Took my Z out today after I changed the break-in oil yesterday. Me and a buddy that used to race has a track in his pasture and the Z had a good hour and a half workout. It has a crack to it on the right side when landing from a jump. I think it is the radiator plastic fins hitting against the frame. Anyways with all the talk about the bent axles I came home and blocked up my rear end and put it in gear. Sure enough the axle is bent, more on the chain side than the other. The rim is also bent. Done the same to my new trailblazer and no wobble except for the tires which is normal. I wish I would have checked the axle before I took it out the first time to have something to compare to. I just cannot believe something as simple as an axle could be a weak point, this is 2002. Going to check with the dealer to see if a new one has the same amount of wobble. This keeps up I will have a honda.

 

Man, sounded like you said you cracked your frame for a minute. Kinda needs a rewrite.
Other than that, sorry about your luck. What kind of jumps were you hitting?

 

I think all Z400 owners need to jack up their quad and check for wobble.

 

I will be checking mine tomorrow morning after my day out today. I hit a few lil jumps but nothing big, was kinda scared to after my chain jumped off today. I was climbing a rough hill in the slate dumps (real rutted and bouncy) and all the sudden the friggin chain jumped off. It wouldnt have been so bad but it jumped to the swing arm side and got lodged, locked up tighter than heck and there i sat. The chain wasnt loose at all when I took it out today so no explanation of why it jumped off that I can think of. Anyway, the chain lost some o-rings when it got lodged and it screwed up my swing arm, butchered the side of it up. Took it to the Dealer as soon as I left and he told me he would replace the chain under warranty but they wouldnt do anything about the cosmetic part of the swing arm since it didnt directly affect anything mechanically. Other than that, I still love my Z.

My buddy was out there on his stock Raptor with me and we raised a lil hell still. I was in 3rd gear running side by side and we both hit it at the same time and I stuck right beside him, he didnt even pull ahead of me. I was shocked to be honest, the Z really is starting to run better now that it is getting broken in.
Enough ranting, hehe

Later

 

I don't know how to tell you what sized of jumps. Usually hit them in third or fourth depending on how much I revved it. Most of the time we got about two to three foot of air for 10-15 feet. Nothing big, the front shocks seemed to bottom out, could not tell if they actually were. Finally adjusted them to one notch before the stiffest preload. I only weigh 135lbs and my buddy 190lbs. Coming off the jump and on the throttle the front wheels would pull easily. A six speed tranny would be helpfull in the hairpin S turns, this engine just needs a bit more grunt for the five speed in corners.

 

The size of jumps I jump would seem extremely small to you. It would be fun to play where you play. Tomorrow I might try some bigger jumps and see how she handles in the air.

 

My axle bent on the chain side also. My mx track consists of many 35-50+ ft. doubles and table jumps that have pretty good landings, so I was surprised to have bent the axle without being out of control. New Lonestar axle coming next week!! But other than the bent axle, the quad is great!

 

I tried a scary double that was like 15-20 feet. I will never try that double again until I get a reliable axle. The table tops we have here and really fun, I always land them smooth. My axle bent on the disc side(right side.)

 

I'm already printing out all the axle complaints so I can hand them rite to the service manager when I go pick up a new KFX.

Has suzuki out rite warrantied these axles? Do they even try to use the abuse act?

 

Any hassle getting them warrantied??

If I order one from out of state, and happen to need warranty work, can I go to a local dealer????

I may order out of state because locally they won't budge from retail [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

Also are they replacement axles stronger???

Thanx,
LOBE
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