How to tell if i bent my a arms or my subframe?

[Hayter11]

Hello everyone,

I have recently noticed that my shock is not centered in the upper arm of my left side of the sled. The sled had the gusset kit installed by the guy before me so I cannot see my subframe bending, but when I got the sled something must have been bent somewhere because I noticed not too long after I got it. The shock is now a little closer than it was when I bought it. So my question is how can I tell if the subframe is still bending or aarms, or my bushings? I checked under the rubber boot for the tie rods and there seems to be no dimples where the rivets go, I have also taken the hood off and the frame does not appear to be bent there either. I also put a straight edge along the lower a arm and it seems out by maybe a 1/8" but no more than that. there is also a very small spot on the upper aarm that looks like it was hit or something (just a small dimple) I just dont want to go replacing my aarms and find out it is something else because that is very expensive. I attached a few photos showing the shock in aarm position. If anyone could help me out that would be great.



Is there anything else I should be looking for? I can go out and take pictures of anything in order to figure this out. I can bend it back so that the shock is in the center using the prybar trick but it will end up back where it sits now after just a few rides so I havnt done that again because I do not want to weaken anything further.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks in advanced


Chris

 

[Acnas1]

Cant see the pictures??

 

[Hayter11]

Oh really? I am not sure why I can see them on my end still..... I have them posted through imageshack is that the best way?

 

[Hayter11]

Bump is anyone else having trouble seeing the pictures?

 

[moab11]

I can see the pics, and since you have a subframe gusset kit in there already, I would look into the bushings, and also make sure that the lower a-arm bolt holes aren't egged out where they mount. Both are common issues and can cause the arms to move around a bit causing what you see.

 

[Hayter11]

Ok thanks Moab11 I will look into the lower Aarm mounting points and take a few pictures, also the bushings. What is the best way to tell if my sled has the oilite bushings in it? Are the stock ones plastic? If I lift the front of the sled and try to move everything around will there be a lot of play if it is the bushings? wouldnt I be able to center the shock quite easily if it is just the bushings? Especially if it was in the air?

 

[Hayter11]

So I just went out and looked at the mount locations for the Aarms and did not see any kind of egging out at the bolt locations, everything looked good from what I could see. I could not check to see if the bushings were ok yet as it is not dark outside so I cant see much. I attached a few more images... Anyway to tell if these bushings are the stock ones or the oilites from these pictures? Also does the angle of the aarms seem way off to you in the last picture?

 

[sloan188]

I see 2 dimples...one half way up and one at the bottom

 

[R00STER]

The bushings look like stock plastis ones from the pics to me. But that seems like things are off way too much to be worn bushings or egged bolt holes. Start comparing your arm angles from side to side to see if you can find something out of whack that way.

 

[Hayter11]

Which Picture are you referring to sloan188?

I will take a look tomorrow and compare and take some pictures of both sides to see how bad the angles are on both.

 

[grizztracks]

The gussets that are installed in that frame are copies of mine but not exactly the same. The frame might have been damaged before they went in or did not fit properly and when welded in warped the frame. The lower frame tube around the rivet looks good so the misalignment probably isn't the frame being out of square. If you lift the front you'll know if the a-arm bushings are bad but the problem is beyond that. You need to remove the left side a-arms and check both the upper and lower a-arm mounting holes for damage. with the arms out lay them on a flat surface and if they rock at all they are bent. You can also remove the other side and compare the a-arms back to back. I've also seen the spindle hole for the upper ball joint egged out which can also add to the misalignment.

 

[Hayter11]

Ok thanks again Grizz, I will check these things out when I can get a chance and report back, Will probably be a while though.... The thing that makes me feel like it is not the subframe is the fact that I can do the crowbar trick that you have mentioned to me and it will realign the shock in the aarms, then after a few rides it will be right back where it was. I dont think I am bending the subframe back when I am doing this just because it has the gusset kit in it and is probably very strong.

 

[sloan188]

Which Picture are you referring to sloan188?

I will take a look tomorrow and compare and take some pictures of both sides to see how bad the angles are on both.

The same picture within which you highlight the dimple about 1/2 way (which is pretty much directly above the steering rod boot). If you look on the A-arm about 1.5" from the bottom of the picture (right next to the shock's coil spring) you will see what looks like another dimple...

 

[grizztracks]

If you have a combination of things wrong like worn bushings and several egged out holes you might be pulling everything back with the pry bar but then when you ride it all moves back. Also, if the a-arms have previously been bent you might be correcting the alignment by bending them back with the bar but because the metal has been weakened it won't take much force to bend them again. Things need to come apart to determine what's going on. I think you have both egged out holes and bent arms.

 

[hognit09]

Mine were not center when the sled was new and took sled back to dealer and everything was good with 0 miles on it. Looked at other ones on showroom floor and shocks were not centered the same from side to side. We have gone over the sled many times and nothing is kinked or bent. Have 7300 miles and it's the same as it was new. So there might be nothing wrong