2007 Attack fornt suspension arm cracks.

[yamaha convert]

Firstly I'd like to say hi to all the members on here. I have been an avid reader of this forum for the most part of a year. The information made available here and the people that take the time to post it are invaluable.

I purchased a 2007 Apex last year with 1000 miles on it after having owned 2 very clean Artic Cats. One was 2001 ZR800 and the other was a 2002 ZL600. A friend of mine that worked repairing sleds for the majority of his life always told me that if I wanted a good sled the one to buy was a late model Apex. As the 2 sleds werent getting ridden all that much I decided to sell them and buy one later model sled. Thats how I ended up with the 2007 Apex.
This year I decided to buy another sled so my wifes son's could have somehting to ride and after much reading on here I started looking for an Attack.
Last week I bought a 2007 Attack and proceeded to pull it apart as you do to look go over the suspension. What I found was the following cracks.
My question is have you guys seen cracks in these places previously?
Secondly if I were to buy a new arm is there any advantage to buying a later model arm and if so which ones would fit the 2007 Attak?

Many thanks
John

 

[driftbuster]

Convert,
I too bought a 07 Attak earlier this year and read everything I could here on TY. The first thing I did was send the rear suspension parts to Half Baked for their beef-up kit and powdercoating.
Your parts look like they have already been "beefed up", and if so it is probable that the previous rider was very rough on the sled. You will want to check out the entire sled for worn or broken parts.
Send Half Baked these pictures and ask them if they can help. If not, find a used suspension and send the pieces to Half Baked.
It will be interesting to see what others have to say.

 

[sleddog66]

Very common to crack,in fact there is a company that has made a great name for himself doing a beef up kit and powder coat. Later models are heavier....2010 I think. I would pm or contact welterracer to make sure if you should fix or replace yours

 

[sleddog66]

I guess driftbuster types faster than me.lol

 

[APEX 06]

How is the shock, and what did the bolt look like. It looks like it took a hard hit/bottomed out super hard. Check the transfer rod to see if its bent.

 

[Super Sled]

Ya, that front arm has been beefed up, but this may be the first known a arm that has cracked post beef up, lol!

Pm Welteracer from this site. He owns a powder coating biz called Half Baked powder coating. Actual name is Brian. He welds those things up and repairs cracks, then powder coats the arm and they look new.

 

[Super Sled]

How is the shock, and what did the bolt look like. It looks like it took a hard hit/bottomed out super hard. Check the transfer rod to see if its bent.

X2. I'd say a really large guy either jumped or landed hard on that arm to crack it like that.

 

[APEX 06]

How is the shock, and what did the bolt look like. It looks like it took a hard hit/bottomed out super hard. Check the transfer rod to see if its bent.

X2. I'd say a really large guy either jumped or landed hard on that arm to crack it like that.

Or hit a nice size log offtrail, don't ask how I know that.

 

[driftbuster]

You guys really crack me up.
Scratch that, I meant to say "make me laugh".
I don't want to use the "crack" word in this thread.

 

[yamaha convert]

Thanks guys
I had already spoken to Brian. He just did a beef up kit on the Apex and is very helpful. I was more curious to see if these cracks had been seen before or are these a one off.
Should have known better than too believe the " serviced by dealer regurlarly" LOL
The sled is cosmetically in excellent condition and has 3000 miles on the odometer. If it was serviced by a dealer it wasnt done as regurlarly as you might think I guess as the grease in all the arms is showing its true vintage.
The part that I find surprising is the crack in the bushing housing. If it were a bump of any type I would have expected to see some damage to the tunnel. Now if the bolt the bushes ran on were a one piece item and ran from one side of the tunnel to the other I could see this result somewhat. But with a single bolt either side I would have thought the tunnel would have been damaged somehow but its in perfect condition.
Bizzare. Its almost as if the suspension has done more work in some aspects than the sled.

John

 

[driftbuster]

[quote="yamaha convert" Its almost as if the suspension has done more work in some aspects than the sled.[/quote]

I wonder if the skid came out of a different sled???

 

[yamaha convert]

[quote="yamaha convert" Its almost as if the suspension has done more work in some aspects than the sled.

I wonder if the skid came out of a different sled???[/quote]

Yep. Didnt want to say as much.

Dirftbuster I have been looking at swaybars as well. Was the 13MM unit worth it and what did you find was the advantage of having it?

 

[yamaha convert]

What I would really like to know though is if any of the later model arms will go on the 2007 Attack and are they any better than the 2007 version.

 

[darv]

they up-dated the arm in 2008 but i feel that are still better getting half-baked to fix that on or look for a good use one from a 2008 and up

 

[LJ 452]

Looks like normal wear for the Mono. You'll be chasing failures for as long as it's around. Increase the strength in one area, failure in the next, so on, and so on. These sleds do not like to be ridden hard, too much weight on the skid, ice, whatever reason, much like any of the Yamaha line up. This one was probably ridden aggressively and these failures are completely normal. Weld it up, buy a new one, whatever you choose and put it back together. If you ride relatively hard, I would inspect the arm and the rest of the skid thoroughly at least three times a season, especially after any hard hits. This will not be the end of cracks and breakages.