Was riding in the mountains last weekend here in Wyoming on my 03 700, doing about 40 down a gravel road and heard a PoP thought I had kicked up a rock. My son was behind me and started honking the horn and telling me to stop, got stopped and he said my left rear wheel was crooked upon inspection i found that the left rear A-arm was broken, the upper forward weld was pretty but didn't penetrate at all, I mean Zero penetration.Rode it very gently to the truck and took it home where I Pulled everything back into place and welded it back together. Could have been a disaster if it broke while riding hard, So look over all your welds real good cause I,m sure Polaris would have said I abused it. Im glad It didnt cause a wreck.

 

I recall an issue or 2 about some frame welds on the Polaris's not penetrated very good. I don't think its a widespread problem.

I'm not a big fan of some mig welds, but its the industry standard. Doesn't take long to learn how to mig weld, but an experienced stick, or heli welder does a much more thourough job

 

I wrecked my friens 99 400 sport and yanked the left front control arm front bracket off the frame. After inspection there was very little penetration. Probably enough to not break on its own but the tree took it off clean. I used a mig to fix it. I agree tig is the way to go for control and quality but mig sure is fast. Just gotta look close while welding to verify penetration.

Steve Lubecki

 

My brother had a bad weld on his 04 Trail Boss rear rack. The weld looked good only no penetration.