My Ranchers were less than eight weeks old when I received my recall notice. I am not going to pay to replace a factory part at that point.

 

Deano328,

Are yours defective?

From the notice, it sounded like all of them were going to be replaced, but at the dealer they said that all of them get inspected, and only replaced if defective.

 

Mine are recalled

I will ride them until they get some play in them and then have them replaced. That way I get my money out of them.

You can always safety cable them if you are paranoid.

 

I'm very fed-up with Honda. I've purchased a number of Honda products over the years and up until now, I've always been satisfied with them. But their lack of interest in remedying their problem leaves me wondering...
I think their thinking on this is "let's bury are heads in the sand and ignore the problem and it will just go away. If they wait long enough, eventually the bikes will all go off warranty and people will just forget. By then, when owners do have problems with the rods, Honda and the dealers can blame it on misuse or abuse.
Sure, a few people will get hurt and maybe even killed; I doubt the corporate bigwigs are concerned about that. They'll look at their profit versus liability numbers and let the insurance companies and lawyers deal with it. Like every thing else now, everything comes down one thing---MONEY!

 

The rods cost 25 bucks. You will see play in them long beforethey seperate. Mine came apart because I was adjusting the toe and I left the nut a little loose. The actual bearing never came apart. They are pressed in.


If your worried about them breaking you need chill out. There are a dozen other things that are far more dangerous than that on any quad.

Wheels lugs can snap. . Brakes can fail. Handlebars can bend. Motors can blow. Batteries can explode under the seat. A Ujoint could fly apart. Axle could bend. A shock could seperate at the welds. Throttle could get hung wide open. Thank god for a kill switch. A tree can jump out in front of you...

I have had all of those happen to me.I'm sure there are more

 

I work at a Ford dealership as a technician, and about half of what i do is safety recalls. Here's a few tips-

First of all, if a safety recall is issued, the recall lasts forever until it is completed. No matter how many miles or years old the vehicle is, the company has to honor it, free of charge to the customer. If there was a safety recall on my grandpa's 1920's Model A, If he brought it in ford would have to honor it, by law. There is no such thing as a recall being invalid due to the vehicle being out of warranty or whatever.

Secondly, Honda issued the mailer well in advance to let people know about a problem. That's another law too. As soon as the company knows their products have a safety issue, they have so many days to notify the public. Regardless of how long it will take to engineer a better, safer replacement part.

Trust me, Honda is working on making a replacement tie-rod. They are also doing research to narrow the field of machines down. Perhaps it was only tie-rods made at a certain plant, and they have to run the VIN numbers to find out where each machine was built, and ony replaced those tie rods that were made at the suspect plant, but offer a free inspection for the others to satisfy customers who had to wait soo long and find out that their machine was ok all a long.

So relax. Honda is bound by many laws and regulations as to how to go about this, and they are working as fast as they can. Look at your tie rods, and if they are ok, go out and enjoy it.

 

Its my understanding the problem is with the rubber boot that covers the end. It may come off, if it is still on your rod is OK. If it is seperated then the rod can wear. Visual is all you need and a wiggle test. Rod is tight your safe, boot is seperated then it will wear. Just watch it and check it often. Whats the big deal?

 

I am pretty sure the problem is not in the making of a replacement tie-rod. The problem is in getting the replacement tie-rods to the dealers. I am guessig the the '06 Rancher uses the same tie-rod as the '05. So far, I have not heard of any shortages there.

 

I have called my dealer and they said "we will put you on the list" My rancher AT is 4 months old. I just ride when i want and check for play in the front end. So far, no problem. I will just play the wait game for now.

 

I agree with quicksilver, I was an auto mechanic for 12 year's and have ran into this situation before. Just because honda is aware of the problem doesn't mean they have engineered a solution to it yet, remember honda is a huge company and this recall may include thousand's of bike's I'm sure they want to get it right on the first go round. Think of honda as an oceah liner it can't stop and ture on a dime, it will most likely take some time to engineer and test the the new tie rod's, not to mention getting them to the dealer's, so i would say hang tight for a while i'm sure honda will make it right. And as for riding as long as you inspect before each ride ( your should anyway ) youl be fine. Hope this help's[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]