I've had my Grizzly for about two weeks now and I carried it back to the dealer today to have the front right axle replaced. It broke lose at the wheel while riding the other day. Exept for that problem, I love the machine. It's truly an awesome four wheeler. I just hope this axle thing isn't a sign of things to come.

 

Join the club im on my second one.
Seems Yamaha thinks using diff lock is automatically abuse of the machine.
Out of warranty will cost 240 stock 365 for gorillia axles each.

 

broken cv axles are a common problem. They get even worse with bigger tires and lift kits. the 04's supposedly have stronger axles, but who knows yet. Go with the gorillas, its cheaper in the long run.

 

I’ve only heard of this being a problem with the ’03 models (supposedly the source for the CV joints and / or axles was changed for that model year). Has anyone else had problems like this with the ’02 or ’04 models? I have not had any problems with my ‘02 and I run 27” 589’s most of the time in the winter and non-factory 25” or 26” tires at other times. I certainly don’t “baby” my machine either as I’ll give it a good pounding when I trail ride, plus I haul logs out of the woods every fall (and other times too if a tree falls in an undesirable place)…

 

I run the the 589 m/s tire in the muskeg and haven't had a problem yet. In the skeg it is in diff lock on a regular basis and I have just over 900 km's on it.

 

I think that the receipe to broken front axles is this: spinning through a mud hole while on diff lock and hitting something "solid" such as a hidden rock or tree stump. This causes the wheel on one side to come to an abrupt dead stop or near dead stop. This in turn transfers alot of the stress on the CV joint / axle assembly and causes something to break. If neither of the wheels hit anything "solid" while spinning through a mud hole, I don't think the chances of anything breaking are very big. I know this because this is how I just recently busted the right front CV joint at the wheel on my 2003 Yamaha Grizzly 660.

 

I break mine riding in the woods. when going over logs you push the front down to get traction on the wheels to pull the machine over.
My other machines had no problem, but the griz coughs up an axle when done in diff lock. I think it is the angle of the axle being so steep. if it was straighter from the diff to the hub i don't think it would break out the bottom.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

 

I have a 03 with 28 inch outlawsa and a lift and today I broke the front cv axle while I had the diff lock on. Thats my third one. then I broke the rear drive shaft while I was being winched out. Thats my second one.

 

As posted eariler and has anybody reported it?
If anybody has ever broken the outboard constant velocity joint on their machine you should report it to https://www.cpsc.gov/incident.html. This is the third one to fail and upon analysis this is a fatigue failure, with the base powered metal material to have many voids that lowers the mean fatigue strength of the base material, which would mean there was a manufacturing defect in making the part or a low material specification from Yamaha. The crack initiated from the corner on the case hardened surface and once thru the case hardened material the failure was rapid.

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/img] 03 Grizzly with frt. and rear racks, winch, 589's with ITP's, the meanest and baddest in the store. Had to have it. Figured I could probably pull my Duramax Crew Cab out if it got stuck. Plus, planning on going after elk in > 8500 ft. elevation, maybe with snow, need all the power you can have. In less than 75 hrs of pampered life, the frt. axles went. First the right, in 15 min the left. Unable to steer b/c of the shaft interfering with the right wheel. Contacted Yamaha, "too long since warranty expired, if not, they would help". Have you priced the shafts? Cheaper to buy them for a Cadillac Eldorado. Contacted Specialty Vehicle Safety Institute with an unsafe situation concern. in less than 4 hrs. Yamaha rep called. After honest man to honest man discussion, never getting ugly,I have 2 yr. extended warranty for free. Still concerned about what the future holds. I only ride the bike, not my son, and use it only in hunting club lease to get to hunting spots and carry game out. Only locked diffs once to see how it worked.

I also reviewed all the info on net after doing a Google search entering Grizzly cv joint failure, lots of people with same problem. Like you say, let's report it and make a case for an official recall.None of the offering the shafts and you pay the labor,etc. If it is made a recall, repairs are to be done for free as long as they pertain to the failure in question. After paying $7800, is the least they can do. Could have bought a used Toyota truck for this much with a lot of pluses that the Grizzly can not offer except for getting in tighter places. Do have to say that my 97 Big Bear 4X4 350 has been absolutely flawless, and this on my son's hands! Would definitely buy another one of them.