SAFETY CONCERN: 2013 Pro A-Arm Failure

[ravenlunatic]

A-arm failure

I had a similar incident at Boulder on Friday. I skimmed across a rock in a one of the meadows north of the Bull Pen at not a very high rate of speed and it felt like my carbide dug in to the granite and split the aluminum pocket.
The bottom front tube pulled out and the bottom rear tube bent.
This was not a high impact collision. I would compare it to loading my sled into my trailer and one ski grabbing the bottom of the door.
My dealer isn't open until tomorrow, so I guess I'll find out then what they have to say!

 

[winter brew]

I think even Mexico QC would be better then that..... It would atleast have some extra tape holding it together..

Maybe they are made to come apart so it's easier to smuggle pot in. ??

 

[pj8556]

my dealer (hamilton polaris) in Hamilton, MT is gonna warranty mine no problems/questions asked. Get a good dealer, its amazing the difference they can make

 

[rmk727]

Everything said has been great, I learned a bunch, that being said just as you search your product out before laying down good cash , perhaps a little search on whom you are getting it from is almost more important than the price you pay. Lots of guys here say their dealer would take care of it. Go find those dealers. IMO

 

[ksright]

I have been having this issue as well but apparently my dealer isn't one of the good ones. I have over 800 miles on the 13 Pro and I have had 2 different lower a arms that have come unbonded. The first one happened early in the season and I noticed it after riding for 3 weekends after hitting a tree on that side and breaking the upper a arm. The front tube had come unbonded. That time I was told by my dealer that Polaris wouldn't warrenty any a arms because they were a result of impact. That one I figured alright I can see that would be theoretically possible but I have been watching for it since.

Last weekend I was riding out on the trail and hit a mogul in the trail. I stopped to take a break and my buddy came up behind me and we both noticed that the spindle was at an odd angle and found that the back tube on the a arm had came unbonded. I don't know how I would have impacted the rear of the a arm hard enough to cause the glue unbonding and I can't belive Polaris wouldn't take a look at the issue considering that they know there are glue issues with the recall of the front a arms early in the season and the collar on the driveshaft.

 

[Pro-8250]

Good one!

A-arm collar clamps?

 

[pj8556]

I gotta think the more this happens the more Polaris is gonna realize its a problems and back it up..

But... like i said its all about the dealer, mine told me right away it'd be covered without even talking to Polaris, its about your dealer's will to help you out and make the customer happy/and their rapport with whatever Polaris official they work with, in my opinion

 

[RMK935VA]

Unlike the drivshaft problem, this defect has the serious potential of injury and/or death. I was also told by a dealer that the lower A-Arms are so rigid that it is causing tunnel damage when you hit something with the sled. He said that the old A-Arms would bend and fail before it caused tunnel bending. Great news, the A-Arm may fall apart when you are riding it or they may cause tunnel bending. By the way, the possible resultant tunnel damage is not covered by the warranty. Polaris, are you listening? You better get on this problem post haste or hire an expensive law firm. This is a bad situation.

 

[wirenut]

When did they start gluing snowmobiles together?

 

[ak]

A arms started in 2013 models

The rush was the first glue together model made in 2010.

 

[whoisthatguy]

I apologize in advance for thinking out loud, again. Even the driveshaft had a channel for the glue to develop some thickness too, with contact occuring where the channel did not occur. With the A arms, there does not appear to be any channels to collect glue, nor any raised ridges on the inside of the aluminum connector that can guide the tube in so that maybe a decent thickness of glue can contact the tube end. It looks like a snug tight fit all around, so that any glue that was initially placed in the connector, gets scraped out of the contract area, as the tube is inserted into the connection hole. Also with a snug tight fit, it is impossible for the glue to be injected after assembly of the tube into the connector. In others words, a basic design flaw creating a high likelihood of failure. Whoever designed the ingenious driveshaft, did not continue the same logic in designing the A arm connectors that have only a small fraction of the driveshaft load.

Like I said.

 

[winter]

Up Date.

I got a call yesterday and Polaris is now going to warrenty the A-Arm.
The dealer is sending the A-Arm back so they can take a closer look at the problem we had.
In my opinion the Pro is too good of a sled to not stand behind.

 

[Sage Crusher]

Think about this for a minute........................ If and I repeate IF they are testing these sled a min of a year ( season) in advance one would think that most- if not all issues would rear the ugly face. if we get to beat the snot out of the sled at the Expo in West- there is only a handful.
Dose Polaris really ride the pre-season sleds to faliure?

I beleive that what we ( the consumer) find as in this posting is a complete faliure to R&D a portion that is subject to abuse.... if what the engineering video say's is true or wants us to beleive how sincere he is.... stand behind the talk he is trying to walk.
If there are NOT enough faliure to warrent a re-tooling.. I would like the person responsible to tell us how many failures is needed before it becomes a CONCERN!..the driveshaft is a complete ignorant faliure as some are way less than 100 miles........ who is accepting that this as it was beat up on ( ridden) for a season prior to releasing?
Maybe just maybe someone might hear what we all are saying...
12K is alot for not having an accapatable faliures

S/C

 

[snowmobiler]

mikey got r done.

 

[SnoDay]

Just my thoughts but these failures seem to be a supplier quality issue rather than design (I'm NOT saying that its acceptable). I'm just saying it is fully possibly that Pol tested these for a full year and had zero issues because likely the proto's all had in house fabricated a-arms (to spec). Now they get the purchasing team in to line up production and the suppliers do not deliver to spec. Most bonding methods need extremely strict process control for clean rooms etc. My guess is this didn't happen in a lot of cases. There was a recall early this year for a reason the supplier clearly couldn't deliver as promised and evidently still hasn't.

 

[FatDogX]

I hate to say it but......................


Yank those POS A-arms off and go after-market!

 

[Sundance Kid]

As soon as Polaris got the "suit" to manage the company, quality went out the window and profit became the only agenda.
Until they get a snowmobile enthusiast back in charge of the company I think they are just going to be second rate at best.
Quality Polaris sleds - R.I.P.

 

[ReTodd]

I was also told by a dealer that the lower A-Arms are so rigid that it is causing tunnel damage when you hit something with the sled. He said that the old A-Arms would bend and fail before it caused tunnel bending.

Not true, there were LOTS of bent tunnels on the 11' and 12's when the A arms barely bent. That's why AK rider made a support kit.

Rt

 

[ndmtnsledder]

I'd like to see picture or hear if any of the ones that have come apart have a generous squeeze out. My Aarms on both sides have a good 1/8" + of squeeze out all the way around the tubes. If all the ones that have failed are like the first one that don't look like they used enough glue it sounds like a supplier issue. I do have a brother in law that is engineer for one of Polaris's suppliers and the designs aren't without flaws also. Issues they've seen in manufacturing that would require new tooling to fix but Polaris doesn't want to pay the bill.

 

[bosssho]

I can't believe your dealer didn't replace it free of charge and sent you on your way. 3 new sleds and they are charging for a defective part. Agreed Polaris should warranty, but dealer is responsible for getting Polaris to step up, not you.

WHAT HE SAID X 10