Broke my sled.......again!

[stevewithOCD]

I broke the rear suspension front crossbar/pin that ended up tearing my tunnel. It snapped right beyond the bolts.
I did this a month ago, but did not post it because i was waiting on the warranty news.
Well the news is.......they will not cover it. Not happy!

My dealer said the wrong words. He needed to say it was a part defect. He said he's never seen one break. I said, well if you've NEVER seen one break, doesn't that mean mine was defective?
Dealer said my bump stops were worn so he knows i ride hard.
I weigh 165, i'm 50 years old with a fused neck. I don't jump or look for bumps. I run the bumps because they are there & i can't go around them.
I bought an "aggressive trail" sled to......you guessed it......ride "aggressive on the trails"!

Same dealer that doesn't know of any belt issues. Time to get a new dealer. Going to talk to the manager when i pick the sled up.

What bothers me is everyone in the group including my 19,000 mile Apex hit the same stuff.
Also we were SUPPOSED to have the RR suspension that Yamaha reneged on that would have had a STEEL bar in there.

Cost will be $3000 to $4000 maybe more.
I will call insurance tomorrow, but i may just pay cash & trade it in for a 900T.

The big question is:
If i turn Yellow will you fella's still talk to me? I don't think they'll get my humor on DOOTALK

 

[Pstn head]

Of course we'll still talk with you...maybe... ok I guess... We won't have much of a choice because you'll be coming on here for help becouse there won't be much help over on doo talk, and of course with a doo you'll need a lot of help... Lol

 

[kinger]

What’s the ‘first’ time you broke? Your title says again?

 

[AnythingButLast]

If you can/have the ability to do the labor yourself in the off season that tunnel piece I believe is only around $550

 

[Redbeard]

The big question is:
If i turn Yellow will you fella's still talk to me? I don't think they'll get my humor on DOOTALK

Yes, Steve.

 

[KnappAttack]

Wow! I wouldn't be happy either. Just another poorly engineered area for the Cat chassis. Gonna need to get the RR shaft installed in mine for next season as I had planned. How can Cat not see this crap happening? It happened with the Vipers too. No excuse for this sub-par engineering. They are guilty of not fixing these common deficits like this cross shaft along with the drive shaft, bearing and brake caliper area. Its an easy fix at the factory level.

Is it any wonder Cat and Yamaha are stuck at the bottom? We can fix their shortfalls but surely we shouldn't have to.

 

[stevewithOCD]

I just don't look good in Yellow.
I look worse in Green, unless it's CAMO!
I look good in Red, i just don't like the smell.

That leaves Blue.
I seem to break American made Blue things. All Japan made Yamaha's coming in 2020! Maybe...

 

[Motorhead]

I broke the rear suspension front crossbar/pin that ended up tearing my tunnel. It snapped right beyond the bolts.
I did this a month ago, but did not post it because i was waiting on the warranty news.
Well the news is.......they will not cover it. Not happy!

My dealer said the wrong words. He needed to say it was a part defect. He said he's never seen one break. I said, well if you've NEVER seen one break, doesn't that mean mine was defective?
Dealer said my bump stops were worn so he knows i ride hard.
I weigh 165, i'm 50 years old with a fused neck. I don't jump or look for bumps. I run the bumps because they are there & i can't go around them.
I bought an "aggressive trail" sled to......you guessed it......ride "aggressive on the trails"!

Same dealer that doesn't know of any belt issues. Time to get a new dealer. Going to talk to the manager when i pick the sled up.

What bothers me is everyone in the group including my 19,000 mile Apex hit the same stuff.
Also we were SUPPOSED to have the RR suspension that Yamaha reneged on that would have had a STEEL bar in there.

Cost will be $3000 to $4000 maybe more.
I will call insurance tomorrow, but i may just pay cash & trade it in for a 900T.

The big question is:
If i turn Yellow will you fella's still talk to me? I don't think they'll get my humor on DOOTALK

WTF man. I beat the snot out of mine and it still rides like new!

That surely gives me another thing to inspect when I do my pre season maintenance! Holy #*$&@ that is bad.

If I may pun the situation, not sure how you even found trails rough enough for that kind of damage. You may want to skip the Millinocket area next year and head a bit more North. Is that what it takes to heat up your clutches for temp tests ?

OK enough of that. I agree they should cover that, unless you dropped your sled off the back of your truck onto an overpass and it landed on it’s tail 15’ down. Seems like you would have to stand that thing up straight to generate enough force to move that shaft forward like that??

Did you bottom out your suspension much during rides?

 

[stevewithOCD]

I never took the suspension out so i never saw this pencil thin piece of aluminum.
If i did, i would have immediately replaced it. It's a weird design. It's a Community College drop out design.
The whole damn tunnel is now compromised.
Oh well, live & learn...

 

[stevewithOCD]

WTF man. I beat the snot out of mine and it still rides like new!

That surely gives me another thing to inspect when I do my pre season maintenance! Holy #*$&@ that is bad.

If I may pun the situation, not sure how you even found trails rough enough for that kind of damage. You may want to skip the Millinocket area next year and head a bit more North. Is that what it takes to heat up your clutches for temp tests ?

OK enough of that. I agree they should cover that, unless you dropped your sled off the back of your truck onto an overpass and it landed on it’s tail 15’ down. Seems like you would have to stand that thing up straight to generate enough force to move that shaft forward like that??

Did you bottom out your suspension much during rides?

Trails up north were actually worse than my area when i rode there. I did almost 2000 miles in the County this year.
The shaft broke at both bolt ends & flew out. Then there was nothing holding the tunnel apart so it tore like it did.
I bottomed once in a while on the nastiest of the nastiest of bumps. That's the way it should be so you know you are using the whole suspension.

 

[actionjack]

Can you just have another plate, stronger of course fabricated to cover that area and support the mounts? I’d be looking to do that as an option.

Which parts need to be swapped?
Cat RR parts bolt right in? Part numbers?

 

[stevewithOCD]

What’s the ‘first’ time you broke? Your title says again?

I broke the front sway bar the 2 weeks before.

 

[74Nitro]

Saw the exact thing happen on a 2013 Cat non turbo just last month on our trip North. We noticed the tunnel starting to bend at the front bolts. Luckily the trails were smooth and he was able to get to a Cat dealer in Timmins, but set us back half a day. It's unacceptable that this same shaft hasn't been upgraded in some way over that many years.

 

[stevewithOCD]

Can you just have another plate, stronger of course fabricated to cover that area and support the mounts? I’d be looking to do that as an option.

Which parts need to be swapped?
Cat RR parts bolt right in? Part numbers?

I thought of this. I could make it stronger & have it powder coated. I think for resale, a whole new tunnel will be best.
What are the other beefed up RR parts? I may need to get them all.....

 

[stevewithOCD]

If you can/have the ability to do the labor yourself in the off season that tunnel piece I believe is only around $550

If insurance won't cover it, this may be an option. I just am not in the mood to rip this thing completely apart.
On the flip side, i can go through things myself since i don't trust many anymore. I may even move the motor.