking out for me and everyone else, to me it seems safe, i mean i didnt add 2" of spacer,s i made one out of 1/4" thick steel and then put a washer on each nut just to make up for how the upper mount is bent back, i think and am pretty sure its safe, i mean its not going to fall apart and the bolts are on tight, id rather put a 1/4" spacer and a washer on it then bend that mount back because bending it back will jsut weaken it, i also added gussets so if i crash again which i will it wont bend back any farther, i have been studing what other have done and i have been looking at pics of other peoples gussets and gusset kits and i just did what they did, the stem is actually pretty strong and its not to heavy, im going to test it out on monday night at el cajon if i go but i still need to get a ball joint because one is bent,

where do you guys think I can get the right ball joint with a rubber boot and greese? because i need a b joint and my rubber boot are cracking and need to be replaced, thx by the way i hope i didnt sound sarcastict cause im not trying to be

Tis but a flesh wound.

There a burgard section ono zcentral, i asked there and if i dont get a reply soon im gonna call them, oh and my b joint boots are cracking and i think i heard that izzy would replace them

Hey guys i took the spacer and washers off and it still works good, i guess i listened for once thx i just got the bike all together and then i decided to see if i could take the spacer/stem out and i did and it worked good still turned nice, now i just need to get a ball joint

hey kenny and rob ya going to el cajon? me and brett are going and hes gonna check my stem and then ya guys can check it out


oh and were can i get some engine ice (coolant) and how much? or what coolant would ya guys recoment?

san diego sport cycle in el cajon. its about $14.95, i cant remember the name of the street its on, but the guy has great deals. head over there tomorrow. 8w exit el cajon blvd, turn left at first light (la salsa and oil changer on left corner, mex restaurant on right. get in right hand lane and turn right on first light, keep going a few blocks its on the left hand side.

or from college turn left at the top of the hill where washington mutual and little caesars is, past the campus and then its on the right side. its the same street that guitar center used to be on (university?)

Cool thx, if i have time tomorrow i will run down there, i got my 2nd behind the wheel at 8 in the morning then a party at 2:00 pm so i think i should be able to make it

FOUND A PIC FOR YOU SHOCKER........ NOTHING TO DO WITH BIKES OR QUADS THO....

http://www.partypage.net/freakfest04/images/PICT0045_jpg.jpg