my broken W arm *More pics added*

[STORM-CHASER]

I was reading another post that says the the 07 rtx arm will fit. it is all reinforced. here is a link to the post
http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php?t=37962

 

[garserio]

This is just getting ridiculous... For the past 3 season I have been posting all my breakdowns: Broken W-Arms, Blown Shocks, Bent Tunnels, Warped Idler Wheels, Bent Mud Flaps, Ripped Seats, Worn out Bulkhead Bushings, and Leaky Exhaust Donuts. I have spent countless hours repairing and building custom parts to solve all of the issues. I have been very patient with my misfortune, but this is the end of my rope with my Vector and its PROACTIVE suspension. The only thing proactive about it is guaranteed revenue generation for the Yamaha Parts & Accessory Division.

During my last ride, I noticed a shift in ride quality and thought that it was time to rebuild the rear shocks. Well, the problem was clear. My entire rear suspension was trashed. (Another) broken W-Arm that I customized to be stronger (It did last 2X longer but ultimately failed like the stock one, just not catastrophically), snapped the center triangular link, sheared off both ends of the tube on the rear arm, and both slide rails cracked by the bump stops. Yes, I do ride aggressively on rough trails, but i don't Snow-X the sled or jump it.

The fact is simple, Yamaha has a lot of work to do in the area of metallurgy, welding and stress analysis. If it weren't for the sweet 4-stroke powertrain, I would leave Yamaha for good!

So, this is my final attempt at repairing this ill-fated skid... I have Hygear Suspension tuning my shocks to minimize bottoming (Which I believe is one of the top factors in arm breakage) and adding their linkage kit to de-couple the front shock from the rear one. This solution should remove alot of stress from the center pivot link arm assy that is so prone to breaking. I am also going to weld my slide rails and perform my W-Arm beef-up again. I will post pics of this final solution. It is going to be expensive though... Probably $1500 by the time I'm done with repair parts and mods. If this fails, I break my tradition of brand loyalty and graft in the proven Ski-Doo SC10-III. Stay tuned...

 

[RSVECTORFREAK]

Well I'm looking at the same scenario but mine didn't break totally just saw the cracks by the welds while it was in the back of my truck. I was going to take it out and weld the gussets on and go but now I'm wondering if I should just replace the whole skid again. I was just ready to buy the new rear shocks and ride but at this point a new XTX or 800 R is looking better..

 

[Groomerdriver]

Well I'm looking at the same scenario but mine didn't break totally just saw the cracks by the welds while it was in the back of my truck. I was going to take it out and weld the gussets on and go but now I'm wondering if I should just replace the whole skid again. I was just ready to buy the new rear shocks and ride but at this point a new XTX or 800 R is looking better..

Make sure you test ride the XP chassis! Best bud has the 800 in his XP Doo.....WOW....what a great ride!!!!

 

[Snakebit]

This is just getting ridiculous... For the past 3 season I have been posting all my breakdowns: Broken W-Arms, Blown Shocks, Bent Tunnels, Warped Idler Wheels, Bent Mud Flaps, Ripped Seats, Worn out Bulkhead Bushings, and Leaky Exhaust Donuts. I have spent countless hours repairing and building custom parts to solve all of the issues. I have been very patient with my misfortune, but this is the end of my rope with my Vector and its PROACTIVE suspension. The only thing proactive about it is guaranteed revenue generation for the Yamaha Parts & Accessory Division.

During my last ride, I noticed a shift in ride quality and thought that it was time to rebuild the rear shocks. Well, the problem was clear. My entire rear suspension was trashed. (Another) broken W-Arm that I customized to be stronger (It did last 2X longer but ultimately failed like the stock one, just not catastrophically), snapped the center triangular link, sheared off both ends of the tube on the rear arm, and both slide rails cracked by the bump stops. Yes, I do ride aggressively on rough trails, but i don't Snow-X the sled or jump it.

The fact is simple, Yamaha has a lot of work to do in the area of metallurgy, welding and stress analysis. If it weren't for the sweet 4-stroke powertrain, I would leave Yamaha for good!

So, this is my final attempt at repairing this ill-fated skid... I have Hygear Suspension tuning my shocks to minimize bottoming (Which I believe is one of the top factors in arm breakage) and adding their linkage kit to de-couple the front shock from the rear one. This solution should remove alot of stress from the center pivot link arm assy that is so prone to breaking. I am also going to weld my slide rails and perform my W-Arm beef-up again. I will post pics of this final solution. It is going to be expensive though... Probably $1500 by the time I'm done with repair parts and mods. If this fails, I break my tradition of brand loyalty and graft in the proven Ski-Doo SC10-III. Stay tuned...

That looks like my rear to a tee, right down to the small cracks on the rails.

I had 3 breakages over the 3 winters.

 

[RSVECTORFREAK]

Well after tearing the skid out last night I found out that pretty much the whole skid is shot!! Both rails are cracked, 3 of the wheels are toast, pivot arm fell into 3 pieces, shock mount cracked...Time for a new skid...Sucks because we got the highest snowfall in my area in 10 years and no sled!! Hopefully they made vast improvements on the newer CK ProActive because the old one is good for 4000 miles and it's junk..

 

[Groomerdriver]

Well after tearing the skid out last night I found out that pretty much the whole skid is shot!! Both rails are cracked, 3 of the wheels are toast, pivot arm fell into 3 pieces, shock mount cracked...Time for a new skid...Sucks because we got the highest snowfall in my area in 10 years and no sled!! Hopefully they made vast improvements on the newer CK ProActive because the old one is good for 4000 miles and it's junk..

Not that you'd want to go this way but I saw a ProAvtive for sale in the Classifieds area. $450 if memory serves....and I think it's off a Nytro which menas it'll have a gas shock......and probably broken weld and cracked parts too.

How can anybody put up with this crap! I'd be going postal!

I feel for you!!!!

 

[RSVECTORFREAK]

So how does the vector do with a m-10 in it??

 

[Groomerdriver]

So how does the vector do with a m-10 in it??

I absolutely love it! Perfect for my style of riding (trail cruizing). MPG's went down to 16-17 range but I can live with that. If I hadn't put the M-10 in, I would've traded in the sled the following year.

My complaints about the stock skid were pretty well documented I thought.

I've since added red "spinny" looking Polaris wheels to the entire skid.

 

[mtkaboater]

During my pre-season skid inspection I noticed a crack in a weld in the upper front pivot arm on my 06 Vector. I have 8,000 miles on this machine. A buddy re-welded it. After my first ride of the season I checked it and the crack was back only worse. Did some reading on TY and discovered that many others had the issue mostly those with 05's. Mine was an early 06. Checked in the replacement part -- $300.10 from SHS. But by now Yamaha already knew the had a problem because the part number has been updated. The original part number is: 8FT-47331-00-00. The updated part is: 99999-03774-00. Here are some before and after pics comparing the old and new parts: