I was riding along and the steering was really weird so I stopped immediately and walked over to the front and to my amazement the lower A-Arm on the right side had FALLEN OFF the knuckle side. It somehow slipped past the still tightened bolt and dug into the ground (that's why the steering was bad). So I was deep in my woods but was luckily with my cousin who drove me back to the house for a jack and other stuff. I put the lower a arm back on in the woods (shockingly nothing had bent or broken) and I ride her in. The A arm mount didn't look worn out or anything it just popped off. I think it was a freak incident, because I don't see anything in need of fixing.

Update: I checked again and noticed the A-Arms keyway area took a chunk out of the bolt in order to get itself out. Gonna replace all four with Grade 8 bolts.

 

i was going to tell you that the only way that can happen is if the threads on the keeper bolt somehow stripped out. i agree with you that i would replace all of them too.

 

When I was in the woods fixing it it was getting late and I was in a hurry so when i looked at the bolt I must not have seen the damage. Oh well coulda been ALOT worse.

 

after you get the new bolts installed i would deffinately take a rubber mallet and beat on the a-arm that came off to make sure it isn't something else. you deffinately want peace of mind on it and to make sure it is safe.

 

I inspected em all today (a arms and bolts) loctited all the bolts tightened em to the proper torque spec. I've never been this attentive to detail in my life. Now alls I gotta do is get the rear bearings pressed in (the one side was beyond destroyed) and get the retaining rings in (both were broke) and I'll be off and running. I made sure to really get all the maintenance done before we go to our hunting camp on the Sept. 17th. The last thing I want is to be on 500 acres of land and have something break. I also made an emergency tool kit in case SHTF and Imma bring my little hydraulic jack. Paranoid I know. But I refuse to be walking back. She should be all set after this though. Maybe some new oil too. (gotta look at the color of it and my sheet to see if it's due).
After all the problems I've had I got her all good n running for a nice 6 month stretch then I had the rear bearings and that bolt go bad so for my atv thats good lol. The bearing has been dying for a while but It stopped making noise and I forgot about it. That was stupid but its all good now.

It still makes me cringe to think of how long I may have driven with the fallen off A-arm but Everything is luckily ok.