has anybody heard of the rear u joint breaking on lifted and large tired 450s?Two friends have broke them 1 month apart right at the joint.

 

I have had two of my friends here in Florida break thiers less then a month apart but they were both 450ES's. When they broke they tore up a lot of parts including the engine halves. I have two 450S's that are lifted and have not had any problems 1 is a 2000 and 1 is a 1998 that has 3800 miles on it.

 

I have seen several of them break. I did see one that split the engine casing. I know that Jeff at Highlifter has had this problem with his Super 300 also. This can happen to any bike though. I saw a stock 2 wheel drive Honda 300 do the same thing in a creek bed. The damage was more that the atv was worth.

Greg

 

Toad,

You have viloated the code!!!! One does not post Honda problems on the ATV Connection Forums. LOL

Problems with Hondas are only supposed to be discussed with the service manager at your local ATV dealer, who will promptly say,

"Gee, I have never seen that happen before. Yours is the first one that has ever happened to, must be customer abuse."

But enough of the kidding.

Did the joint break during shifting with the throttle depressed?

I know our Honda shifts with authority during throttle applications. Maybe that is why the S model has less breakage.

Guess it just goes to show us that large tires and the extra strain that they put on the drivetrain can exceed the design limitations of ANY manufacturers product.

 

one was an 2000 es the other was an 99 s model,I was with the guy on the s just before it broke and we were digging our way out of holes we were stuck in but mine is still fine i guess,and my other buddy was just running down a dirt road,but we all run these things hard,I think I will still remove the rear lift and hope it isnt damaged.