Polaris A Arm epoxy failure

rasconstruction · Jan 24, 2015

I bought a new 14 pro Christmas eve, Since then I put 209 miles on it , I broke it in per the manufacturer. Tuesday January 20th I was on a ride and was on our way back to the truck, the snow was good and the trail was smooth. About 5 miles from the truck going about 30 mph the sled suddenly shot to the right rolled over leaving the trail. After getting it back on the trail , we noticed the right side suspention was shot , the sock was bent and the lower arm had come apart at the spindle. It appeared the epoxy had released. I took it the next day to the dealer where I bought it, they told me Polaris would not warranty it, and that it appeared to be over stressed or damaged. wenatchee power sports is the dealer and did nothing to help me. they admitted to having a problem with the 13s but claimed I was fixed and the 14 did not have a problem. Well polaris it sounds like you have a problem :der: If a part is welded or bolted together and it is damaged it typically will show signs of damage. A part that is epoxied together can not be inspected for damage to see if the epoxy is not bonding the two parts together. This is a major failure in regard to safety!!!! We are now using timber sled a arms on all pro sleds!! Cant trust Polaris. I have been riding Polaris for 26 years and never had a problem like this. Has any one else had this problem?

Ace Freely · Jan 24, 2015

That's why you buy from a good dealer! Take it up to Chet's and have them look at it!

Ace

89sandman · Jan 24, 2015

Did you whack something pretty good with it? Have seen 1 come apart the day after he bounced off a stump. If not instead of everyone buying new a-arms I'd rivet or bolt them together and not worry about it. Glue will always be a questionable use when there is a failure, surprised poo is still using it on important suspension parts.

meathooker · Jan 24, 2015

Ace Freely said:
That's why you buy from a good dealer! Take it up to Chet's and have them look at it!

Ace

+1

A good dealer will go to bat for you with Polaris warranty and take care of it. I know the Grizzly in Caldwell took care of a buddies for him.

Danbot · Jan 24, 2015

My dealer gave me a new arm and hardware without any questions when this happened on my 2013, mind you the shock was not damaged.
Situations like this are when you find out how good your dealer is.

JMCX · Jan 24, 2015

What is this stress and damage they claim to see? Your ski took a hit? I got warranty for the same thing on my 13.

mountainhorse · Jan 24, 2015

The dealer should at least file a claim.... where they can give you the claim number... and you can follow up with Polaris... It should at least be submitted by your dealer.

.

yooper 8 · Jan 25, 2015

This has happened twice on my 13 and my dealer has covered it both times.

Pownar · Jan 25, 2015

If it came apart at the joint ant not just a crumpled a-arm your dealer should go to bat for you. Mine did no questions asked (fun country ) As someone else said, bring it to chets. They're great to deal with

FatDogX · Jan 25, 2015

I think this a dealer issue at face value and they should have at least tried to help you out!!!

Now onto the bigger picture, this obviously has been an issue and a very dangerous one at that!!! I would hate to see someone get hurt or worse due to some glue!!!!!!

Like many others, my a-arms came off immediately and were replaced with aftermarket as I was not going to take a chance at all. Now with that being said, that is sad, that many inluding myslef have no faith in Polaris's stock bonded a-arms.

Danbot · Jan 25, 2015

I don't even think my dealer put a claim in.... They didn't take my failed arm anyways. Service manager came out to my truck and looked at the sled real quick (I had drilled and bolted the failure back together so there wasn't much to see). We went inside and with zero paperwork, he gave me a new arm from his inventory. Love my dealer.

m1kflyingtiger · Jan 25, 2015

Sounds like a dealer issue to me as well. I had the glue fail on mine too...just so happened that I hit a rock hard enough to twist the spindle though...not sure it's polaris's fault

autowrench · Jan 25, 2015

My lower right on my 13 came loose this year after 2700 miles. I only found it because I was installing Ski Doo ski rubbers. Dealer said he has not successfully had Polaris warranty one. I drilled and bolted it 600 miles so far this season. I will be ditching the stock arms at some point. Probably for a 36 or 37 inch aftermarket setup.

Tom

CO Powder · Jan 25, 2015

My experience has been that the glued arms are really tough. The one I have seen fail, he knew it right away and admitted to a pretty hard rock hit. We were going slow and only the front half pulled about an inch. I watched him ride it like that for two more hours. With lower than usual snow so far this season I have been forced to mow down more saplings than usual. It is to the point where my buddys freshly crunched Doo should serve as reminder to tone it down until there is more snow.

You can and should inspect your arms for glue failure. Roll that thing on its side and give those skis a tug in a couple directions. If they are good pre-ride, they are unlikely to just fail.

Yours may have and I think regardless, unless they can show evidence of a substantial impact they need to warranty all of those parts. Seems like most of us agree that OUR dealer would or has taken care of just such an incident, some even blatantly at fault.

Verdict... Polaris owes you some repairs

Indy_500 · Jan 25, 2015

Personally I think those glued a arms are tough as nails. I've bounced off numerous trees so far without a problem. I watched my buddy nudge 2 trees with his 15 freeride and went home with 2 folded up lower a arms and a tweaked shock. The trees he hit were the same ones I did, he was following my track, rut threw him into the same trees, bounced the ski off of it while climbing, the trees didn't even slow you down. He didn't know until we got to the trail and I look and 1 ski is 4" farther back than the other.

I agree with the rest, sounds like a dealer issue, I realize there are some glue issues out there, and Polaris should stand behind them. My dealer took the time to file a claim and send pictures to Polaris on a bent rail expecting it to be denied, but did anyways (It was denied). I wouldn't take this as a let down on the glued arms, more or less a misfortune. I've yet to meet someone in person with a glue issue on those arms, and everybody I talk to agrees on how stout they are. Maybe I'm too far gone from sniffing the glue, but that is just my 2 cents!

autowrench · Jan 25, 2015

That's another good reason I didn't push things in my case. There weren't any marks on it, but that doesn't mean it has had an easy life! The dealer has also take good care of me on other issues.

rasconstruction · Jan 25, 2015

Thanks to all for your input I APPRECIAT all he good advise and tips. The dealer did submit a claim. And we are asking them to take a closer look into it. My wife is riding a 15 and has hit allot more stuff do to less ability to miss stuff and has not had any sign of damage. All 4 rides I have been on have been mostly trail rides do to low snow conditions. Yes I will call chets I almost bought a 13 from him , and bought a few from him in the past. But I was being cheep and couldn't afford to buy another 15 so Wenatchee had a hold over with electric start for under 10,000 that's all the insurance gave me for my other sled, so here I am . I refuse to accept the idea that e new sled that is designed and called ROCKEY MOUNTAIN KING will not hold up to near the same amount of abuse as all my previous sleds witch I put to the test and only bent 4 A arms on 5 different dragons .

CO Powder · Jan 25, 2015

Unacceptable for sure. Yours is a pretty rare failure. I would just plain make a stink if I had too. That sled is brand new with mostly trail miles.

I wouldn't blame you bit for swapping the arms out for welded versions should Polaris deny your claim. If they do cover it, I wouldn't worry about them for another minute, just ride like you always have.

Prayn4snow · Jan 26, 2015

We have a few Pros in our group (mine included). We ride the trees, side hilling most of the times hitting trees, stumps, rocks and have bent A-arms, but never had one pull out or come unglued. I understand some have had problems that the manufacture should at least be made aware of by the dealers and should stand behind "any" part that has a "defect".

Outback Sam · Jan 26, 2015

A-Arms good in stock

As the A-Arms tend to be somewhat of wear item due to the nature of riding in less than optimal conditions .
We trying to keep a set or two of both the 37"-K-mod & 36" Z-Broz A-Arms in stock.
Sam

Polaris A Arm epoxy failure

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