I would at least have the certified welder do up a letter expressing what he belives caused the malfunction, have him include in the letter the stresses on the joint where the break occured from the mods that you have added and then have it notarized and then make a copy of it. Send the original to AC and then if someone else has this problem it will be legally documented. The notary should be free at your bank of business and the welder will probably do the letter free of charge and all you will have spent will be the cost of sending the letter (I suggest cerified or least signature on arrival which costs a little more, but you have proof the letter got there) and the amount of time it took you to do all of this which maybe about an hour or so standing in line at the bank and post office! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

I would ask that the dealer have it checked out by a factory sercice rep. It is these guys job to inspect things like this, that could become a larger problem down the road. I don't know how Cat would have known that you had altered it unless your dealer told them. Your dealer can impress his opinion upon them with out AC getting a real good idea what could be the cause. Your dealer should be able to give you the number or the address of his rep. You could also e-mail the pics to the dealer rep. Good luck.

 

well pride,i got quad home and disected axle assembly,had a guy look at it he's been welding for 30 years and is certified,i'm not gonna have him write up the letter though,i'm taking that to the big welding outfit up the road from me on monday,anyway he said that the heat was to low during the middle part of the weld,but contact was made at only 2 spots, which is not sufficent, especially for the design and stress it would be subjected to.anyway i'll no more monday.ck the pic's of tube assembly removed from rear end.alittle better view of what broke on assembly.photos.yahoo.com/swampkat00

 

Another way to try and get this resolved in your favor is to contact www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ These are the people that deal with defective motor vehicles. Off road or on it makes no difference. If you go to their web site there is a place to make your complaint about a safety item. They will investigate it and make the manufacturer fix it or what ever if it is valid. The pictures you have will be a great help also. Give it a try you have notheing to loose.

Sorry about the earlier wrong web addy.

 

well it'sa monday evening,what a day,every welder i went to said,ohh yeah that's a cold weld it did,nt take,never shood of made it on an atv axle,any atv of any size with normal riding would of had the same demise,sooner or later,ok that's what i wanted to hear,can you write me something saying it was indeed a bad weld,so i can maybe help prevent this from happening to someone else.NO WAY CAN'T DO IT NOTTA,if it goes to court or something they could counter sue,blah blah blah!!!!!samething happened at 3 well known shops,well it just so happened that 2 of them did that in the past for someone and it caused them time away from their business and money.so i understand why they can't give a letter to me,i guess i would do the same under certain circumstances,i guess the little guys would'nt stand a chance against a big manufacter.oh well i had one welder reweld the thing for me $45.00 and that was the lowest price i could find.i guess i'll have to take minehunter's advise and write to nthsa and file a complaint,i hate to do that,cause i don't believe arctic cat builds a bad machine,it just had or has a machine that is making cold welds that could cause arctic cat alot of problems,i myself don't want that cause i still believe they have the best machine out there.what i'm gonna do is is call ac again and express my concern,and everyone who has a 2000 ac 500 auto,please inspect these welds and the axle and if you have a problem contact ac and complain.anyway i hope you guys don't think i'm being obsessive,cause i'm not,this thing just shook me up pretty good!i can't even imagine someone else out riding have this happen all of a sudden.if you inspect your machine good you might catch something like this,and i inspect mine alot and still missed it.well i know this thing won't happen again at least on that side!this guy is one heck of a welder!let me have some input.swampkat40

 

Now you got me thinking... I've seen welds fail and generally it isn't pretty. I'm glad you got the Cat fixed but I wonder how many people are in danger. File a complaint and try to speak to AC again, maybe talk to the factory rep if a dealer will give you a number. Guess I was wrong in thinking Cat stood behind its products.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/img]

 

If I were you I would get a phone number to the AC warrenty people and talk directly to them.Show the pictures to the right people and I bet that you will get a new tube.

 

swampkat40, You are going to have to force the issue on your own. The only way any deler is going to help you is if they know you real well. You got a machine that is well out of normal warrenty. You modified it with a suspension mod. Then you broke an axle tube. Looking at it from Cats side there is no way they can cover you. They can't look at every single instance, and yours looks to them like noremal wear and tear/abuse. I'm not saying it was, just look at it from their point of view. A good dealer that knows you and how you ride, and how you care for your equipment would be able to help. Not all of us are fortunate enough to have a good dealer that we deal with exclusivly.

Good luck,

-jeff b.

 

your lucky you werent hurt more than that what ever arctic cat says you make sure they pay for that warranty or not.

 

thanks to all of you who have responded,damn politics,my dealer just gave me the regular #to ac says he can't really give out # he has,he runs a small business and i guess he just don't want to risk anything.anyway this has been a hell of a ordeal,it's actually unbelieveable it's taken this much hassle.i'll keep everyone posted as to what the final outcome is.swampkat40