I've jumped, bounced off rocks/stumps, and abused the crap out my sp's and never so much as bent an a-arm(oem or aftermarket) so could very well be a quality control issue. Ditto on getting that thing showroom clean before bringing it in or he's pretty much screwed on any warranty coverage!

 

Looks like the photos were deleted for some reason?

 

I will verify mine again tomorrow, but last I checked they were fine. My 850 is also early run. I've put huge stresses on the A-arms with tracks and there's no problems so far. Those tracks put a lot of stress on the front-end of the machine.

 

Dealer warrantied a-arm, I put new one on today and re aligned, all is good for now.

 

Good to hear. I checked mine yesterday.....All look good. Welds are solid and complete. NO issues with A-arms on my machine.

Make sure to keep them well lubed.

 

I have had both my lower a-arms replaced due to cracking at the welds.

 

Thought I'd bring this back to the top. The left/rear lower control arm on my '10 850XP broke last weekend just inboard of the swaybar bracket. Some scraping marks on the broken section, but no signs (denting, etc) of a serious impact. I was glad that what was left of it held together because I had to ride it 20 km back to my truck.