Noticed after last weekends ride that the front tire on the left side was rubbing the fender and since there has always been plenty of clearance up front this caught my attention right away! Although I don't remember doing anything extreme, it seems that somewhere along the line I did something to bend the frame right behind the rear A-arm mount. When a straight edge is placed along the side of the frame the bend measures 5/16" at the worst point! This has resulted in the left side wheel being pushed back 3/4" as measured from rear axle center to front ball joint center! This is enough to throw the left front into the fender...I would strongly advise 400 HO owners to consider adding a steel skid plate either securely bolted or welded to the frame from the front bumper to the engine skid plate...I did have an 1/8" aluminum skid plate that I fabricated for this area, but it was only clamped on so I wouldn't have to drill any holes in the frame and compromise it's strength, this was probably a mistake on my part!
I'm caught between trying to fix it myself or taking it to a auto frame shop and having it done right...I will probably pull out the Porti-power and chains and take a stab at it...
Hoping no one else has had this problem and again I would suggest beefing up the frame in this area a bit!

 

good luck..that is the one of the first times i heard about Polaris frame issues.

 

Well Polaris skrimped a little in this area on the mid-size bikes and didn't connect the two frame rails with any metal all the way back to the engine! There is a steel skid plate on the full size machines in this area...

 

Mine is ok so far. CAn you post a pic of bent area?

 

Decided to take a stab at Straightening the frame myself, (to stuburn to take it to a frame shop!), started working on it and didn't think to take a picture till after my initial setup with the Porti-Power so some of the frame bend has been removed at this point, (measured 5/16" initially).


These are a couple pictures of the Porti-power setup...and yes, I was at a safe distance!





This ended up working quite well and the frame is once again nice and straight. I will be adding a steel plate welded between the frame rails to strengthen this area!

 

Thanks, good pics and rememdy. Now to figure out what caused it.

Any chance it did a nose dive on the LF wheel?

 

Looks like you did a great job at fixing it. See stubborness pays off occassionally.

Hey Mongrol got any new pics of your beautiful riding places? I keep checking your pics hoping to see some more of that awesome place north of the border!!

 

nothing like being able to fix it yourself !! bravo !

 

somewhat surprised that this little scheme actually worked as good as it did! Now to get it reinforced so we can get back out on the trails and not have it in the back of my mind all the time!

 

That set up sure looks like it should of had a plate from the start,that way it has to bend both rails at the same time for a bend to occur which is much tougher.