Anyone else have a problem with their upper ball joint bolts

[awolb69]

Last Wed, while on a ride about 50 mi from my house the nut/bolt assm came loose and fell out of the right upper ball joint on my 2011 Nytro XTX. The sled had about 1400 mi on it at that time. You can see where the bolt had loosened up just prior to it coming out completely because the top hole in the spindle was all egged out. The spindle was damaged and the upper a-arm fell down onto the spring/shock and bounced around on that for a while gouging both of them pretty good. Thankfully, another guy in my group carries an assortment of nuts/bolts/screws with him and he actually had something that fit and the sled made it the rest of the ride and back home with no probs. Now here is the problem, my dealer is replacing everything that was damaged and I already have a new spindle on it, but the upper ball joint nut/bolt assm is backordered for several weeks. This leads me to believe that there may be several more out there with the same problem, or Yamaha has discovered a problem with the parts and won't ship the existing hardware while they wait for a new source. Anyway, my sled is still ridable, but I urge everyone to check their front suspension bolts especially if its a 2011.

 

[mach9]

Several of us have had this problem.
Most of us are going with red loctite on that one hard to get at nut.
I think Grimm or was it Grizz tracks, did some engineering on this. (sorry guys I can't remember who).
Anyway there is a fix.
You can drill out the egg and (bushing sleeve) the bigger hole.
Then use a longer bolt, one that you can put 2 nuts on both levels as the bolt goes through 2 holes on the spindle.
I think everyone should put a longer bolt 2 nut setup on them.

 

[RealDeal]

mine has loosened up twice in the last 2 weeks.

 

[jwinn]

same thing here.....im thinkn aftermarket a-arms and spindles and a newer sub frame next year....and some bolt on performance if i can afford it....

 

[yam177]

My SPindles!

 

[yam177]

You can also see the spacer I use for the longer bolts to strengthen the top space in the spindle

 

[awolb69]

Wow, doesn't exactly give me that 'warm & fuzzy" feeling about the upper ball joint bolts! Oh well, I still ridin the hell out of her, just past 1800 mi today. I guess I'll just have to keep checking them

 

[roostinraptor]

had the right side come off on me also. i had it plugged and redrilled it but in doin so must of weekened it cause last ride the top of spindle bent from the pressure of the bolt.

i ordered the zbroz kit and hopefully that cures the issue.

 

[dox06]

ball joints

If you have a good repor with your dealer they will replace the ball joints under warranty I took my wifes phaser and my xtx into the shop at the start of the season for all the updates to be checked on both, the tech asked me if I wanted my ball joints replaced on my xtx. I asked him if he thought they should be, he said there was enough play in them that they probably should be. Anyways my ball joints were replaced under warranty, he just made sure to add the statement, "customer is hearing a lot of noise coming from the ball joints, will free play." Two days layer I picked my sled up with new ball joints!

Talk with your dealer guys, mine took care of my issue. O

 

[Blu2U2]

I started a new thread with the same problem! Next time I will do a search 1st...

http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php?p=865583#865583

 

[ultimatewarrior]

Lost the upper spindle bolt yesterday - had to wedge in a screw driver to get back to truck. Fairly pissed off at this point. 2011 nytro xtx

 

[awolb69]

Lost the upper spindle bolt yesterday - had to wedge in a screw driver to get back to truck. Fairly pissed off at this point. 2011 nytro xtx

Wow! was it the right or left? Mine was right side. I have been checking the left all season long and its been fine. Just curious, the last 6 digits in my VIN are 011107. Is yours anywhere close to this being that its also XTX

 

[ultimatewarrior]

Mine was the right side. Not sure on the VIN, but it may be: yamahabettertakecareofthisorswitchingtopolarisrushin2012!

 

[MCApex44]

Well you would think/hope Yamaha would jump on this issue...this isnt idler wheels, exhaust donuts etc., this is a SAFETY issue. People can flat out get injured if these things come apart while riding. That was one nice thing about Arctic Cat was they issued recalls for stuff like this. My F7 had a steering issue/recall that was fixed at no-charge.

 

[YamahaFreak]

Doesnt a company make aftermarket ones?