Hey all, new to forum. Picked up an 03 rubicon the other day for SUPER cheap. It's missing a few parts though. Runs super strong and the engine and trans work excellent. For the little I got in it, it's worth fixing. Got it and a snow blade for $400 so I couldn't pass it up. I'm fairly mechanically inclined, I tinker with small engines all the time, done my fair share of engine and trans swaps, Normal wear and tear items, along with about anytbing else to do with anything on wheels. Anywho hear is where I'm at. I jumped the gun and order new brake shoes cuz the brakes barely grab and the guy said it needed shoes. I didn't pay much attention at the time other than noticing the rear brake lever on the handle bar was missing. Looks like I'm missing a few other items that I need help identifying:
Obviously it's missing the lights. Headlight and gauges do work though.
Battery is from a mower jerry rigged in a box, so a new one is one order.
Shouldn't there be a fluid reservoir on the handle bars? Seems my dads 05 rancher has one. What else is missing here? I searched for a brake lever assembly with no luck.
Seems to be something missing on the front brake lever but I can't quite figure it out? The lever has no resistance at all, like something is suppose to be there to let the cable slide in and out with the lever, but the whole cable moves.
It's been spray painted a few times, and some of the plastics is missing, so I'll order new when I get the main things fixed. It was yellow from factory.
The auto shifter feels funky. When you from neutral to drive, the whole 4wheele kinda bucks. No unusual noises, just jerks. Normal? Also, seems to me you have to put more force than you should have to to go from neutral to reverse. Simple as adjusting the linkage?
Miles says 2600, hours say 560. How is this? That's about an average of 25mph constantly? Or am I thinking wrong?
Tires seems to hold air, one has a gash in the sidewall. I'll replace these next year.
The right hand brake is the front and you are correct, missing the reservoir & handle (not sure about the hose). The left is the hand brake for the rear, if it isn't moving the shoe lever on the rear drum, try adjusting. Honestly though, my '01 needed a new one due to usage and lack of maintenance (doubt it was ever lubricated).
Fuel shut-off is also missing, not much for the whole kit-n-caboodle from know to carb.
Is the right rear floor board brace missing? Piece of round stock that bolts to the frame, you can see it on your left side rear tire picture.
The left side engine cover that is missing is a huge help on blocking the exhaust heat, worth the money to replace. Imagine that heat on your calf for a days slow trail ride. Been there, done that... had to get one for mine as well.
Are the two screws missing from the shifter knob? Should be perpendicular to the four wheeler vice the current 45 degrees.
Adjust your idle down a little to see if that helps the lurching when putting in gear. Both mine are a bugger to put in reverse when the choke is on and idle is up.
Remember, our older Rubicons aren't the fastest or prettiest but they dang sure are Billy Goats that can go anywhere.
There's what you're missing on the front right. That's your front brake master cylinder. If you're familiar with drums you could probably clean up the front drums, hook up a master cylinder and get the fronts working.
If you're planning on keeping the rig I'd swap in some discs off of an 05-later Rubicon or Foreman. They work better and are much less work to keep them working.
I'd get some LED light cubes and put where your bottom headlights were. Buying replacment OEM headlights will be expensive, and with LED's being as cheap as they are now you'd get brighter lights for less money putting some LED cubes in there.
Thanks so much for the link I'll get that on order ASAP, is really like to take this Saturday hunting. But I may just end up walking or riding someone else's. I seen a few kits for disc brakes. Seems they were around 300 bucks maybe? I that the swap your referring to? LEDs seem like a goo idea. I work for a company that builds power centers, substations, long wall mining power centers etc so I can lights fairly cheap.
Let me ask a dumb question. I've never really thought about this til I got this project, but how do the brakes work? I thought you squeeze the lever and it actuated the cam in the drum and pushes the shoes out. But since it takes brake fluid, I assume there's wheel cylinders in the drums like a vehicle?
Thanks so much for the link I'll get that on order ASAP, is really like to take this Saturday hunting. But I may just end up walking or riding someone else's. I seen a few kits for disc brakes. Seems they were around 300 bucks maybe? I that the swap your referring to? LEDs seem like a goo idea. I work for a company that builds power centers, substations, long wall mining power centers etc so I can lights fairly cheap.
Let me ask a dumb question. I've never really thought about this til I got this project, but how do the brakes work? I thought you squeeze the lever and it actuated the cam in the drum and pushes the shoes out. But since it takes brake fluid, I assume there's wheel cylinders in the drums like a vehicle?
Rear brake is cable operated. Fronts work like a car drum brakes with a wheel cylinder.
You can get a new rear brake cable cheap from Honda, but more than likely you'll need to take apart your rear drum and clean and grease everything on that cam to get the rears working.
The rear drum brakes on Hondas don't hold up very well to mud and water. Most you see have working discs on the front, with rears that don't work, and on the older ones with drums all around you see bikes with no brakes like yours.
Ok thanks maybe I can get the rears working for now til the rest of the parts come in for the front. There's a cable at the handle bars where the lever and reservoir mount, it has eye on the end of it with about a 5/16" ID. I don't remember seeing a hole in it though, is this something to do with the brake hose? So the front brake does not have a brake cable, just a hose for fluid correct? What exactly is the electronics the wires are goin to on the front brake lever assembly? Or is that something else
I have an 03 rubicon too.....awesome bike! I just wanted to comment on that front bumper . That's a custom job somebody rigged up and I like it a lot. For $400 you got a steal....the first order of business should be getting rid of that box on the back lol. Good luck with it, it will run forever if you even remotely care for it.
jeep is right, the rear drum is lacking to say the least. There is a write-up on here about using an “affordable” rear disc kit. Trick was; the factory cables operated the caliper but it had the hydraulic port. The author of the thread described what Can-Am lever/reservoir to use as well as how long of a pre-fab high pressure brake hose was needed (banjo bolts also).
the rear drum is useless....I wouldn't waste the time on it.....the biggest problem with not having the rear brakes operational here in WV is thats your parking brake.....flat parking spots around here are few and far between
Ok so looks like the brake hose are there and complete, waiting on the reservoir now. Got the rear brake lever and foot lever freed up, gonna take the drum apart today, you was right about the brake cable, the front one needs to be replaced. I'm starting to think maybe at some point it was wrecked and someone has tried to fix it, or someone has used some of the parts off of it. In the one pic, it looks like the handle bars are slightly bent. Also, I noticed the front rack is from a different 4wheeler, the plastic has been trimmed out where the rack bolts to the frame.
Let me get a few opinions here, I don't have any intentions on selling this, and it runs and shifts great, it's just ugly and had a rougher life than most. What's the most you guys would put into it? I paid $400 for it, I feel if I can keep the total at $2k I'll still be in good shape on how much I have in it. Thoughts on this?
The list on what I wana do to it:
Brakes/ cables
Battery
Brake lever/reservoir assembly
Tires next year
Exhaust shield
Fuel petcock
Correct front rack
Lights
Harbor freight winch for snow plow
New plastics/ decent used set
New choke lever
If you don't mind ugly I'd skip the plastics or see if you can clean the ones you have on there up, same with the front rack (which I think looks pretty cool). The rest of your list looks pretty reasonable, you could keep it well under $1K and have a nice functional machine. Might be a good idea to check your rear diff fluid, oil change, air filter, etc....if you haven't already, the basic maintenance stuff. I'm kind of jealous, I never find deals like that, who care if it's been wrecked or it's ugly if does what you need it to do.
I recently picked up a 03' Rubicon that was in similar condition as yours. The engine and tranny area in good shape but the rest of the machine had been severely neglected and abused.
After a lot of work and more than a few $$ it is in very nice shape.
My thoughts on the rear brake....check it out and get it to work correctly, as mentioned it is the parking brake...the ATV doesn't have a park feature in the transmission like a car does so you will need it. Also since the front drums aren't the best a properly working rear drum is an essential supplement to the fronts to get good braking.
Thanks guys yea I very rarely find deals to til this came along. I'm wondering if I can't whip up some sort of concoction to get the rattle can off the plastic? I like the front bumper to, just don't care for the plastic wing cut.
I'll search a little on the different brake options.
And yes the rear box will definitely go lol. I'm guessing the main purpose of that was to hold the lawn mower battery because it won't fit under seat. I plan on doing oil and filter change and air filter change today also. My manual says 5qts? Is that correct? That's how much my little toyota truck holds
Thanks guys yea I very rarely find deals to til this came along. I'm wondering if I can't whip up some sort of concoction to get the rattle can off the plastic? I like the front bumper to, just don't care for the plastic wing cut.
I'll search a little on the different brake options.
And yes the rear box will definitely go lol. I'm guessing the main purpose of that was to hold the lawn mower battery because it won't fit under seat. I plan on doing oil and filter change and air filter change today also. My manual says 5qts? Is that correct? That's how much my little toyota truck holds
The wife's 420 was spray painted when I got it. Lots of aircraft stripper (walmart in the automotive paint aisle) and a power washer stripped it off, but it was a pain.
I've got front disc brakes off an 06 Foreman that should bolt up for sale in the classifieds if you decide to go that route.
The Rubicons hold a lot of oil. I'd put some Rotella T6 in there. It's full synthetic, JASO MA rated, and is $19/gallon at Walmart and right now there's a $5 rebate per gallon.
Yeah it holds a lot of oil.....thinks it's like 5.2. There are lots of options for brakes, certain years of foreman disc brakes can be fitted to the rubicon, my buddy and I did his a few years back but I don't remember what we used. You can probably find all that info on here if you search it.
Never thought of that aircraft stripper, I may give that a try after hunting season. I bought a couple pressure washer projects a few weeks back, so I'll have to make one out of 2 on those, be a good excuse to finish them up anyways haha.
I seen your discs in the classifieds, I would definitely be interested in them this spring. Right now I'm gonna try to focus on the rear brakes and I'm hoping that will get through hunting season, it opens up Saturday, and my anniversary is tomorrow. Reckon my wife would enjoy doing brake work as an anniversary gift?:grin2:
Never thought of that aircraft stripper, I may give that a try after hunting season. I bought a couple pressure washer projects a few weeks back, so I'll have to make one out of 2 on those, be a good excuse to finish them up anyways haha.
I seen your discs in the classifieds, I would definitely be interested in them this spring. Right now I'm gonna try to focus on the rear brakes and I'm hoping that will get through hunting season, it opens up Saturday, and my anniversary is tomorrow. Reckon my wife would enjoy doing brake work as an anniversary gift?:grin2:
Yea if I ask my wife to help me bleed brakes she acts like I asked her to pour concrete.
I got the back wheels pulled off. You guys was right, the rear shoes has about 1/8" of pad left, but man was that baby gunked up. Got everything freed up and adjusted and I now have rear brakes at the foot, gotta get a hand lever cable though.
Both the rear axle nuts was loose. I took the cotter key out and spun them off by hand. The wheel on the left side (opposite of brake drum) seems to have a lot of slack in the axle. Should I be able to shake it side to side? It's like a bearing in the axle that the shaft rides in is shot, if that's how it works.
Got the front end off the ground and the right side has some serious slack in it. Didn't take the wheel off, going to later this evening. I'm hoping the nut is loose on it as well.
Probably rear bearings shot, easy fix and not real expensive. Use a pry bar and check for movement in the swing arm bearings, if it has been a mud dog with no maintenance, chances are good the those bearings are gone as well. While looking thru the front end, check the A-arm bushings on the frame end. They are nylon and probably shot as well. Another low cost easy fix.
Yes your correct that is my problem. I done a lot of research last night on here and other sites, looks like the bearing on the opposite side of brake shoe on rear is a common problem. And yes there is a lor play in the a arm bushings as well. I searched for parts assuming the worst on how pricey they were and turns out they are not expensive at all like you said. Both cv boots are ripped, no telling how long they ahe been ripped. The left side is fairly tight, the right side is really sloppy. The cv has enough play in it to where if I turn the wheels side to side the pivot part of the ball joint moves. Ball joint it's self feels tight in the joint itself, so they may be okay. Would it be a wheel bearing causing the slack at the cv or the cv itself? If I go through the trouble of replacing the cv joints wheels bearings and a arm bushings should I go ahead an do ball joints as well? I think I'm gonna stick with walking this weekend hunting. I would really hate to be on top of the mountain and break an axle or worse.
I'm a do it once kinda guy. I just got done replacing wheel bearings ball joints spindle bushings cv joint rotors caliper pads brake shoes shocks brake hoses one wheel hub new tires and took the suspension off my toyota, and a moth ago put a new trans in my chevy, so I'm no stranger to having to work on something every weekend haha
I just got through redoing the front end of a buddies 06.
I did new bearings, ball joints, and tie rod ends in the front. Those are all wear items, and the bearings I knew were bad, the ball joints had torn boots and slack in them, and while the tie rod ends looked ok, new Honda ends are $6 each and if one comes off on the trail you're walking. I'm basically at the "new bearings and tie rod ends at around the 2K mile mark" from my experience thus far. Ball joints I look at replacing when they get loose, but usually that's a "they're a little lose and it's a "might as well" when I"m doing the bearings.
The CV boots being ripped are a bigger issue. If they've been open for long you'll probably need a new CV joint. Thus far my fix for that has been to order a whole used axle. Powersportsnation has them fairly cheap and they stand behind their used parts. If I see a boot tear and know it hasn't been run long that way I'll replace the boot, but if I get a rig and don't have any idea if the joints been open for a week or a year, I replace the whole axle with a good used one.
On the rear, sounds like your bearing is out. Pretty common. Take the axle nut off, pull the hub off and you can see the bearing. Take the tube loose from the diff housing (4 bolts) and pull the tube off the axle, then you can knock the bearing out and tap a new one in.
Yea I understand completely I the "might as well" thing, I'm the same way. I'll go ahead and redo the whole front end. Like I said I plan on keeping it even if I get a new one in a few years. I'll check out the powersportsnation site and see what I can find. I think whoever had it before the guy I got it from severely neglected the suspension and steering parts, and hopefully changed the oil. So if I gotta spend an unplanned 200-350 or dollars On the steering and suspension, that's money well spent IMO. I found a good right up on here for the rear bearing, and a good how to on atv guru for the a arm bushings.
Glad you said that, that's the ones I seen was all balls. Also seen the boss brand there not much more if any. I'd say replacing everything with OEM is pricey, and I've spent a lot more than I wanted to with the MAW method more than I care to admit
Should this bike start if it's in any gear but neutral? It will start, but when you give it gas it's like it's in limp mode. It just knocks pretty much.
Got my rear hand brake cable put on. After taking the drum apart twice I got the can freed up and greased and they work good now. Read a few threads about putting a zerk fitting on it, cleaning the pivot up with scotch brite etc. I'll do something like this come spring time
Should this bike start if it's in any gear but neutral? It will start, but when you give it gas it's like it's in limp mode. It just knocks pretty much.
Got my rear hand brake cable put on. After taking the drum apart twice I got the can freed up and greased and they work good now. Read a few threads about putting a zerk fitting on it, cleaning the pivot up with scotch brite etc. I'll do something like this come spring time
That limp mode is normal if you start it in gear until you release the right brake lever. That's what those little wires are for that go on the right brake lever. There are two little swithes that those wires attach to and when you let off the brake lever the limp mode goes away.
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