Bent rear suspension rods

[gtxman4]

I've got 2011 XTX,put a back country on its last year and I guess we ran the track a bit tight and cooked my sliders,between the wheels, with only 120 miles on them. Had to pull the skid Cuz they won't fit through the windows on the back country. Looks like I've got a couple bent shafts,any one else had this problem? Could it be the cause of the roasted sliders?

 

[cannondale27]

The Plates on rails are bent also. So at least the left rail is also bent. Looks like a hard landing or just bad shocks caused the bent stuff.

 

[gtxman4]

I didnt even notice that part. Thought a bit of an opening would be normal, but thats deffinitely excessive. Not a good way to start the year..

 

[Dr. FeeLGooD]

The sliders certainly do not like tight tracks. Anywhere near a weld where the paint is flaked off and rust color is showing also is a sign of stress along with the bent pieces. Has this skid seen regular grease? I would see if I could straighten those parts. Post your location on your profile you can likely buy these parts used from someone near you if you decide to go that way. Its also a site requirement.

 

[gtxman4]

We grease her every fall before the season starts. Probably gonna have to try and straighten things out or leave her as is. Not a good year for major expenditures as we just finished a major house remodeling.

 

[cannondale27]

The rails may not be as bad as it looks. They can bend and come back some. Those two plates would be much stronger if welded together on the edge. When shafts bend they like to pull the bolts right through the rail. Look closely for cracks there. If caught a small steel plate behind bolt can save the rails. I think you can straighten this all out. Just have to keep tail landings to minimum or get shocks redone to avoid bottoming in future since once bent all this will bend again easier unless reinforced.

 

[gtxman4]

I just had the shocks redone last year, and was lookibg at pictures from when I did them, looks like the damage was already done. Think we're gonna replace the bent shafta and straighten things out as best we can. Then hope for the best.

 

[poor farmer/logger]

Check your rear axle as well I'd almost bet its bent as well. I bent the rear axle and slightly tweaked the right side rail on mine. I made some reinforcements for the rails and made a new stainless steel axle for the rear. I can take some pics if you like so you can see what I did. Nearly impossible to bed the rails at the back now with my improvements.

 

[gtxman4]

I'd love to see some pictures, you can never have too much information. Ive had my axle out twice and didnt notice anything weird. I'll check again next time I'm out in the shed.

 

[poor farmer/logger]

I took a 1.5" piece of aluminium shafting and turned the ends to fit tight into the rails. I also made bushings to go inside of the rails where they split so that they can't squish together. On the aluminum shaft I drilled and taped the ends to accept a 1/2" bolt and tightened everything up with loctite.

The problem with the rails is there is nothing to really hold them from bending outwards just as yours did. When the bend out everything bends up and goes out of whack. Happens when you land on the tail quite easily as I have seen it on other sleds before.

Pics of the cross brace support and the stainless axle that I turned on the lathe.



I don't have any pics of the pieces before I put the support together

 

[gtxman4]

That is very slick. That might help to either straighten my brackets or keep them staight.

 

[canoehead]

I'de say from the looks of this you landed on the tail. I would replace the the rails and plates. You might also want to consider putting on X-wheels. They're slightly bigger and and save your sliders big time.

 

[gtxman4]

Im afraid rails arent an option this year. Gonna have to straighten things out as best I can and hooe for the best. I think its been like that a while, hopefully I can get another year out of it and then fix things properly.

 

[stubb111]

you should be able to straighten most of them out, the one on the rear sliding assembly is a pain in the #*$&@ to take apart when bent (been there done that) used an arbour press and v-blocks to straighten them out. as said above probably a hard tail landing.

 

[gtxman4]

I did order new shafts atleast and some bolts. Gonna use my cousins press and vice to fix the rest with any luck.

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