Pro Rmk Bulkhead Damage

[rmkrazy87]

Hey Guys,

So I bought this 2012 Pro RMK back in October. I noticed that it looked like the guy had bashed a rock or something behind the mag side a arm. But I have seen worse and still ran it so I didn't think too much of it.

Yesterday I was putting a skid plate on and realized that the two halves of the bulkhead were misaligned and the two little stitch weld were separated. I could not see this until I drilled out the rivets holding the belly pan on.

What do you guys think? Is this cause to be alarmed or would you just run the darn thing? I have not found any cracks. One thing that makes me feel better is that the two halves are bolted together on both sides of the separation. Sorry if the pictures are subpar.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[cateye5312]

Hmm, makes me want to go look at mine tonight. I know I've hit stuff at least that hard based on the scratches on yours. I would probably run it but it's a tough call based on a few admittedly not great pictures. Are the stitch welds just placeholders until the bolts are in or are they structurally important? A guy would need to know the manufacturing process to know that I guess.

 

[NapaMatt]

She's Got a lot of life left in her!!

Put Skid Plate on....

My vote Run HER!

 

[rmkrazy87]

Cateye, I was wondering the exact same thing with the welds

 

[rmkrazy87]

Napa, I had somewhat the same mentality as you. I just gooped up the crack with some RTV so my leaking y pipe I have yet to seal quits dripping out of that seam onto the floor. Then I slapped the skid plate on.

But in the back of my mind...

 

[NapaMatt]

Yea, I hear ya..


You could spend lots of time and money to fix it too.. first rock same issue...

Just take this as some thing to check and to look for...

LOL.. Skid Plate is on.. Can't see it... Out of Sight Out Of Mind!

 

[Ski-Dont89]

bulkhead halves arent welded together

 

[rmkrazy87]

They definitely are not fully welded together but I am sure there are several about 1 inch little stitch welds all along that bottom seam. Unless I imagined it. I am away from the sled now. Does anyone else see those?

 

[rmkrazy87]

Unless that is just flash from the casting process...

 

[LoudHandle]

The Bulkhead halves are Glued together with the Lords Structural Adhesive from the factory but "NO WELDS" on any of the castings from the factory. If it was glued correctly it would not have pulled and seperated like that. My guess is the factory technician missed with the adhesive and you seeing what remains of the hardened adhesive. It could be the casting flash as well, no one actually pays a guy to cleanup and deburr parts anymore unfortunately. You can easily save a few pounds off your sled just by removing the casting flash and other unnecessary residual crap leftover from production.


In my opinion, there is little to no benefit to realigning the halves there, unless you can pop them back without dissassembly. (Depending on access from the top, you could jack the sled up with a chunk of 2 by between jackstands, and pop the high side down to match with another large soft punch (2x2 board or something similar). You just do not want to point load the thin casting or hit it with something hard or you risk cracking it!) The spot that is offset is just a thin bridge in the casting to keep the snow out between the more robust structural members.

 

[roni87]

Mine has a crack behind the a arm pocket from a rock snagging the back ridge of the pocket. about the size of a quarter. Has been fine for over a year and hasn't changed size.

 

[LPIdaho]

They definitely are not fully welded together but I am sure there are several about 1 inch little stitch welds all along that bottom seam. Unless I imagined it. I am away from the sled now. Does anyone else see those?

Not weld, that is excess adhesive

 

[89sandman]

I'd run it and check it periodically, if it never changes you saved yourself a lot of time and money.

 

[rmkboxer]

The Bulkhead halves are Glued together with the Lords Structural Adhesive from the factory but "NO WELDS" on any of the castings from the factory. If it was glued correctly it would not have pulled and seperated like that. My guess is the factory technician missed with the adhesive and you seeing what remains of the hardened adhesive. It could be the casting flash as well, no one actually pays a guy to cleanup and deburr parts anymore unfortunately. You can easily save a few pounds off your sled just by removing the casting flash and other unnecessary residual crap leftover from production.


In my opinion, there is little to no benefit to realigning the halves there, unless you can pop them back without dissassembly. (Depending on access from the top, you could jack the sled up with a chunk of 2 by between jackstands, and pop the high side down to match with another large soft punch (2x2 board or something similar). You just do not want to point load the thin casting or hit it with something hard or you risk cracking it!) The spot that is offset is just a thin bridge in the casting to keep the snow out between the more robust structural members.

bulkhead halves are not glued, just bolted, I have had a 12, 13 and a 14 apart and not one of them were glued

 

[05rmksteve]

Just looked at both bulkheads on my '11 (1 on sled and 1 that was removed). No glue and neither 1 lined up, 1 was offset more than the other. So I would say run it and don't worry about it.

 

[LoudHandle]

bulkhead halves are not glued, just bolted, I have had a 12, 13 and a 14 apart and not one of them were glued

Mine are, but I did it, as I build from parts, rather than throw away 2/3 of the stock sled.

Definitely casting flash then.

 

[Rick!]

There are two ways the two bh halves don't align between the a-arms:
One is obvious impact at the ski/spindle,
Two is improper cooling of the coming out of the casting tool.

I'd prefer to have a little gap to let the EV spooge drain out. Gluing it might seal the gap but does little for strength as the forces generally put the the parts in peel.