A-arm replacement

jonsonfire81 · Dec 18, 2018

Does anyboy have the direct phone number for the engineering department at BRP? I have a couple questions for whoever designed the mounting of these bulkheads and A-arms.

I know I’m the first one to bend one, so you guys probably don’t have any tips on how to make this less than a three hour project, but if anybody has helpful advise that would be appreciated. A friend of mine reminded me that BRP boasted about having the motor out and on the bench in under an hour, front suspension never gets wrecked so why should we make that easy to fix?

Not that I would ever ride a Polaris but if I continue to wreck frontend parts the time savings would be enormous.

Sorry about the rant but working on this has been frustrating.

motox54 · Dec 18, 2018

I honestly don't think working on the sled is bad at all. Hood, side panels and exhaust out of the way gives you access to almost everything. if you have an engine crane you can hold the motor up and replace the bulkhead around it while supporting the tunnel. I believe I saw a few guys do that in 2017 when the bulkheads were a little more fragile.

motox54 · Dec 18, 2018

Simply replacing an A arm can be done in less than an hour.

hoov165x · Dec 18, 2018

Fit and finish on the Doo is awesome but they remind me of working on a car- PITA. Poo is waaaay easier to R&R an A arm. That said, I still own two Doos.

jonsonfire81 · Dec 19, 2018

With all of the amazing engineering features that have come out of BRP like shot start and electronic reverse and things like that, its just disappointing that they can’t get the suspension mounting figured out to be easy to repair. Shouldn’t have to tear down the whole hood and pipe and use two wrenches in a precarious spot.

Whatever you do don’t drop the nut for the upper arm on the clutch side, you will regret that. The factory should have put a dab of glue on that nut so it can’t fall out and cause someone an hour of swearing and skinned knuckles. My 8 year old daughter had to put the nut back in and hold it till I had the bolt back in where it belonged.

Devilmanak · Dec 19, 2018

Loving the 8fiddy

i'llDooit · Dec 19, 2018

Ahe Fiddy.

PaulAnd · Dec 20, 2018

They made the A-arms way easier to change than the Xm..
And the skid plate doesn’t even have to come off everytime!! Win!

Replace the crap bushings with oil lite bushings from Grip and rip

And.. I don’t replace bent a-arms anymore unless they are severely bent
Or sheared off..
And I will still sometimes ride on!!

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ezra · Dec 20, 2018

it is a joke that you have to pull any panel on a mountain sled to swap a trashed arm .
should be a job you can do with 1 wrench in the parking lot in 30 min .
but no it is much more fun to pull the hood and pipe make sure you loose no screws or springs
junk engineering

sledhead_24_7 · Dec 20, 2018

Sure the g4 isn’t great but not as others.

You could always fix and Arctic Cat A arm. Those require drills, Rivera etc.

ezra · Dec 20, 2018

no the cats don't. I have both I guarantee I can change a arm 2x as fast on the M as the 850

motox54 · Dec 20, 2018

As a design engineer myself, this thread just proves that you can not please everyone. Engineers make an amazingly capable machine....Guy hits something and bends A-arm......upset he needs to spend 10 min removing a few panels and exhaust to get access to bolts. There is a lot that goes into releasing a design to the public that most people do not understand. I am going to ask you what I ask everyone who simply complains about the design of things, What would you do different? If you are complaining about it, you must have a better idea of how it could be done.

PaulAnd · Dec 20, 2018

Ya my Poo arms were easy as hell to swap out! Went through way more Poo a-arm’s!
Poo arms way more rideable when bent also.
My Doo arms usually broke off after being bent.
Never bent alt.impact arms or ends
They came with a good luck charm

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ezra · Dec 20, 2018

motox54 said:
As a design engineer myself, this thread just proves that you can not please everyone. Engineers make an amazingly capable machine....Guy hits something and bends A-arm......upset he needs to spend 10 min removing a few panels and exhaust to get access to bolts. There is a lot that goes into releasing a design to the public that most people do not understand. I am going to ask you what I ask everyone who simply complains about the design of things, What would you do different? If you are complaining about it, you must have a better idea of how it could be done.

real ez,look at a,pro .
every person on this forum has taken out some a,arms . it is a given so build a retaking cup to hold nuts make bolts as to get to . .really not much to ask at all .
zero reason it shoukd take more than 30 min with 1,wrench

jonsonfire81 · Dec 20, 2018

motox54 said:
As a design engineer myself, this thread just proves that you can not please everyone. Engineers make an amazingly capable machine....Guy hits something and bends A-arm......upset he needs to spend 10 min removing a few panels and exhaust to get access to bolts. There is a lot that goes into releasing a design to the public that most people do not understand. I am going to ask you what I ask everyone who simply complains about the design of things, What would you do different? If you are complaining about it, you must have a better idea of how it could be done.

Maybe as a moldbuilder and toolmaker I’m not qualified to design any major suspension components, but the design team at BRP obviously hasn’t rode in the mountains or had to replace an A-arm while on a trip a 1000 miles from home. If they took five minutes to check out a Polaris with the bulkhead studs and spindles that go thru the arms with just a simple nut to hold it all together, they would quickly realize how complicated it doesn’t have to be.

When I take a customer part to be molded and build a mold around what the customer needs I start with any possible replacement issues not just for myself but for the poor bastard that may have to repair this long after I’m dead.

I fix what design “engineers “ don’t understand on molds, dies and machined parts everyday. Mostly because they can make anything on a computer but actually working through the assembly process isn’t their problem. “Well, it fits on my computer”, is usually the answer u get after you point out a better way.

motox54 · Dec 21, 2018

jonsonfire81 said:
Maybe as a moldbuilder and toolmaker I’m not qualified to design any major suspension components, but the design team at BRP obviously hasn’t rode in the mountains or had to replace an A-arm while on a trip a 1000 miles from home. If they took five minutes to check out a Polaris with the bulkhead studs and spindles that go thru the arms with just a simple nut to hold it all together, they would quickly realize how complicated it doesn’t have to be.

When I take a customer part to be molded and build a mold around what the customer needs I start with any possible replacement issues not just for myself but for the poor bastard that may have to repair this long after I’m dead.

I fix what design “engineers “ don’t understand on molds, dies and machined parts everyday. Mostly because they can make anything on a computer but actually working through the assembly process isn’t their problem. “Well, it fits on my computer”, is usually the answer u get after you point out a better way.

I totally understand your frustration and share the same ideology. I grew up the son of a mechanic and still work at my Dad's place on the weekends to support my riding. The amount of engineers who haven't even opened their hood of their car is scary. I work with them every day. All I'm saying is there is alot more that goes into a design tan ensuring its the easiest machine to work on. I think most of us would rather have a machine that is hard to work on that is more durable than one that is easy to work on that seems to break all the time. I'm sure Stress strain analysis, vibration analysis and DFMEAs were done on a few front end designs and mounting styles and this was most likely the best compromise between manufacturability and performance.

PaulAnd · Dec 21, 2018

I don’t get what you guys are complaining about sorry..
Hood and exhaust come off,
bolts right there...
Then you get a very good look at your bulkhead that might be cracked...

Then you can be pissed!!

no more removing the skid plate! That was the suck part on the old xm/t3

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Matte Murder · Dec 21, 2018

jonsonfire81 said:
With all of the amazing engineering features that have come out of BRP like shot start and electronic reverse and things like that, its just disappointing that they can’t get the suspension mounting figured out to be easy to repair. Shouldn’t have to tear down the whole hood and pipe and use two wrenches in a precarious spot.

Whatever you do don’t drop the nut for the upper arm on the clutch side, you will regret that. The factory should have put a dab of glue on that nut so it can’t fall out and cause someone an hour of swearing and skinned knuckles. My 8 year old daughter had to put the nut back in and hold it till I had the bolt back in where it belonged.

Only reason to have children lol! Did she learn any new words working with Dad?:face-icon-small-hap

jonsonfire81 · Dec 21, 2018

She just rolls her eyes when the language gets a little to adult for her. Best helper I’ve found yet when working on sleds, she sees things from a totally different angle than I do sometimes.

Still love the 8fiddy, and I won’t be trading it for anything else till this one can’t keep up anymore, which will be a while after putting 7lbs of boost on it.

A-arm replacement

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