Aftermarket A-Arms- Love? Hate?

[Fosgate]

20yrs ago I rode AC and it was a mixed bag of opinions on the aftermarket A-arms. Some guys had them and loved them for their increased strength. Others wanted to buy them but they were not very affordable in comparison to stock. Then there were guys that had them and swore they would never use them again after discovering cracks in the bulkhead where the mounted up. Apparently the aftermarkets were so tough that the bulkhead would fail before the trailing arm if you clipped something. Or at least those owners thought the bulkhead would have been ok if the A-arm would have failed first or they just simply had stock A-arms on them.

Curios, now that everyone has A-Arms. Are the current opinions on them different or are damage to more difficult to replace or more expensive parts still a problem? What's your experience with them on what chasis?

 

[PSI 800]

I dont have any yet but looking and reading about all the different types out there, it looks to me like most are built now for clearance or better handling charactoristics and not nessessarilly strength for the reason you mention.

 

[wildcard28]

Alternate Impact Arms, Great product, Ive owned 5 his frontends thru the yrs.

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[hansenmac]

i think on a cat you dont need anything stronger than stock but there are some that are "high clearance". on a polaris i would get some alternative impacts. the Polaris a arms are fairly week and at least the alternative impacts usually just break the hiem joint and can be fixed in 10 minutes on the hill. friends have ran them for years on pros and axys.

 

[madmax]

In my experience getting the broken hiem joint out on the hill is more of a selling gimmick. When the joint bends before it breaks it can bind the broken part in the threads and doesn’t come out without a drill and easy out. At least that was my experience with my Skinz and T-Rex arms. I’m sure there are many who have easily gotten the broken part out.

 

[wildcard28]

I disagree Ive broken 3 those heims on 2 different sleds, changed all under 20min.
Older heim design Dan says in unstruction to cut or grind a slot on backside of the heim shaft so you can spin it out with a screwdriver, only had to do this once and not only did it brake the heim it bent the Arm slightly & broke tierod , I always carried 2 lower heims , 1 upper and extra tierod since my first sheerable heim design front end, Every time it saved the chassis. Other situation can happen Im sure..

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[couch]

4 sets of BPwr and so far so good ...very tough ...ride mostly trees and drainages .
Much much much tougher than stock cast arms on the axys

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[hansenmac]

with the alternative impacts my friends use we usually can spin the busted piece out with our fingers. i think the hiems are made of aluminum.

 

[summ8rmk]

I have seen ti bend and break with the lightest of hits. Personally I wouldn't buy titanium for my sled.

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[MTsled3]

I have seen ti bend and break with the lightest of hits. Personally I wouldn't buy titanium for my sled.

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Did someone mention Ti that I missed? Alternative impact does make them but they're pretty spendy.

I have the chromoly alternative impacts and they've been good. Had a few good hits that I thought would've bent them but they were fine. I did hit a rock pretty dang hard towards the end of this season that bent one lower and broke the tie rod. It was hard enough that I did worry about bulkhead damage, but after looking it over really good I didn't find anything. The rod end bent but didn't break.

 

[spoon]

Have had various sets of aftermarket suspension parts over the years and am more hesitant than ever to purchase nowadays. Not that the products are not impressive and have innovative ideas, it is the replacement factor years down the road. Seems like a 5 yr and older sled will have issues with a lot of manufacturers no longer offering the same product in future due to demand and I find the older I get the longer I keep my sleds. Stock parts seem to be decent quality these days and availability is a big factor in continuing to ride same sled all season long and not wait for parts.

 

[Pickin’ Boogers]

I agree with Spoon, though I hope guys keep buying aftermarket and selling their take-offs.

 

[couch]

Have had various sets of aftermarket suspension parts over the years and am more hesitant than ever to purchase nowadays. Not that the products are not impressive and have innovative ideas, it is the replacement factor years down the road. Seems like a 5 yr and older sled will have issues with a lot of manufacturers no longer offering the same product in future due to demand and I find the older I get the longer I keep my sleds. Stock parts seem to be decent quality these days and availability is a big factor in continuing to ride same sled all season long and not wait for parts.

Hang OEM parts up in back of garage ... problem solved

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[IDspud]

We hang spares in front of trailer.