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Ohh nooo, frame cracked
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Posted by: muff

I'm almost positive my frame is cracked above the front motor mounts, I'll take a very close up pic in a little bit, are they any other places I should look? this will be a big bummer, I just found out i need to buy a new bearing carrier and now this..ahhhh

so who should I send my frame to guessetted and pc'd?

thanks for any help, and around how much will this cost me?

Posted by: muff

here she is

Posted by: MX26

Cracked....

Take it to a local welder and let him lay a bead over it then grab a can of spray paint... If you want it done quick that's the way to go.

Posted by:

Tear your quad down to the frame,,have it gussetted and PC'd and if done correctly,,your frame cracking days are over...

Prices vary and shipping will kill ya...

Posted by: trx400ex

well ive had 3 frames cracked there, i think its due to the vibration and torque of the motor

also one time i had a frame shipped from VA to IN for 20$ it took a week and a half though

Posted by: muff

do u remember what shipping company that was? thats so cheap

Posted by: freeride132

lol i got about 4 frame cracks

Posted by: muff

quote:
Originally posted by freeride132
lol i got about 4 frame cracks

nice

Posted by: Castor-426ex

that sucks...gusset that *******!

Posted by: luvmyex

Check everwhere you see rust. Alot of frames seem to crack where yours did.My friend welded his.Did great till he hit a tree in 3rd.Then he had the whole front cut off and remade. That seemed to hold up well.But now his top end is blown.And he has a Z400.

Posted by: muff

ok i'll look it all over tomorrow, theres a little bit of rust on the other side of the top shock mount, i'm not sure if its actually cracked or not

Posted by: ridered03

man that really sucks, you should listen to what rico is saying, get it done right the first time nd you will be a lot happier with it.

Posted by: muff

quote:
Originally posted by ridered03
man that really sucks, you should listen to what rico is saying, get it done right the first time nd you will be a lot happier with it.

yeah thats what i was thinkin, I dont want somethin to happen in the middle of the season, that would be horrible

Posted by: DEAL

I got a couple cracks in my a-arms like that.

Posted by: 440EX4me

Get em fixed up cause you know "cracks kill"

Posted by: "2-R's Rider"

quote:
Originally posted by muff
here she is

...not good lookin at all

Posted by: NTPRacing#19

that sucks man, i should def check mine since its in the gusset process.

Posted by: Ex'r Marlin

I could be wrong, but looking at the picture, I can not tell if there is a crack there.

I too have a couple of places on my frame where the stock paint (powder) came off by the weld. I looked closely at mine, and did not notice any "cracks". I'm thinking the frame flexed, not cracked, but then again, I could be wrong.

Is there a way to confirm you have a cracked frame? Obviously, if you see seperation, you have a crack, but if you do not see seperation, is there a way to check?

Posted by: "2-R's Rider"

try sanding around the area some ..& look real close Marlin could be right ...

but that close up is kinda ugly

Posted by: Dave400ex

Well heck if he has it tore down he might as well have it Gusseted and Powdercoated...

Posted by: muff

its kinda tore down right now, no swingarm, bumper, shocks, hubs, oil tank, and some other stuff, I'm almost positive i'll be gettin a pc and guesset job, i gotta figure shippin tho

Posted by: Ex'r Marlin

quote:
Originally posted by WarriorMan
Well heck if he has it tore down he might as well have it Gusseted and Powdercoated...

Agreed

Thanks Dave (2-R's Rider) for advise on checking for cracks in frame.

Posted by: nick23

my stock 400ex frame broke in 2 diffrent places at the same time...it sucked

Posted by: "2-R's Rider"

a visual should be good enough ,...but there is always
magnaflux or maybe dyecheck ..kinda of an overkill tho

Posted by: NTPRacing#19

if you dont see a crack dont worry about it.

Posted by: Ex'r Marlin

quote:
Originally posted by "2-R's Rider"
there is always magnaflux or maybe dyecheck ..kinda of an overkill tho

Magnaflux?

I have never heard of it.

As for dyecheck... I take it that you spill some liquid on the suspected crack and see if it sinks in?

Sorry, I guess I don't get out much.

Posted by: freeride132

i took a big ole wire wheel to mine looked polished 1 side of my shock mount looked cracked but not after i cleaned the paint off

Posted by: muff

i'll try the wire wheel tomorrow, i'll let u guys know how it is, i'm almost positive its cracked but theres a possibility it might just be the top of the weld but i doubt it

Posted by: 440EX4me

Well I have to say that the pic looks like a lot of things cause it such a close up but it doesnt look like a crack in the frame, but just another example of quality welding and metal prep

I will look later tonight when I make some jetting changes but I am pretty sure there isnt a weld on the frame that hasnt flexed and started rusting. I just clean them up and treat it with some rust converter or self etching primer and slap a little gray or silver paint on them.

This is the main reason I am considering tearing the machine apart and blasting the frame and pc'ing or painting it a metalic candy red. Just seems a lot of work to cover a bunch of crappy welds with off color paint on them.

Posted by: EX 80

I agree with 440ex4me, it looks like missing paint from flexing. I went 2 1/2 years with both sides for my frame like that and many other spots. But no cracks any where.

Posted by:

quote:
Originally posted by EX 80
I agree with 440ex4me, it looks like missing paint from flexing. I went 2 1/2 years with both sides for my frame like that and many other spots. But no cracks any where.

Mine didn't have any cracks either and I race MX and XC both...even cased a huge triple that bent my nerfbars, axle, and subframe from the impact and the frame didn't crack anywere,,the damn swingarm didn't even crack......my back did crack..

Posted by: DEAL

It looks just like the end of the weld to me.
Believe me if it was cracked it would be bigger than that.

Posted by: Dave400ex

Have you wire wheeled it yet?

Posted by: muff

quote:
Originally posted by FreeStylexrider
It looks just like the end of the weld to me.
Believe me if it was cracked it would be bigger than that.

you are correct, i took a wire brush to it yesterday and had my dad look at it, he thinks its just the weld, it follows the weld perfectly

I'm not going to beef up the weld or anything until I start to see it crack for good

Posted by: lil400exman

dont do that man thats just askin for a headache and you dont have to ship your frame around to places there are ususally shops in your area that can do it i had custom gussets made on my 275r (my bro in law is a machist):devil but yeah........dont do that cause youll be 1/2 way through the season and youll have it break and you will have to dnf the whole season.........just do it now lose a couple of points ause you didnt make the first few races and get it done right and looking good too.............

Posted by: Jnine

Hello Guys:

Sorry to give you the bad news, but the stock frame in the photo above DEFINITELY is cracked. Here's a rule of thumb. When the paint starts flaking around a weld it means either the metal is moving, or the prep was really bad.

When you weld, the surface gets very hard and the paint has a hard time sticking to that area unless you sand blast it. The factories don't do that, so once in a while the paint will flake off the welds because they are glazed over.

Unfortunately, most of the time the paint flakes off because the metal underneath is trying to move, and you either have a crack or are about to get one. It happens to all stock frames! The metal they use is a rather low grade of carbon steel, and it can only handle so much twisting before it just gives up. It doesn't have much "memory" or tensile strength. Thats the bad part. The good side is you can weld it up with a mild steel filler metal, and go back riding. After a while however you will just end up chasing cracks everywhere, and you will have to do something about it. (like see your dealer) Everyone on this board can at least be thankfull they don't own the new Suzuki 400. Those guys are cracking them on the first couple rides!

Talk to you later!

Posted by: yellowex01

Muff, if you designed Kennys Pc'ing website why are you asking where to get yours pc'd at?

Posted by: muff

quote:
Originally posted by yellowex01
Muff, if you designed Kennys Pc'ing website why are you asking where to get yours pc'd at?

its cause I didnt realize at the time he could guesset to, its easier to send it to one place and get it all done instead of sending it here and there, if I do get it done it will be going to him

I'm still not sure want I'm going to do, especially with someone like jnine sayin that its def. cracked

Posted by: Jnine

Hello Guys:

Cracks usually develop along the edge of the weld. Obviously when you weld the area gets very hot, and that draws carbon from the surrounding metal into the weld area. The carbon then makes it brittle, and the area next to the weld is thinner than the weld itself, so that's where it cracks. That's why you don't want to overheat the part when you weld. The way to solve the overheating problem is to "normalize" the part after you're done welding, which means you basically heat the entire frame up in a heat treat oven. That lets the entire frame relax a little because now it has all been heated up to the same temperature, which takes out all those stressed areas. The problem is you need a heat-treat facility to do that, and you really need a heat-treat fixture to do that properly, or when the materials relax they could actually move out of tolerance. Then parts might not fit. Do like everybody else and have it welded the best you can without getting it overly hot, repaint that area to protect it (if you're not doing the entire frame), and go back riding

In the photo you can see a shadow, and that is a big giveaway when finding a crack. Just fix them and don't worry about it.

Talk to you later!

Posted by: Dave400ex

Just have that area Welded or send it out and have the whole thing Gusseted and PCed.

Posted by: freeride132

all of my cracks are right where the weld ends, im gettin mine gussested and repaired tho

since my frame is bound to crack again im not spending 150-2 on a pc job, im getting some paint that is about as good of quality as the stock stuff and painting the whole frame

Posted by: QuadTrix6

JNINE is a smart man