whast does it mean when the paint starts to flake off the weldings of the a arm mounts to the frame and the welds of teh bar that the rear shock mounts to?

 

it means its wearing off
dont worry about it to much. if you want to keep it from going farther, then just spray some clear coat paint on it to seal it all back up. it wont fix what is gone but it will keep it from going further

 

Usually it just means that your stressing the welds. There not much you can do about other than not jump. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] And we know THATS not a realistic option. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] Just keep an eye on them for hair line fractures. I wouldn't do anything about it unless it cracks. Then talk to some of the guys on here about gussets. Theres quite a few that have done them on raptors, and seem to have held up well.

 

I agree that the paint is flaking because of stress and deflection in this high load area. This is a common location to find cracks in the frame and brackets holding the shocks. If you see a crack initiated, get it welded up and have it gussetted or it will definitely propagate.

 

I have pics on My Page of the gussets I added, click on the camera under my name. Like INSeaRChOFDUNez, the paint was flaking in a few areas but no cracks. They may have been fine forever but I figured I'd prevent future cracks by strengthening the places that were flaking while the Raptor is down for upgrades. I used 2" wide 3/16" flat steel on the rear shock mounts and 1.5" wide 1/8" flat steel on the front. 3/16" is a little thick to weld on top of the rear horizonal frame bars, it takes 2 passes and IMO looks too big. 1/8" is perfect, matches the factory mounts exact. I bought the metal at Home Depot and MIG'd them on in my garage. Even with my "bigger the blob, better the job" welding skills, I'd be surprised if I added more than a pound or two of metal to the frame.

 

It's the "flake before the storm"....In my case the puckered paint was the first sign of cracks beginning to developing - like they said.....

 

its an 04 raptor i didnt think this type of thing would happen this soon. i want a 450 now they are smaller and lighter and faster

 

I don't think any ATV frame will take a pounding without showing signs of stress somewhere. A good suspension will keep the frame from getting beat up so bad.

 

are there any signs of rust? cause ive seen rust on a arms and paint flaked off

 

It's gonna happen. My frame is all bent up too. UBETRUN has a good setup. The only way to prevent this is not jumping and ride it like your grandma would. That ain't gonna happen.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]