Had to take my Predator in for for service. I was checking out the front left wheel and found some play. Checking further with a friend helping, found the top A arm lose on the bushing. Also the front shocks are lose at the top on their bushings. The only real riding I have done is in the sand. I lost the fuel cap vent nippel and I have to purchase the whole cap , Polaris hasn't just the nippel. I would be interested if anyone has had any of these problems.

 

The very early Predators had weak tie rod ends. Mine just happens to be one of those, so I have to take it to the dealer. That is the only thing to go wrong in 11 days of rough riding down in the mountains. Other than spending a bit of time adjusting the suspension to what I like, I love this machine, it's awesome.

I did hear that some machines had only the left side bolts and clamps loose, the other side was ok. I'm sure you heard about the caliper bolts.

Scott

 

predator03 what is considered an early model how do predator owners know they have an early model what was your build date. And wilsonoo could you please keep us informed as to what procedure was taken on your machine and how did polaris react to your situation.thank you guys

 

I dont get it, the companies test these machines forever, then only after release to the general public do they find things wrong. How could they not know the tie-rods were weak before they started mass-producing, or do they already not care about you, the customer, only that you send in your payment???

RoostkIn..

 

The people that built the test models, are probably not the same people assembling them now.
When in the "test" faze, you custom build alot of your own parts and pieces until you get what you want. Then when it goes into production, some machine shop gets to build thousands of those same pieces. They get the material from most likely a new supplier. That raw material supplier could possibly mix the steel wrong. The machine shop guy built perfect pieces out of them. Polaris puts them on their machines and people start to have problems with them breaking. Idealy, it is Polaris's responsibility to make sure they get this taken care of, for you. But, who really is to blame? Sure, they have inspectors that are looking for this stuff, but they can not catch 100% of the defects 100% of the time.
As for nothing being tight on one side of the machine, maybe it was his day off. LOL

 

Well, let's hope that the Predator can do something to boost Polaris' reputation regarding reliability. I think a lot of people are keeping a very close eye on how this machine does.

 

Well its about time some of us start truely posting some issues with this bike. Any problem and I mean any is not a little problem when it comes to a machine. I dont care how easy the remedy is. Thats why we all pay the price that we do. Ok for the record.
1. Vent problems with carb
2. Axle nut loose
3. Tie rod ends
4. Shocks loose
5. A-arm bushings
6. Loose hose clamps not only on predators but on 700 sportmans too.
7. A-arm breaking
8. This is a big one MOTOR SEIZED UP

Ok i was just reading a article about polaris putting togther a gncc race team. I hope their paying attention here. And I hope theres no water crossings. Smile. I know of another Polaris dealer that sells qite a few diff quads yamaha suziki and kaws and hes stearing all his customers away from the predator. Dont get me wrong here guys Im a diehard polaris fan trust me i amd but whats up with that. And is polaris gonna make things right like cannondale did with their customers. I know of no other man. taking care of there bikes like cannondale does. Thats good business.

 

Your motor seized??

 

Why would a dealer not want to sell a particular bike?

I can understand, if he doesn't have any in stock and won't for a while or there young kids wanting to buy them and don't have the experience or whatever? Maybe if it's 4x4 Country only.

Who had there motor seize? Did they not change the oil after the first hour? I can see how the extra metal people have had after the first oil change could take out bearings etc...

In the Polaris service manual it says to change the oil atleast every 10 hours after the first 1 hour oil change more if driven in extreme conditions.

Did the arm just break riding down the trail?

I noticed some people think the arm's look small and wimpy, there the same size around as a stock 400ex. I think they just look small cause of the big tie rod. The tie rod ends that are screwed into the tie rod look rather small though.

 

Why are you so intrested in pionting out all the problems as if your bashing the machine.