Alpha skid rear arm bolts sheared

[Alaskanate]

I thought I remember seeing something on here about replacing the rear arm mount bolts with something else or drilling through the rail and putting one long bolt through. I have one that sheared off and I have new bolts to put it but I'd rather not have it happen again. Ideas?

 

[jakey-boy]

Several of my friends broke them off and ended up through bolting. No chance of a rail warranty after that but it sounds like those are pretty rare anyway.

 

[CO 2.0]

Mine did that last season as well. And I had a pain in the ass trying to get the broken end drilled out. Has anyone found a stronger bolt to put in there that doesn't require drilling all the way through the other side?

 

[jim]

Surprised it isn't a through-bolt for that shear application. That configuration puts a ton of stress on the stress concentrated thread cuts/grooves. Definitely the right way is a single through-bolt where the shear load is placed on the largest area and smooth bolt.

 

[Cat00]

It would be a huge pain but if a guy would put a sleeve in the rail and get a long bushing that went through the rail and both sides of the arm that should fix the problem.

 

[Alaskanate]

So I took a chance and went to ACE and picked up some 12.9 bolts vs the 10.9 that came out of it. I figure either it will be stronger than the 10.9 and hold or depending on the forces against it, not yield as much and snap. I do like the idea of the sleeve and wouldn't be too hard to do, as the bushings do come out and I think the wear would mostly be placed on the riveted on pieces vs the actual rail wall. That's got me thinking..

 

[ullose272]

Anyone know what size the bolts are?

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[Alaskanate]

M6x1.0 probably 30 mm or so. The ones I put in were 35mm and pretty sure they broke through the small bit that's left behind the threads

 

[thump426er]

Alaskanate how did that happen? And at what mileage?

 

[cascadesnowjunky]

M6 really? No wonder they break, WTF was cat thinking? I have never seen them but I would have guessed m10 on that.

 

[Alaskanate]

I'm not sure when or how it happened (no hard hits or stumps that I remember) I was going through "almost" winter maintenance and while greasing the skid I noticed it. Sled only has 250 miles on it but about a quarter of that was trails at 55-60mph max. It is a tiny bolt and I'm kind of upset about it, because in the back of my head I know that thing will snap again just by looking at it wrong.

 

[Daltech]

I also broke 1 bolt on mine. I was baffled when I bought the sled and noticed they used 6mm bolt for the rear arm. Was wondering if it really could hold up the beating. Now I have the answer to that

 

[ullose272]

Looks like ARP makes a stainless bolt that is stronger than grade 8, might be a good replacement?

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[iroc1132]

Makes me wonder if by putting in a stronger bolt if the forces will then be transferred to a different part that will then break and not be as easy or inexpensive to repair as two 6 mm bolts. I double checked mine and the rh one is bent, but not broken. I considered the one piece long bolt or a higher grade 6mm, but I don't want to create a bigger problem down the line.

 

[summ8rmk]

Drill and tap for 8mm bolts?
30% more material, may be all that's needed?

Mine don't break or bend, just fall out...

Sent it

 

[Wheel House Motorsports]

Seen quite a few snap last winter.

Bettter fastener is best option. drilling through rail voids warranty and that sucks.

 

[boondocker97]

I'd bet the bolts are loosening up a bit, start flexing, then it breaks them off. I used to have that issue with cross-shaft bolts in my 2014 skid. Broke one or two then started checking them every 3rd ride or so. Once I kept them tight they stopped breaking. Keeping them tight, and thus holding that inner spacer tight and perpendicular to the rail, will keep the combination bending/shear stresses in the bolt lower and focused more on having to mainly take care of the shear. Small bolt, small thread holding area, easy to have problems compound quickly.

That being said I do know of some that have been drilled through and it fixes the loss/breakage.

 

[powwow]

Did they upgrade the bolts on the 20 skids?

 

[jim]

Careful with just using stronger bolts...because you might break the stuff around the bolt, which is more expensive to replace. If it were me, I'd convert to a through-bolt. That is a rookie engineering move IMO...or managers being cheap.

 

[ullose272]

Replaced mine with ARP bolts. They are m6x1.0 35mm if anyone is interested

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