Has anyone else had problems with the bolts on the rear lower A-arm breaking? After 1900 miles I have had 2 (one on either side) break. The other broke at about 1200 miles.

Kuntry
2000 SP 500
ETC

 

Yes! I thought it may be an isolated case because it happened while motoring my H.O. a little too fast on rocky uneven terrain. But then a friend experienced the same problem with his ’00 SP 500: broken bolt on the rear lower A-arm. I used my '97 SP for 5000 miles over the same terrain without an incident and a neighbor traded his '98 with over 10,000 trouble free miles. One difference in the rear suspension from the older bikes is the missing rear shaft slip joints (I think this changed in '99). The old slip joints would freeze and “creak” but I hadn’t heard of any broken bolts.

 

Yes, this is a common problem. I and several others have all broken that a-arm bolt. I upgraded mine by drilling and tapping the hole to use a 7/16" grade 8 bolt. (They come stock with 3/8" grade 8.) I got the bolts from the local hardware store and had to shorten them some so they wouldn't rub the CV boot. I upgraded all four of the bolts just in case and I haven't had a problem since.

I believe Polaris even knows this is a problem because on the 700 they too have upgraded these bolts to 7/16". Hmmm......