I know several ruby owners that are having problems with the welds from where the rack bolts to the frame. mine broke on both sides. i know 10 other people with the same problem. are we the only ones or are there other people with the same problem?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

 

I don't know about other Rubicon's, but I do know that the Rancher's and Formen have similar problems. We've had several racks break at work if they've been overloaded, or driven on rough roads with the racks loaded.
I'm sure the Rubicon design is similar. Have you been overloading your racks?

 

This is the first time I've heard of this. What are you putting on the racks?

 

Trees.
Or, more specificly, boxes of seedlings.
With the Forman it most likely resulted from the guy throwing the boxes out of the truck onto the racks. With the Ranchers it was simply a case of overloading the racks and riding on rough ground.
The average user will likely never have a problem with this, but when they're used hard it becomes clear that the newer Hondas aren't as tough as the old ones.

 

ATV action broke theres on the rubicon test on the rubicon trail... I will hopefully have a broken one this fall when I go elk hunting and I HOPE to slap a 1,100 LB elk on the back of mine!

 

This doesnt sound like a Rubicon problem at all. It sounds like overloading the racks will break them. If you overload a pickup it will break too.

 

Texmud, you may be right. I guess you could also say that it's not a problem with the Rubicon, but with the welds. Whichever. I'm not saying that the quad is no good because of that, but there's no denying that it can happen.
BTW, ATV Action broke the rack by attaching an aftermarket accessory gas can. Out of curiosity, has anyone heard of racks breaking on other quads?

 

Racks are not meant for heavy loads. I saw a rack get winched off this weekend when someone was trying to winch from there.

 

I have been regularly using 15 gallon spot sprayers this year on the rancher, these weigh in at 115 pounds full, this is close to the rear rack limit ( listed as 133 for the rancher.) Upon close inspection just now there is no sign of stress (cracked paint) and certainly no breakage at 900 miles on mine. Approximatly 80 miles of use has been with loaded spot sprayers( figured by fenceline legnths and number of times I've checked the fence. ) I'd not be afraid of popping deer on the front and back, however don't make me laugh too hard about popping the 1000 pound elk on a rack, first it'd never fit, second it's far more practical to quarter elk, and haul them that way. My neighbor used to use a small dirt bike for hauling quarters, of course it wasn't much fun with the suspension bottomed out all the time.

 

"however don't make me laugh too hard about popping the 1000 pound elk on a rack, first it'd never fit, second it's far more practical to quarter elk, and haul them that way"

Used a friends 99' Kodiak to haul one out year before last, (we have picts) toung on the ground off the right side and feet dragging on the other! It fit but I had to stand and have a friend sit on the front rack to keep it down....reason being we slapped a full elk on is because our national forest does not allow ATV's to be off the gravel road and I would have gotten a $500 ticket for game retreival.. oh, and the kodiak's rack never even bent.
Joe