The lower front ball joint on my Trakker 500cc 4 x 4 Buggy Truck went out on me. I have been looking for a company that carries replacement parts for over six weeks now. Can anyone provide a resource/company I can get support from? Or can someone suggest a replacement part or way I can fix this thing?

Mike

Desperate in Utah

No support from dealer?

Glade

Unfortunately my dealer got screwed by his supplier to. He has five machines on order he will never see. When the 250 cc machine I purchased from him had some minor problems in the beginning he took care of it under warranty. (90 days) The darn ball joint on the 500cc machine failed on a late afternoon ride about 2 1/2 miles from the trail head. Luckliy me and my brother nursed it back the next morning. Good thing we had the 250 with us to get back to the trailer and truck. When I approached him about the ball joint on the 500 he offered a unique solution.

My family had all kinds of problems in the beginning and he felt really bad about the situation. First round of warranty work on the 250 cost him $600.00 at his repair shop (his cost). I was willing to pay for the ball joint part because it resulted from a loose nut on the lower A-arm.

I know this is going to be hard to believe but he actually gave me a second 500 for nothing!!!! I have the bill of sale and everything. I guess the rational was that I could cannibalize it and replace the bad ball joint. Anyway that doesn't solve the problem.

I did find a ball joint from AutoZone that's really close but the bolt used to hold it in the clamp doesn't quite fit. Any idea guys??

I can take some close up pictures if that will help. Some body thought that the original one might be from a VW.

Great forum that's why I'm here. Someone out there has an answer.

Merry Xmas

I will do some checking and see what I can find. it looks similar to a old peiespeed ball joint

Can you make a plate and weld it to the new ball joint. ? Or even refab that end to where it takes easy to find part and never worry about it again.

Can you take detailed pictures of the front suspension? Joyner may use similar parts though the ball joint have bolts on both ends. If the a-arms are similar you may want to upgrade to a suspension parts are readily avaialable.

who did you buy yours from? a dealer or Trakker buggies themselves? i've spoken with Brandon at Trakker buggies a few times via email, invited them on the show, but they were always to busy. invited them here on BN, but never saw them, either.

Bought from Local dealer here in Utah Xcite Powersports. Dave the owner has been extremely kind in giving me the other machine around $5,200.00 he ate in order to try and rectify the situation. Wondering if most of these machines are similar? Liked the idea you guys had of switching the front end equipment to a Joyner system. I will take detailed pictures of the front end today.

One of the design flaws I see in this one is the angle between the ball joint and where it attaches into the front hub. Limits movement, have any of you used a Hemi Joint? My father-in Law uses them on his race car and he swears by them. This is the type of refit I would like to go to.

Hemi joints are strong, some of my buddies use them on their 4x4 trucks.(big trucks) big joint too.

Here are the pics of the front suspension on the 500.