Anyone had success reinforcing the mono front w-arm?

[barnstormer]

And that is my point if they are a fatigue type failures then the stress from welding will show it, are You guys seeing these mild steel tubes bending out in the middle away from a weld and crack if that's the case then beef up as much as possible. Just make sure you heat the area before weld so that you don't add any more stress areas. I would think for the guys on a buget it would go a long way to heat the area cherry red then let cool do this a few times and the repaint the part it should help with the failures allot.

 

[SumpBuster]

Hopefully these arms did not sway the other guys to other brands.

I hate to say it, but they all went to Skidoo and the reason was the monoshock suspension failures...(no one I know has broken an MXZ skid yet).

They're still giving me a hard time, razing that the suspension will fall apart since I'm on a Yamaha (claiming that we need to stop litering the trails with broken parts - environmental reasons...).

The one last holdout on a monoshock sled (with beefed up pivot arms) has already stated he will be on a REV-XP 800R MX-Z next season (once the bugs are worked out). Next season everyone but me (most likely) will be on a Skidoo.

Been doo most of my life, til the rx1's in 03, but I'd have a hard time leaving the rtx..love the motor and the mono works very well. I pulled it last night to add 5 pounds of hot rolled steel wherever, as I will break it. I've broken almost every ski doo front arm at one time or another, so this is just part of the deal. But no doo rode like the mono. Bottom line, the xp's won't be perfect either. The doo supensions that held up best for me rode terrible, until I changed shock valving, springs etc. If not for rider forward revs, the sc10 5's are no bargain imo. Firecats rode better. Plus a friends new 08 doo is very cheaply made, and I'm certain next year they will gain significant weight. The best feature is the brake rotor next to your left foot, on the drive axle.
I'm not really brand loyal, but the apex is a very good sled and handles everything I put it through at well over sane trail speeds. Yes, the arm will probably crack, but I check stuff after hard rides anyway, on all our sleds. I just can't give up the four stroke and go back to flaked rings, pto bearings, poor mileage (running hard) for the sake of thinking I'm getting a 'real' sno cross proven sled to ride trails with. Sno cross sleds have lots of reinforcement and trick parts the average consumer doesn't see.

 

[1xr]

After reading this post. I could'nt sleep at night, until I did some welding to prevent failure, I hope.

 

[SumpBuster]

I did the same thing when Barnstormer told me about this thread. I fitted 1/8 thick steel, filling entirely the spot you did, plus the area inside the vertical tubes, so it is entirely sealed off and boxed. Then added the front bar. Looks like you added some pieces inside the front tubes too...I know one thing, I tossed it on the floor and it rang like a tuning fork..sounds pretty solid..lol

 

[SIMMER]

ttt

 

[Yama-Crazy]

Hopefully these arms did not sway the other guys to other brands.

I hate to say it, but they all went to Skidoo and the reason was the monoshock suspension failures...(no one I know has broken an MXZ skid yet).

They're still giving me a hard time, razing that the suspension will fall apart since I'm on a Yamaha (claiming that we need to stop litering the trails with broken parts - environmental reasons...).

The one last holdout on a monoshock sled (with beefed up pivot arms) has already stated he will be on a REV-XP 800R MX-Z next season (once the bugs are worked out). Next season everyone but me (most likely) will be on a Skidoo.

Hopefully these arms did not sway the other guys to other brands.[/quote]
This isn't true I had a 1998 Ski-DUD mxz and with about 3,200 miles broke my W arm in the rear skid...Now I have broke my rage W Arm too !

 

[Yama-Crazy]

So has anyone come up with a good replacement for an 05 Rage W Arm yet? I really dont want to try welding if its just going to break again. Any good after market W Arms yet?

 

[ReX]

This isn't true I had a 1998 Ski-DUD mxz and with about 3,200 miles broke my W arm in the rear skid...Now I have broke my rage W Arm too !

You might have broken the '98 Skidoo w-arm, but I don't personally know anyone who has broken a Skidoo skid (yet).

With 100% consistency, every single Yamaha I ride with has had broken pivot arms and not one Skidoo or Polaris that I ride with (or owned previously) has ever broken a pivot arm.

I've now broken both front and rear pivot arms on my 2007 RTX as well as cracked both rails too. We've been riding much harder these days (mostly because the trails around here are never groomed) and the RTX's skid has outlasted the monoshock's I ride with by a ratio of better than 2:1 (as far as broken pivot arms are concerned).

Still no broken Skidoo skids, although one guy did just break the driveshaft on his REV-XP 800R.

Now the guys I ride with who are considering hanging on to their Apex sleds have started looking for Skidoo skids to retrofit. The Apex is heavier so it will be interesting to see if a Skidoo skid can handle an Apex.

 

[SIMMER]

Mine just failed at 10000 miles. I had the "updated" arm put in under warranty back at 1900 miles. So it lasted about 8000 miles.

I priced out the new Arm new from the dealer.....one in the US and one in Canada.

Get this....$300.87 US -OR- $260.00 CDN....go figure!!! cheaper in Canada

 

[SumpBuster]

This isn't true I had a 1998 Ski-DUD mxz and with about 3,200 miles broke my W arm in the rear skid...Now I have broke my rage W Arm too !

You might have broken the '98 Skidoo w-arm, but I don't personally know anyone who has broken a Skidoo skid (yet).

With 100% consistency, every single Yamaha I ride with has had broken pivot arms and not one Skidoo or Polaris that I ride with (or owned previously) has ever broken a pivot arm.

I've now broken both front and rear pivot arms on my 2007 RTX as well as cracked both rails too. We've been riding much harder these days (mostly because the trails around here are never groomed) and the RTX's skid has outlasted the monoshock's I ride with by a ratio of better than 2:1 (as far as broken pivot arms are concerned).

Still no broken Skidoo skids, although one guy did just break the driveshaft on his REV-XP 800R.

Now the guys I ride with who are considering hanging on to their Apex sleds have started looking for Skidoo skids to retrofit. The Apex is heavier so it will be interesting to see if a Skidoo skid can handle an Apex.

I'm not trying to minimize any slide breakage, but I've broken most of my doo suspensions over the 25 years I rode them..never the rails themselves, but many other parts including shock mounts, arms, shock ends, ripped out axle shafts, etc. Just figured it was part of the game. Frozen ground (sometimes that's all we get in a winter) vibrations fatigue the welds a lot...then the cracks, then the breaks...it's fatigue then catastrophe. Check for cracks, weld or replace, and there will be very few 'hard hit' breaks...it's always vibration cracks starting, from my experience. Maybe the mono's are more susceptible to this type of failure than the others, but I don't think it's really just a weight issue.