well sorry to hear about your cousin in the hospital but the question now is where can we get some good aftermarket tie rods for the v force??

 

I drive the crap out of mine, rocks, stumps, rock infested deep moguls....I don't avoid anything really. I bent one of my stock tie rods the firs week I had it, but I also hit trees and rocks. I replaced them with the tie rods from JD Performance(who was awesome to deal with). Other than that, the stock rims are being replaced with ITP Baja's.(more because I want new rims[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] ) I rolled it doing about 30MPH and it just bent the brackets that hold the plastic on. I have of the early ones with a crappy weld job on the rear motor mounts, but Kawi fixed that under warranty and it's better than new now that it's gusseted.

I take care of my bike, I clean it and inspect it everytime, and it doesn't let me down. I've owned a Polaris Scrambler 400 4X4, Honda 250EX, (2)Suzuki LT250R's and my V-Force is definitely as tough or tougher than the other quads I've owned. It is the most comfortable sport quad I've ridden, and the power is awesome.

 

Just got my V back from the 100 hour check up yesterday. I love the V and find it really reliable. I've had it for about 8 or 9 months now and no problems. Its been ridden hard, but it is well taken care of. If you take care of your machine you should have no problems really. As for the tie rods i have had no problems with mine. Been through rocks on trails, ruts, and even clipped a few trees. Guess my luck may be better than some, but i think the stock tie rods are doing just fine. Thats just my 2 cents

 

You can get aftermarke tie rods for the V from Penland Bros Racing.-706-746-2812. I ordered some last week. They are made from stainless steel. Very nice product.

 

Maybe Kawi had a batch of bad tie rods get thru, because I hear a lot of folks who have had no trouble,
but the only three I have personally seen have all bent tie rods in the first months of use.

BUT, anyone who has a V needs to do something to make sure the same doesn't happen to them as happened to my cousin. I have read where they can be reinforced at minimal cost.
Something about using a sleeve and welding it in place.

 

I have heard alot about V tie rods being weak. Maybe it's true. From my own personal experience, they're fine. I've had my V for almost a year, and I've riden it hard. On all types of terain. I've had no problems with the tie rods, or any other thing.

 

WoodsRuner, I by no means think anyone in the hospital is comical. What I said is that because of one simple part that may be weak....and the V's tie rods ARE weak.....that to say the entire machine is weak is comical, and it is to me. I do feel bad for your cousin or anyone in the hospital from a wreck. If you thought I was even somewhat saying that I felt the resulting wreck due to this weak part was comical than I do apologize.....this truly was not what I was saying.

 

I have had mine for 7months and no problems at all. It is a great quad and quite frankly, any bike will bend a tie rod if you hit it hard enough or at just the right angle. My buddy just did a real number on his 01 raptor this past weekend. Went over the handle bars and did a nice superman into a roll. We bent the rod back and he rode it back to the truck. I rode every where he did and mine are fine.