Bark Buster A-arm fitment Issues -- HELP!?

rotax · Sep 10, 2008

Update2: Problem resolved! See post #10. Spoke with Al at Timbersled and he explained a few things, and suggested a few things. Thank you Al! Thank you Budd (for talking with Chris)! Thank you Timbersled! Great customer support! And sorry for the over reaction..and drama..

Update1: See posts #3 & #4, believe I may have Phazer bottoms? Emailed Timbersled with this info. Will update when I know more, or hear back..or they reply.

Having some issues with the lower a-arms fitting . the simply are not as wide as the stock arms. /boggle

I did some measuring on the sled and the distance between the mounts are equal to my buddies Nytro in the otherside of the garage.
I thought maybe something could have got tweaked and pulled the mounts apart slightly... but doesn't look that way.

Neither left or right fit at all.

Tops fit fine!

Is this normal to have to pry and pressure them to fit? I really don't like that.. Adds a lot of stress to the welds...and thats even before they start getting slammed through jumps and such.

Is my front end borked, which would also mean my buddies? Should these not just "slide in"?

I'll have to try contacting Allen tomorrow...but curious if this has been seen by others??

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c158/rotax7/08-09-10 aarm fitment issue/bbfitmentissue1.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c158/rotax7/08-09-10 aarm fitment issue/bbfitmentissue2.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c158/rotax7/08-09-10 aarm fitment issue/bbfitmentissue3.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c158/rotax7/08-09-10 aarm fitment issue/bbfitmentissue4.jpg

modsledr · Sep 10, 2008

My subframe is tweaked, so I had to pry mine apart a little, just like you described...1500 miles and no issues.

Please post after talking to Alan...be good to know what he says about it.

Thanks.

FYI...before you put it all back together, see about getting better bushings...the stock plastic ones are only good for about 300 miles before they get sloppy. Do a search for "oilite bushings".

rotax · Sep 10, 2008

modsledr said:
My subframe is tweaked, so I had to pry mine apart a little, just like you described...1500 miles and no issues.

Please post after talking to Alan...be good to know what he says about it.

Thanks.

FYI...before you put it all back together, see about getting better bushings...the stock plastic ones are only good for about 300 miles before they get sloppy. Do a search for "oilite bushings".

Last i read from Ulmer is their a ways out on bushings...doing other stuff first, so could be a bit?

Don't want to sit for months waiting to put the font end on at this point.

rotax · Sep 10, 2008

Yep, end theres more... /sigh lol

Decided, ok, well, so I have a tweaked subframe.. Pryed it in a bit (didn't take much).. Bolted things up. And to find out...

Wow, thats never going to work if I want to run shocks on this sled...

So I put the stocker on, lines up no probs. Hmmm ok...

So i line up and compare the 2 aarms...and...durrrr (note shock mounts)

Look at the box...labeled correctly

The only other aarm i see simular to this is the Phazer....Unless there are 2 diff kits for the Nytro (MTX and RTX/XTX) ????

WTF over? Am I jinxed? For what reason does this crap happen to me. lol Maybe this is a sign to just reinstall stock parts... Oi..

rotax · Sep 10, 2008

Bingo...Phazer bottoms..

(on a side note, i'd feel much less worried about slightly prying the nytro bottoms [if i have to], as the sway bar mount completely links the 2 arms...thus eliminating my worry of splitting at the end tube welds.)

I looked really close at the pics on their site. AT the sway bar mount..

The nytro's sway bar mount is a complet piece, from one side to the other.

The phazer's is NOT.

here is the phazers from their site:
http://timbersled.com/images/Large/6-9-07 058.JPG

heres is the nytros from their site:
http://timbersled.com/images/Large/imgp0741.JPG

here is MINE (if u look close, the sway bar mounting piece is not linked, looks like the Phazer above)
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c158/rotax7/08-09-10 aarm fitment issue/shockaarmfail1.jpg

sledskiing · Sep 11, 2008

I spoke with Bud at Timbersled. He think it's the right kit. I few things to try.

Measure your floats eye to eye

try the lower arm from my kit

it could be that your subframe is tweaked and that's why it's not lining up. Maybe we should see how it fits on my sled.

call bud at timbersled if you want to discuss

Rave · Sep 11, 2008

And the saga continues

Hmm.... You do tend to have interesting projects

Better now then during snow time!!

827revdog · Sep 11, 2008

something for sure looks wrong. the lower mounts look a 1/4 inch wider. im with you thinking its a phazer lower. let us know what you find out. dont feel bad this crap happens to me to.

Ak nitro · Sep 11, 2008

I had the same Problem lasr year when I went to mount my Timbersled a arms, I thought that just my stock a arms were bent, and when I went to mount my Timbersled arms nothing was even close, I then insptected closer and found the frame was bent and the paint was all chipped at the welds, so i put the stock arms back on and started prying with a long bar until everything looked somwhat close, it turns out I was bending the stock a arms and not the subframe, because I tried to mount the timbersled arms and it still was not even close. I just ran the stock ones until I got a new subframe, and then the timbersled mounted right up.

rotax · Sep 11, 2008

Issue SOLVED-Thanks Al!

OK, to clear this all up, I spoke with Al.

Result of the call was I do have something a bit off in the subframe area..enough to set things off just enough to cause some slight alignment/fitment issues.

All the parts I received are correct and are now bolted up and will work.

I got home today and used the stock shock, which has more play on the upper mount due to being a rubber like bushing...and just being looser in general from usage.

This allowed me to tip the shock forward and into the BB mount correctly.
Note: The stock shock clearly sits closer to the front of the upper a-arm, indicating the result of a tweaked subframe. Where that tweak is in the sf...you couldn't show me!

Also, a tip Al mentioned was to make up for this slightly tweaked front end is to 'shim' the Floats differently..basically install the spacers both on one side.

The result was it fit into both mounts much nicer.

And some shots of the final product...mostly...

Rave · Sep 12, 2008

Good deal! Glad to see it is coming around.

Thistledoo · Sep 12, 2008

Do you guys think grease nipple on the front end would help with wear?? I Have my front end stripped and blasted right now because I'm changing colors...sure be easy to weld on some 1/4 inch FT nuts??

skidooboy · Sep 25, 2008

so what did you do, replace the front sub frame, straighten it, or shim everything to get center to center on the shocks and arms? you have me scared to commit to the barkbuster front end as i dont want to know how bad my sub frame is. LOL! ski

rotax · Sep 26, 2008

skidooboyedk said:
so what did you do, replace the front sub frame, straighten it, or shim everything to get center to center on the shocks and arms? you have me scared to commit to the barkbuster front end as i dont want to know how bad my sub frame is. LOL! ski

Well, shimming will work, or heim jointed shocks are probably the best answer...aside from replacing the sub frame (which I'm not going to do).

Easiest way to tell if your front end is tweaked up is by looking or measuring the distance between the shock and upper Aarm.
The shock should look very close to being centered. If theres a noticebly larger gap on one side or the other, things are tweaked.

Ultimately my issue boiled down to a tweaked front end (in my case), nothing to do with the Barkbusters themselves. I'd have to assume if you'd put a new set of stock a arms on, the same alignment/fitment issues would arise..

Bark Buster A-arm fitment Issues -- HELP!?

rotax

Free Member

modsledr

Well-known member

rotax

Free Member

rotax

Free Member

rotax

Free Member

sledskiing

Free Member

Rave

Well-known member

827revdog

Well-known member

Ak nitro

Well-known member

rotax

Free Member

Rave

Well-known member

Thistledoo

Well-known member

skidooboy

Well-known member

rotax

Free Member

Similar threads