went out to ride the old 660 today and noticed that my right tie rod was bend so i took it off and straightin her then went riding,after a normal day of riding i was cleaning the quad and noticed the other tie rod was now bent $#@!&%* what is causing this ? any info greatly app.

 

Yamaha is the cause of this. Time for some aftermarket tie rod ends!

 

Trees that move side to side and rocks that moves up and down. Be careful, its a jungle out there.

 

Why does Yamaha insist on using these ridiculous wimpy tie rods and ends? I bent a bunch of them on my Warrior and Banshee. It would seem that the Raptor would have been a good candidate for some stronger pieces. I'm gonna get the Ricky Stator kit for my Raptor as soon as I figure out what I'm going to do with the A-arms. (+2 kit of some kind)

 

What kind of trail are you riding on? Is it tight and you go from steering lock to lock. Is your wheels stock. Let me know and I'll look into it.

 

I bent my left tie rod end about a month ago in a harescramble, I didn't notice that the end was bent until I went riding and hit a jump and it the end broke in half when I landed, good thing it was wet out or I would have gone for a ride!!!!!! Anyways....I would rather those things bending than a spindle, that could be much more expensive than the rods and ends. Something's gotta give!!!

 

I've bent one of my tie-rods but I am okay with it too. Better that tie-rod bending than my wrists breaking. I do worry about the tie-rod ends breaking though from time to time when I am flying down the road at 60+ mph. I know it is gonna hurt like hell.

Same logic applies to handlebars. In some ways you want them really strong but not so strong you bend the steering stem. I've seen quite a few bent steering stems on 400exs with Renthal bars. I'm sure it would happen to Raptors too but I never run into any Raptors. It is easier and cheaper to replace a set of bars.

Something similar happens to dirt bikes. Everyone hates it when the factory shifter strips out - your day of riding is over. So then you get a heavy duty steel one. Next thing that happens is you wreck but that is okay because your shifter is fine. Too bad now though, the steel shaft into the engine is stripped and needs replaced. Time to split the cases and get to work...

The only point to this is too think about the big picture when you make a change. Is it going to solve your problem or make it worse?