Can anyone give me info on these a arms?

[dksix]

I saw these on ebay. Does anyone know who made them? I googled extended arms for Blaster, saw some that looked similar but not close enough for me to ID the ebay set. 2001 Yamaha Blaster extended a-arms & tie rods a arms aftermarket | eBay

 

[scotj77]

sorry bro. don't recognize them

 

[blasterBruce]

They Look Tough That's For Sure ! , But Cannot Help with Make on them Either

 

[dksix]

The ones I've seen that looked similar were made by Longstar but it looks like if they were Longstar, they would have been marked as so.

 

[245stroker]

I'd say there lonestar

 

[dksix]

I'd say there lonestar

That's what they look like, especially with the silver vein finish but the Blaster arms pictured on Longstar's site don't have the plate under the shock mount. Also, Longstar only shows a +2" set available. I measured my stock tie rods at 12" and these show to be 15", which would be +3". If they are Longstar, $154 was a steal. Longstar are showing them priced at $680, without ball joints Lone Star Racing - Yamaha Blaster - A-Arms Sport Style - Yamaha Blaster - $680.00 .

 

[245stroker]

That's what they look like, especially with the silver vein finish but the Blaster arms pictured on Longstar's site don't have the plate under the shock mount. Also, Longstar only shows a +2" set available. I measured my stock tie rods at 12" and these show to be 15", which would be +3". If they are Longstar, $154 was a steal. Longstar are showing them priced at $680, without ball joints Lone Star Racing - Yamaha Blaster - A-Arms Sport Style - Yamaha Blaster - $680.00 .

lonestar makes two different sets of a-arms. The sport version doesn't have the welded plate but the mx version does. I just got done looking at lonestars sight and it looks like they've cut back on alot of there products for the 2strokes. They only have the sport version a-arms listed for the trx250r but I've got a set of there mx a-arms. Judging by the lower a-arms and the way the balljoint mount is constructed in that ebay auction, I'd say those a-arms are an older lonestar set

 

[dksix]

The arms came in today. Except for the finish, they are nice. The ball joints are tight, nothing needs replaced to be used. I took some more pictures, there are no marking on them. I don't think the are forward any just wider, closer to 3" than 2", for standard length shocks. Does anyone have any more insight with the new pictures?

 

[dksix]

The arms appear to not be compatible with disk brakes. The lower arm hits the brake disk. I thought it was just the disk guard when I put the first side on, so I took the guard off on the second side and the disk hit. It seemed like a good time to walk away and think about my options.

 

[sicivicdude]

hmmmmm I agree, that seems like a good time to step back and "punt". I'll stew about the options tonight and think about what I would need to do (if I were in that situation)

 

[dksix]

I might be able to do one of the following; space out the hubs and calipers, change to a different lower ball joint (one like you use in your arms), cut the arm to clear (might be too thin to hold the ball joint) and if all else fails, do back to drum brakes.

 

[dksix]

I would have liked for these to just bolt on, they look good on there. This was going to be a big upgrade, including the front hydro's and Banshee shocks. I had planned to get my +4 swing arm and 400ex on too but it looks like the front end is going to take more time than I had planned to do everything. Here's some more pics I took when I went back out to do some more figuring.
Before,

After,

 

[sicivicdude]

I might be able to do one of the following; space out the hubs and calipers, change to a different lower ball joint (one like you use in your arms), cut the arm to clear (might be too thin to hold the ball joint) and if all else fails, do back to drum brakes.

I don't know about spacing the hubs but a definite option may be to slap the hubs in the lathe and turn down the mounting bosses that support the disc and move it farther "outward" away from the ball joint.... it would then require spacing of the calipers. I think you could get away with the 1/2" or so of spacing needed to clear those ball joints without much trouble. Makes your hubs and caliper mounts specific to a matched set though (not a huge fan of permanently modifying something that cannot be used over again split up but hey, it would get you around your issue)

Changing to the type of ball joint I use is invasive. Doable but invasive. It will require stripping and re-silver veining the a-arms after the welding is done (obviously not an issue for you) but more time and energy. The ball joints and weld in bungs aren't terribly expensive (about $70 for the two shipped) either. The mod would be permanent so that it wouldn't require any special "matched" items other than the arms and ball joints.

I don't know about cutting that ring down. It's not only the support for the ball joint mounting method but holds the entire bike's weight. Thin is not good in that area.

 

[dksix]

I hadn't thought about leaving the hub and just moving the disk, that something to consider. Now worries about the finish damage, I won't be using that color in the final finish (favoring a candy blue for the frame, arms and swinger). I could machine bulkheads to replace the current ball joint mounts and have them welded in. If I go that far, I'll try to use a Honda lower ball joint and go back to the plan of using my TRX250R front brakes. I hate using the parts from my 04, it's such a nice bike, only needing a topend to be back complete.

 

[sicivicdude]

I hadn't thought about leaving the hub and just moving the disk, that something to consider. Now worries about the finish damage, I won't be using that color in the final finish (favoring a candy blue for the frame, arms and swinger). I could machine bulkheads to replace the current ball joint mounts and have them welded in. If I go that far, I'll try to use a Honda lower ball joint and go back to the plan of using my TRX250R front brakes. I hate using the parts from my 04, it's such a nice bike, only needing a topend to be back complete.

Well, then you end up changing both ball joints. The upper ball joint on that set of a-arms is actually a suzuki lower ball joint (LT250R, quadrunner and quadmaster). It's the only one I am aware of that mounts using that method. It's a 3/16" "groove" cut into 7/8" is tubing. The pieces that are left outside of the "groove" lock the ball joint into place.

That's actually the same ball joint and mounting method I'm using now build my a-arms. I happened across LT250R lower ball joints on Ebay while looking for something that had a 14mm "pinch bolt" on it.

Unfortunately, TRX250R spindles use honda taper ball joints upper and lower.

One option without having to go back to the stone ages (1986-1989) would be current generation honda sport quad spindles. 300ex and 400ex (and presumably 450r) spindles are aluminum and use a very similar geometry and back spacing to banshee hubs.

 

[Awk08]

my original thoughts are these are an older version
a-arm, prolly made before the disc model blastys came out in 03, and the brake drum looks to be way smaller diameter than the disc and would prolly clear ?
but who wants to go back to drums ???

 

[dksix]

I have an entire Honda front end here . I'll look at them tomorrow and see how hard it would be to use those ball joints in the Lonestar arms and how the Honda spindles would set into the LoneStar arms.

 

[dksix]

It will all take care of itself, not big worries here. I had to get a quote to add my daughter's brand new car on our insurance tonight, numbers like that worry me.

 

[dksix]

I got the arms, spindles, shocks, caliper and hubs on today. I ended up having to turn .080" off the surface where the rotor mounts and space the caliper over 80 too. It look pretty good and the shocks (Banshee) seem to have a more controlled compression and rebound. I'll have to read up on how I should set the camber and toe. I'll try to get the brake lines, master cylinder and new bars on tomorrow. Then, Maybe Thursday and Friday I'll be able to get my extended swingarm and 400ex shock on. Then on Saturday, take it to the track and some tools and try to get it all tuned in. Here's some more pics.....

Let me know what you think and any suggestions on setting them up correctly.

 

[sicivicdude]

OoOoOoOoO

Looks mean. That camber is perfectly alright for MX setup a-arms. 245stroker's looks like the tires are leaned in twice that much and he loves it that way.

I like a little bit of toe to keep the front end from being squirelly. Basically, if you measure from the front of one tire to the front of the other and from the back of one tire to the back of the other, make sure that the measurements are like 1/4" different.

I want to say toe out is the preferred method (so the back measurement shorter than the front) but the more I think about it, I can't remember which way I set mine up....