Joined
·
81 Posts
Ok, no this isn't a major design flaw but it is something Honda should address on future models.
I took four people out in my Pioneer 4 yesterday and when I returned and folded the seats back down, the bed would no longer tilt/dump. Upon investigation I noticed that one of the small plastic sleeves, that cover the tilt locking hook tabs, was missing. Without this plastic sleeve the hook could not depress far enough to disengage the lock.
My guess is that Honda installs the sleeve over the tab to minimize metal to metal wear and also eliminate potential rattling. However, as I found out, if it is missing, or even wears through, the bed will no longer tilt. I can see this being a problem in the future as these models get older and the plastic sleeve wears, cracks, or just falls off, because this 1/8" difference in the sleeve thickness is enough to keep the bed from tilting.
A simple solution would be for Honda to make the tab slightly taller so it will still unlock the hooks even if the plastic sleeve is missing or worn.
As a temporary fix, I slipped a small piece of fuel hose over the tab and it worked fine....TEMPORARILY. However, if this happened with only 100 miles on the machine, it will certainly be a problem in the future when they become older.
I took four people out in my Pioneer 4 yesterday and when I returned and folded the seats back down, the bed would no longer tilt/dump. Upon investigation I noticed that one of the small plastic sleeves, that cover the tilt locking hook tabs, was missing. Without this plastic sleeve the hook could not depress far enough to disengage the lock.
My guess is that Honda installs the sleeve over the tab to minimize metal to metal wear and also eliminate potential rattling. However, as I found out, if it is missing, or even wears through, the bed will no longer tilt. I can see this being a problem in the future as these models get older and the plastic sleeve wears, cracks, or just falls off, because this 1/8" difference in the sleeve thickness is enough to keep the bed from tilting.
A simple solution would be for Honda to make the tab slightly taller so it will still unlock the hooks even if the plastic sleeve is missing or worn.
As a temporary fix, I slipped a small piece of fuel hose over the tab and it worked fine....TEMPORARILY. However, if this happened with only 100 miles on the machine, it will certainly be a problem in the future when they become older.
