Has anyone bent a 16 spindle?

BBP · Jan 27, 2017

2 ride on 2014 LE with 16 38" front end & something's bent. I don't recall hitting anything, but I have a bark mark on the outside of the left spindle, The ski is no longer level & the ski is toed out. There's no chipped, cracked or flaking paint & nothing appears to be bent, but something obviously is. I think it's the spindle. I adjusted the top ball joint in & everything is almost back to where I had it, but not quite level & no more adjustment.

sno*jet · Jan 27, 2017

after a couple rides on mine i noticed the muffler side was off camber. didnt recall hitting anything. i adjusted it 4-5 turns out on the upper a-arm and it has been fine since. havent touched the other side. kinda wierd, like something broke in and settled, but its all tight. i also adjusted my toe out. the threads on the tie rod dont go in very far and are scary loose, so i ordered a spare and pack it with me. a buddy who beats his cat said hes never broke one.

raidercat · Jan 27, 2017

Check your upper a-arm they bend fairly easy. I glanced off a tree hitting the sde of the ski and a-arm on my 2016. Bent lower and upper arms, and shock. The a-arm had some nasty marks on it but didn't bend. The upper a-arm looked good till further inspection it had a small kink on the bottom side.

BBP · Jan 27, 2017

You may be right. That triangular nut thing might be shifting. It seems kind of cheezy. It wasn't consistent when I was initially adjusting everything either.

BBP · Jan 27, 2017

I'll check the arms again. Another issue I noticed was when I raised the upper arm, it was full of rusty water. It made a nice mess when it poured out. I'm worried it will freeze & burst the arm. I might try & fill them with expanding foam.

sno*jet · Jan 27, 2017

BBP said:
You may be right. That triangular nut thing might be shifting. It seems kind of cheezy. It wasn't consistent when I was initially adjusting everything either.

i kinda like the design. i did notice when adjusting you have to tighten it up before checking, it will move a bit when snugging up.
ive slammed into one snobank since i bet would have bent an axys arm. checked my alignment and nothing moved.

IgnantJr · Jan 27, 2017

Man I smoked a tree my last ride out in a hill climb side hill type deal and railed my left lower a arm into a big tree and all it messed up was my lower a arm. Actually bent it up like a a arm with more ground clearance would have. But it hit at such an angle the shock actually gave enough to not completely ruin it. Rode another day like that. 15 with the 16 38in kit

F_ast · Jan 27, 2017

It's most likely a bent tie rod. They seem to bend quite often

john6719 · Jan 27, 2017

I bent one last ride out. Put a straight edge up and down on the flat on the outside of the spindle and then measure from that straight edge to the center of the torx screw on the top of the spindle. If I remember right my good one was around 2.5". My bent one was over 3.5". The group I ride with has bent a lot of tie rods and a few lower a-arms this year and last, but this was the first spindle. Funny thing is I didn't bend anything else when the spindle bent. Didn't even know it happened until later when I noticed toe out and a weird camber.

BBP · Jan 27, 2017

I just finished putting a straight edge on everything. Arms are all straight, but the flat edge of the spindle is no longer straight, It has a very slight curve to it now. I'll measure the distance to the upper bolt. I'm pretty sure it will be just like yours.

BBP · Jan 27, 2017

john6719 said:
I bent one last ride out. Put a straight edge up and down on the flat on the outside of the spindle and then measure from that straight edge to the center of the torx screw on the top of the spindle. If I remember right my good one was around 2.5". My bent one was over 3.5".

You were right, The good one is 2 1/4" the bent one is 2 7/8".

john6719 · Jan 27, 2017

BBP said:
You were right, The good one is 2 1/4" the bent one is 2 7/8".

Good deal. Easy swap, but not the cheapest part and wasn't stocked at any dealer I checked with, except Country Cat.

yz250_ · Jan 28, 2017

I hit a tree and the spindle broke off right where the tie rod mounts to it and bent the tie rod. Both a arms were undamaged

john6719 · Jan 28, 2017

I still can't believe these things can bend. Today I figured I'd try to straighten my bent one back out and have as a spare incase I broke one. Using a BFH, I couldn't get it to bend back what's so ever.

sno*jet · Jan 28, 2017

john6719 said:
I bent one last ride out. Put a straight edge up and down on the flat on the outside of the spindle and then measure from that straight edge to the center of the torx screw on the top of the spindle. If I remember right my good one was around 2.5". My bent one was over 3.5". The group I ride with has bent a lot of tie rods and a few lower a-arms this year and last, but this was the first spindle. Funny thing is I didn't bend anything else when the spindle bent. Didn't even know it happened until later when I noticed toe out and a weird camber.

had me thinkin maybe i bent one, but checked it how you described, both straight at 2 1/8".
pretty strong stuff

boondocker97 · Jan 28, 2017

Could be worse. Could be smashing bulkheads like Doos!

summ8rmk · Jan 28, 2017

Interesting.....
Unless its broke, I'll ride it.
I'm kinda crooked anyways. Lol

GS6

minet · Jan 29, 2017

john6719 said:
I still can't believe these things can bend. Today I figured I'd try to straighten my bent one back out and have as a spare incase I broke one. Using a BFH, I couldn't get it to bend back what's so ever.

I had a.M 2007 bulkhead i tried to BFH just to push out a little. Omg i didn't budge it. Really had me scratching my head how it could be so strong

johan_intek · Jan 29, 2017

I have bent one spindle last year, was sidehilling and hit a rock, so bent the spindle in under sled, so had to drive home on the ski edge. Have bent a couple of steering rods and one aarm.

kc637 · Jan 31, 2017

Bent one last year, tried to straighten it in a press but just had to buy a new one.

Has anyone bent a 16 spindle?

Well-known member

Member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Most handsome

Well-known member

New member

Similar threads