supercoop Posted September 16, 2004 Report Share Posted September 16, 2004 hey, I recently purchased some +2" +1" Wicked Products a-arms for my banshee. However, I am not very good at installing such things as a-arms, axles etc on quad bikes....lol it says on the instructions that installation is fairy simple, however it might be for some people but not for me On the instructions that I got with the a-arms there is some things that I don't understand. I will list the things that I don't understand and I hope someone can explain to me in a simple way, lol what the thing/phrase means and what it does etc, and if possible attach some pics of it. I am from England so I might actually know some of the things but you guys in the US might call them something else Separating ball joint from spindle using ball joint separator - I know what a ball joint is but I don't know how to separate it from the spindle. Can someone explain what I need to do for this. Loosen the jam nuts on the tie rods - not too sure where these are. Steering stem - not sure on where this is. Heim joints - not sure what they are. That is about it for the moment, if I think of anything else I will let you know. It would be much appreciated if someone could explain all this for me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fixitrod Posted September 16, 2004 Report Share Posted September 16, 2004 "Separating ball joint from spindle using ball joint separator - I know what a ball joint is but I don't know how to separate it from the spindle. Can someone explain what I need to do for this." You can get a seperator shaped like a wedge. Loosen the nut on the end of the ball joint and use the wedge shaped fork and a hammer to seperate "pop" the balljoint in the a-arm from the spindle. You can also put the nut at the end of the ball joint and hammer on it. The reason you put the nut on the end is to prevent damage to the threads of the ball joint. "Loosen the jam nuts on the tie rods - not too sure where these are." The tie rods connect the to the steering stem and then to the spindles. They are the connection that allow the wheels to turn when pushing and pulling on the handle bars. You will see a nut on the tie rod ends that is there to keep the tie rod from turning on it's own. Those are the jam nuts. If you loosen them, one is a left hand thread (turn clockwise instead of counter clockwise to loosen), you can turn the tie rods for adjusting. "Steering stem - not sure on where this is." The steering stem is what you bolt the handle bars to. It has the tie rods connecting to them at the bottom. "Heim joints - not sure what they are." Heim joints are the type of joints the a-arms use in place of the ball joints. Same location and purpose, just a different type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenBB Posted September 17, 2004 Report Share Posted September 17, 2004 Fixitrod covered everything real well, just wanted to add a little mate. My buddy Ryan just got some Wicked a-arms and they look great, but anyway it would probably be a good idea to just do one side at a time, just in case you're unsure of how something mounts. When I mounted my RS a-arms the only trouble I had along the way was removing one of the upper a-arm bolts, it was kinda siezed in the spacer so I had to remove that side pipe expansion chamber to get enough room to hammer it out. Anyway, like rod said a ball joint separator tool looks like a two-pronged fork, the two tines angle up from the pointed tip so when you hammer the end it "wedges" in between the ball joint and the spindle to pop them apart. It's not entirely necessary, like rod said you can just hammer on the ball joint, or smack the side of the spindle with a hammer a few times and chances are it will pop loose. You can always sell your stock a-arms so try not to destroy the balljoint threads if you can help it. You WILL need to re-use the stock tie rod ends (look just like the ball joints on the ends of the a-arms) so be careful not to ruin their threads or tear the rubber boots with a separator tool. One more thing, you won't need to disconnect the brake lines from the front calipers, you can just hang the whole front wheel assembly in place while you swap out the a-arms and tie rods, thought I'd mention that so you don't hafta worry about bleeding the brakes. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercoop Posted September 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2004 thanks alot guys, I am gonna do one side first, just to see how it goes.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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