# Help!! 03 Honda Foreman Rubicon



## Flatfisher6187 (Jun 21, 2007)

I have an 03 Honda Foreman Rubicon that was full time 4x4. My cousin had a spare selectable front diff from an 02 Foreman 450. We split the case on both diffs to verify they were the same ratio. After we made a small notch to part of the frame it fit right in. Wired up the switch put it all back together then we took it for a little test drive in a mud hole at the house. It engaged and disengaged properly. Awesome!! Only downfall is that the new front diff is locked so itâ€™s a booger to turn at low speeds. Then the next day we went to DSO everything seemed to work good until I got in a pretty nasty hole with a steep exit. It started making a noise from the front left tire like a somewhat high pitched pop/ping. It only does it when itâ€™s under quite a bit of stress. Could this noise be from the locked front diff? Or do I have other problems? I was already thinking about swapping the ring gear and everything out of my stock diff into the â€œnewâ€ selectable one for the simple fact that itâ€™s a workout to ride now and I feel like Iâ€™m putting unneeded stress on my tie rods. What do you guys think is my problem? Any advice/help will be greatly appreciated.


----------



## dabossgonzo (Mar 5, 2010)

*dang*

67 views so I guess nobody has a clue, wish i could help but I am in the "don't have a clue" clan.

If you need a mechanic that's a lot cheaper than the stealership shoot me a PM and I will give you a number, he is in the Alvin area.


----------



## Flatfisher6187 (Jun 21, 2007)

Well I'm going to swap the ring gear section back out from my old diff and see if that fixes it. I'm thinking that it being locked is putting too much stress on it because it won't allow one tire to spin slower than the other and I'm running outlaws and they BITE! I think if I don't swap it out I'm going to end up either breaking an axle or blowing that diff up


----------



## dabossgonzo (Mar 5, 2010)

*yep*

If both tires are spinning the same speed something will dang sure end up giving. 
When you figure it out please post up I am always interested in the mods people are doing.


----------



## Flatfisher6187 (Jun 21, 2007)

Will do. I like having the locker but I wish it were a selectable locker like the brute force and yamahas are. That locker helped me out a few times last weekend but I think in the long run it will hurt me more than it helps. What sucks though is I am probably going to be moving this weekend and then next weekend is my daughters birthday party so I'm not going to be able to make the swap for a couple of weeks  Maybe that will give me some time to get my snorkel and lift and do it all at one time... If I can talk the wife into letting me do all that right now. My back left tire rubs my exhaust so I told her that I NEED a lift lol Gotta love how things work out lol


----------



## dabossgonzo (Mar 5, 2010)

*easter*

Get her ready in time for easter weekend, General Sams puts on a good event with easter egg hunts for adults as well as kids. Took my son last year and he had a blast. 
The adult eggs had anything from tickets for tow ropes, spot lights, 100.00 and all sorts of stuff and the park wasn't crowded at all last year. This year they are having bands each night so maybe more folks will come out.


----------



## Flatfisher6187 (Jun 21, 2007)

I actually think a bunch of us are planning on riding that Saturday anyways just not sure where. We typically go to Down South though


----------



## dabossgonzo (Mar 5, 2010)

*DSO*

we use to ride DSO at least once a month but now I prefer the extra driving time to Huntsville because with the sandy soil there the bikes are a lot easier to clean up. My son and I wold spend two days cleaning 4 bikes after a DSO weekend and going to GS it has reduced it to just a couple of hours.

Don't get me wrong I still ike DSO and will be going back when the river warms up enough to clean the dirty bodies off ... we always spend at least one night.


----------



## Flatfisher6187 (Jun 21, 2007)

Oh wow. DSO was an improvement for cleaning time for me. We usually ride out at my cousin's house which is ALOT of clay. After last weekend I had my bike all cleaned in just a couple of hours but it also rained on us most of the day and the whole ride home so that probably helped a lot. Might have to give GS a try sometime soon though


----------



## snapperlicious (Aug 11, 2009)

You sure the cv joint isn't bad? It will make a popping noise when it goes out.


----------



## Flatfisher6187 (Jun 21, 2007)

It looked good when I swapped the diff but then a again I could have screwed it up last weekend. I didn't think about that. Could the locker in the front diff cause that? I would think so


----------



## Flatfisher6187 (Jun 21, 2007)

Well I was stupid and didn't do anything with the front diff and rode this weekend after I lifted the Rubicon. Tried going through a nasty hole that my cousin and I have been digging out for a while and ended up getting her buried and in the meantime while I was trying to get out I ended up tearing some stuff up. For one the ring gear in the front diff started grinding/popping and I'm pretty sure my tie rod ends and ball joints are jacked up because my cousin told me my front tires were "toeing in" really bad. Now the 4wd barely pulls and won't pull at all when it's in a bind. So I'm about to order all new tie rod ends, ball joints and while I have the front torn apart I'm going to swap that ring gear out and pull the locker out of the front diff. The locker is nice to have but the outlaws I'm running bite too good and it's not worth breaking something every time I go out. I may look into a Detroit Gearless locker later on but for now I'm going to stick with limited slip. Hopefully I can get her all fixed up before the 19th


----------

