Offset rims are just as bad as spacers. They both mess up the suspension. I think my posts are quite clear about that. I had thought that in addition to spacers, you had offset wheels which only makes matters worse.

The way I see the design of the bolt, bushing and hub is that unless the bolt is loose, the bolt should not be taking the load. The fact that your washer was domed at one point seems to me indicates the bolt was loose. If the bolt is loose, then it will break. Does the Polaris repair manual say to use locktite on this bolt? It would seem to be a good idea, since there appears to be no lock washer.

When the bolt tightens the bushing to the hub, the bolt cannot rock for two reasons; first, the load on the bolt holds the bushing at a right angle to the hub, even if with little shoulder on the hub. Secondly, the A-Arm has a tendency to hold the bushing at a right angle to the hub. Your suggestion to jack up on the end of the bolt/bushing does not take this into account.

I would be curious to know what the Polaris repair manual says about assembing the bolt/bushing and hub.

 

The machines come from the factory with thread locker on those bolts. I have to agree, it would seem the bolt would have to be loose to experience any shear stress.

 

stick a new bolt in it and go ride that will make you feel better about the whole ordeal.
some times these things happen and it really sucks when it happens to you but you just got
to learn to move on not one quad built has been perfect even if some one tells you theres is
there is a good chance that they are lying because they love there quad and dont want you to
think low of it. im really sorry for what has happened to you and i understand why you are loosing
confidence but trust me stick a new bolt in it put your rims and tires back on and go have some fun
with it.

 

I agree with fireslayer and Bryce on offset and design.

I have heard of these problems but not experianced them yet with 2300 miles on an 2002 sp700 and i do some small jumps but never btm out.

I replaced the bearings in the rear and the domed washer should be domed outward and most fastneres are to be replaced upon removal.

torque to 35 ft lbs top a-arm and 45 ft lbs. btm a-arm bolts . (some have replaced them with grade 8)
hub to 80 or 100 depending on year .

Jim

 

The more I think, maybe the rocking of the bolt is not happeneing. I wonder if the scissor affect is taking place. Not sure anymore.

I am glad that you feel offset rims is about the samething as my setup. I asked my dealer about offset rims, he frowned upon them too. Not trying to be a smart mouth here, but I really do wonder if these big tires are too tough for my quad[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/img]

I have never even considered another brand quad, but I have spent my last couple of lunch breaks at different dealers, just to compare. I have have lookes at all of them except AC and Bomb. From the ones I looked, at I still feel like I made the right choice. I do not plan on looking at the others. I guess as it has been stated, I could either leave them on and try replacing the bolts every so often, hopefuly before they break. Or I could go stock, and watch the Grizz go where I can't. Very hard decision!

Floodrunner... when the washer was domed, the bolt was still tight. Beats me! Also, I may not need that HC if, I have to go to a smaller tire!

Ok, let me switch thoughts, this might need to be a new thread, but seems like I have some good tech assist going here! Does anyone know the largest Mudzilla that will fit on a stock rim with no spacer. I don't have my quad, to measure for this. I really like the performance of the Mudzilla's, and would rather not change tire types. I need to check tire sites for width specs. I wonder if 26" would fit!?!

Man this is awful, I was calling my buddies Yamaha a "Girllizzy". So, now I need to eat crow. Anyone got hot sauce?

 

26 inch tires are are stock size. so you can go 1 inch taller and 1 inch wider on the stock rims before you get into rubbing issues. maybe look at ITP tires? i hear the XTR's are amazing in the mud, maybe you should get a set in 27" tall 9" wide in the front and 11" wide in the back

 

I broke one of those rear bolts on my 04 Sportsman 400 under normal riding conditions...Plus ripped 3 boots in the rear as well....I think the Sportsman's weight is to blame for things breaking such as the bolts... simply to much weight wearing the parts down. I really don't like the setup of the Polaris Sportsman rear suspension, seems like there is more there to break. I now have had a Suzuki KQ for over a year now and haven't had anything break and NO boots ripped, I won't be going back to Polaris untill they loose weight.

 

If spyder is right you can mount up your current tire/wheel combo without spacers (1” taller & 1” wider). I have my doubts but it certainly wouldn’t cost you anything but time to try it. Height isn’t an issue, it’s width in the front. Watch the clearance for that outer tie rod end boot.

For a while I was running 28” Mud Lites all around with a 1” lift kit front and rear. The front tires were 10” wide on ITP aluminum wheels. I was real surprised to find they bolted right up and didn’t hit the outer tie rod ends. Problem was they came close, close enough that when the tire would pick up mud it would get between the sidewall and the tie rod and trash the boot.

Currently I’m running 27” Swamp Lites all around. The fronts are 10” wide with this setup too and they actually do rub the tie rod end, or they did until I came up with a cure. For the last couple months we’ve been testing a new product I’ve had on the drawing board for a while. It’s a tie rod end guard made from 1/8” steel that’s held in place by the stock tie rod end bolt. The guard surrounds half the tie rod end and covers the top so debris can’t rip the boot, which ultimately destroys the joint. With the guard in place there’s actually MORE room between the joint and the tire because the guard pulls the boot back keeping it away from the tire. I won’t claim you could mount up any 10” tire on the front using these guards because different tires have different profiles but with these guards in place you could certainly run 9” tires on aftermarket wheels and end the all-too-common ripped outer tie rod end boots. And maybe even run 9” fronts on wheels with the stock offset.

The test results using our prototypes have been nothing but positive. Our hold-up in offering them publicly is getting a handle on producing them in quantity. It’s one thing to build a half-dozen configurations of something to modify and tweak until it works just right and another thing entirely to produce it in volume.

Instigator, try mounting up your fronts without the spacers and see what you have for clearance between the boot and tire. If you have even a little space there these guards might allow you to run your current tires/wheels without the spacers.

 

I did try mounting the fronts without spacers. They were too wide. I am not exactly sure by how much though. I will check it when I get the quad back from the dealer. The rears( I believe ) were ok without the spacers. Maybe I could run them on stock offset and the front with the spacers. I didn't think of that before. I was just thinking of it as a 4 piece set. HMMM... Very interesting. I have never had, or heard of, any issues with the front end breaking with offset added to it! I still have hope!!!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]. I am smiling again too!

 

Of the several SP600s and SP700s in our group mine was the only one to have the same problem at about 1800 miles of hard use but great maintenance. The right side, lower arm, rear facing bolt sheared flush right where it goes into the hub (bearing carrier). Outside of the fact I broke the ez-out inside, it was a quick and easy fix. Polaris increased the diameter of the bolts by 2mm to help this. You only have to buy the new carrier - the other components can be bored out (and new bolts 2mm wider) are all you need - or so I have been told. For what it's worth the dealer did say they see this from time to time, but by no means is it an epedemic and from this forum and my own experience I would agree.

It might seem silly and a waste of money, but I replaced all 3 bolts on that side in the event the other bolts had been stressed too - plus they are so cheap it was worth the peace of mind. If it should happen to me again I will probably upgrade to the larger bolts.

In terms of a fix? I think the problem is that there is not enough of the bolt being threaded into the carrier AND there is too much bolt extending outside the carrier. By having too much of the bolt extending outside it places way too much leverage/stress on the bolt. I don't know how to fix that though - slimmer bushing and smaller length bolt and mode the arms????