THIS INVOLVES A 2003 HONDA TRX350 RANCHER ATV. MY WIFE WAS RIDING DOWN A TRAIL AND BOTH FRONT SHOCKS BROKE CAUSING HER TO LOSE CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE . SHE WENT OFF OF THE ROAD AND DOWN A SLIGHT EMBANKMENT CAUSING BUMPS AND BRUISES. FORTUNATELY SHE WAS NOT TRAVELING FASTER OR DOWN A STEEPER ROAD OR IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE. AFTER RETRIEVING THE VEHICLE WE ORDERED NEW SHOCKS AT THE LOCAL HONDA DEALER AND HE TOLD ME IT WAS A FLUKE THAT THE SHOCK BROKE. WHEN I GOT HOME I CHECKED THE SHOCKS ON MY SONS 4-WHEELER WHICH IS ALSO A 2003 HONDA 350 RANCHER AND FOUND THAT ONE OF THOSE SHOCKS WERE BROKEN ALSO. I HAVE JUST ORDERED A NEW SHOCK FOR IT ALSO . I ALSO CUT THE SHOCK OPEN TO SEE WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS FIGURING THAT IS WAS PROBABLY METALS FATIGUE, BUT TO MY AMAZEMENT I SAW THAT THE NUT THAT HOLDS THE PISTON ON INSIDE HAD COME UNSCREWED. THESE ARE NORMALLY SPOT WELDED OR RIVETED TO HELP KEEP THEM IN PLACE, MINE HAD BROKEN. I AM WRITING BECAUSE I FEEL THIS IS A VERY UNSAFE CONDITION AND IF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED AT A HIGHER SPEED MY WIFE OR SON COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED. *JB
2003 Honda TRX650
Routine
Owners filed 1 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the suspension. No safety recall has been issued.
What fails
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
What owners reported
Newest filingsSuspensionCrash1 injured
Filed Aug 30, 20061,000 milesMT
1 of 1 complaints, reproduced as filed.
Reading this record
No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.
Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.