Moving the arms I believe would be a good fix. I called Polaris today, 1-763-417-8650, option #4, then option #5. Placed my feedback there with my opinion of 3 ways for a fix. I will probably never hear directly back, but I will know that I did all I could, besides just complain on this forum! Hey, If we see a horizon king pin, it was my idea first![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I am having the exact same problem with my 700 Polaris EFI. It is one year old and we ride reasonably over rough terrain in the mountains around Breckenridge. We had the rear bolt break and it was fixed about a week ago. Today I had the front bolt break that holds the shock. We do not jump the machine. The only non-standard accessory we have is Kenda Bounty hunter tires and rims sold by Polaris.

 

I had that wheel/tire package and experienced constant bead breakaways which resulted in many many flats out on the trail. I returned them to my Polaris dealer for full refund and got the wheel/tire package I now have. I'm curious....do you experience a lot of flats due to the bead giving way. BTW.....I believe the fact that they are 14" diameter rims with 26" tires doesn't allow enough "give" for the sidewall and causes the failure in the rough stuff.

Sorry for the diversion......I noticed the other night that my lower A-arm bolt on the opposite side as I had the failure was loose. I tightened it today. I was kicking myself because I was out of thread locker. I'll get some and go back in and put thread locker on all 4 of them. These bear careful watching boys and girls.

 

I have the Kenda Bounty Hunter tires and wheels on two machines. We have run them for the last couple of months. I have had one flat on a front tire, however, it clearly had a puncture in the side wall. I will keep a watch out for this issue. Thanks.

 

Root-Cause Analysis

Whew-- it took awhile to read all these posts. As a Polaris owner, I've had this problem and solved it.

The problem is not in the strength of the bolts--- those bolts are only designed to hold the bushing in the a-arm and against the bearing carrier (factory bolts are grade 8). In fact, this is a good design because if you lose one of those steel spacers, the machine can 'limp' out of the woods without the wheel falling off. The steel spacers hold all the load (and these are about 1.375" OD).

The problem is in the bushing material and the spread of the grease inside the bushing. Those of us that ride in the water or mud very often (even < 10in deep) need to pull these bushings every few rides and re-grease with marine grade grease (it will not absorb water). Even if you have a grease joint (older machines), I advise removing these bushings and sanding off the rust off the steel spacers and re-packing with marine grease.

If these bushings are not pulled (=maintenance), then the steel spacer freezes against the bushing and starts backing the bolt out as the suspension moves. If the bolt has been subjected to a lot of water, it will have rust on it and instead of backing out, it will shear in torsion. Sometimes, the bolt will back out to the point where the rust is and then shear off when the rusted threads reach the aluminum casting.

The wheel spacers, aftermarket tires, aftermarket offset rims, etc, all contribute to this because they characterize riders that ride in deep mud & water. All these aftermarket components will subject the machine to accelerated wear and tear on all components--Including the steel spacers that need more than normal grease. Torn boots remind me of riders that ride in largely wooded or rocky environments-- front and rear boot guards should be installed for this kind of riding. Remember, the factory installs equipment for "general" riding-- if they made the machine for each type of rider (mud, rock editions), these machines would cost $1000+ more.

My advice is to adjust your maintenance schedule to the type of riding you do. If you are not sure what to do for your riding type-- feel free to PM me and I'll help you out.

I hope this helps-- thanks for the post & PM me if you need any help that you don't want to post.

 

No way...that ain't happening.

I rode mine for 1640 miles without doing anything and without a problem. I experiened failure at 1640 miles. I will keep a close eye on them to make certain they're tight......but there is no way I'm going to pull the entire assembly apart every few rides. My 2004 does not have grease zerks........maybe I'll install them.

 

as an alternative... put 2 grease zerks 180 degrees apart on the a-arm-- this will ensure grease coats the entire bushing.

 

Duffus,

There is a lot of what you say I agree with... although I do think the bolt diamter and strength must be a contributing factor. Remember, Polaris did increase the diameter of the bolt so there must be an issue there. There was virtually no rust on my bolt or anywhere in the joint but I do believe lack of greased contributed to my problem. Also, I am definitley guilty of deep (greater than 10") water crossings and some mud. Also, I have greatly exceeded (to the point the suspension was bottomed out) the tongue weight and towing capacity numerous times which has to put tremendous stress on the suspension components.

I think you are right that it is good maintenance to grease those joints often and from my experience it is pretty simple and quick to do.

 

Polaridoo,

Thank you for the feedback. I think the larger diameter bolt treated the immediate problem more than the root-cause of the problem. One could argue that Polaris knew that most riders will not grease that joint and the larger diameter bolt would solve the problem even though maintenance is the true cause of the issue. Ideally, the ATV would be designed so neglect would never be the cause of a break-down, but this is difficult with complex mechanical devices.

I support going over the machine in detail every 2-3 rides (especially in deep mud) because nothing stinks more than to leave a trailsystem 3+hours early because I didn't spend 30 minutes combing the quad.

Not to diss kawasaki.. but they use needle bearings in the brute force suspension... can you imagine one of those freezing up? I am sure you can press these bearings out and replace them, but I know that is not a cheap fix, or easy. I do like the idea of low-friction needle bearings in the suspension.

 

I have about 2500 miles on my 2002 sp700 and have yet to have this problem with the bolts breaking.
although i do have the grease zerks and have had it apart and greased them by hand at about 2200 miles.

IMO bottoming out the suspention has everthing to do with it, if not there shouldnt be much force on them.

Jim