Not the ladder bar , but the heim joint broke

[Captain H]

Heim joint broke on the right ladder bar, in the front. Called TMS ,sent them pictures & they said it was the heim joint . You can get the heim joint local & fix it yourself , or they would make up the whole unit , but it has to be sent to a dealer , or repair shop . Bought a 5/8 Rod End RH heim joint from ruffstuffspecialties.com for $11.00 & fixed it . I would like to thank Tomg & ODDOMAN for their tips .

We had to fix it from the bottom & the top . You got to loosen up the plastic under the seat to get to the allen wrench head bolt that holds it in . I use a piece of 2x4 to hold up the plastic so I could reach under it .

Hope you NEVER need this information , but if you do , it can be fixed one way or another .

[Captain H]

Here are some more pictures , the last one , it is fixed . Feels good to be back riding , hope this helps someone, thanks , captain h

[Gorilla]

Nice job on the repair.

[Ed Hobgood]

Good information, thanks

[rocket1lf]

I guess TBMS is not replacing the ladder bars, when they break, with the newer style anymore. Rick

[Gorilla]

supply might be getting low

[rocket1lf]

I just keep hoping mine doesn't break someday while I'm going around a curve at 70mph. It happened last year to a friend of mine while he and his wife were on their way to Sturgis. He said it was like Mr Toad's wild ride for a little while. TBMS did send him a new set of bars while he was on the road in some small town. Luckily there was a small shop there that could replace them for him. I tried to get TBMS to replace mine but they said no unless one breaks. I asked them if they need somebody to die in order to make it right. No response. If this was a car or a motorcycle, I bet there would be a recall.

[tomg]

Here are some more pictures , the last one , it is fixed . Feels good to be back riding , hope this helps someone, thanks , captain h

What really sucks here is that TMS knows of the problem and they stopped making the ladder bar with the front heim joint and went to a fixed joint. You are the first one I've heard of that TMS did not replace both ladder bars for free as it is a "Safety" flaw in the design. I would contact Jeff Vey (TMS owner) and ask him why you are not being provided with the new bars.

They replaced mine (and others) while I was in Texas back in '10 for the Texas Trike Reunion. I had gone to the factory for another issue (brake switch) which they replaced, then changed out the ladder bars. I would still try to get them to send you new ones (free) and have your local guy put them on. Shouldn't take him more than an hour to swap out.

Tomg

[Future Triker]

Heim joint broke on the right ladder bar, in the front. Called TMS ,sent them pictures & they said it was the heim joint . You can get the heim joint local & fix it yourself , or they would make up the whole unit , but it has to be sent to a dealer , or repair shop . Bought a 5/8 Rod End RH heim joint from ruffstuffspecialties.com for $11.00 & fixed it . I would like to thank Tomg & ODDOMAN for their tips .

We had to fix it from the bottom & the top . You got to loosen up the plastic under the seat to get to the allen wrench head bolt that holds it in . I use a piece of 2x4 to hold up the plastic so I could reach under it .

Hope you NEVER need this information , but if you do , it can be fixed one way or another .

Not taking sides here, and I may have read the original post wrong. But if I'm reading the post right, they said they would provide the new parts, but they would have to be sent to a shop and he ordered a new heim joint and fixed himself instead.