W-Arm Cracks

[Vmax4]

Wondering if any one can tell me where to look to see if my W-Arm is cracked? Does it happen near a weld, or at some particular point? Anyone have a picture of there brocken arm?

thanks,
Steve

 

[RX1 Yooper]

Steve,
It's good to inspect the whole sled, but I wouldn't worry too much about the arm. I think the people breaking them are abusing the machine, otherwise Yamaha would have reinforced them. If I wanted to break my sled, I could do it in 5 minutes. There is a limit to what any machine will take. Did you see that in that recent comtest to drive vehicles across the desert by computer had a Humvee broke an axle after a few miles?

 

[SIMMER]

It's not an abuse thing...it't a problem that Yamaha has with these sleds but cannot accurately admit.

Yamaha determines what are considered "occasional problems" vs. "actual updates" based on the number of parts ordered through their system.

EXAMPLE: If they see that there were 1000 fuel pumps for a 2003 RX1 being ordered it would send up a red flag in their system and they determine what the issues are and notify the owners/dealers of a potential problem.

The reason why the W-Arm slipped through these types of "red flags" is because most dealers and most of us who have caught these problems simply weld the W-Arms up and re-inforce them BEFORE they break. My dealer included... :roll: So yes it is a problem and yes you need to check the W-Arm for even the tiniest of cracks along the welds...you will see that the cracks may be filled with the color of rust and that is the start of the problem. Mine had hairlines and I never abused my sled. My dealer welded strips of steel along the sides of the W-Arm and I had no problems. OR you can simply wait till yours snaps and "FEED" Yamaha's system for them. :wink: My dealer did mine for free so it was well worth it.

 

[blueblooded]

No way is an abuse thing.I beat the hell out of my zr's and mach z and never broke a thing,i baby my srx when the trail gets rough and the w arm still keeps breaking,it should of been reinforced from the factory.

 

[BlueBlood]

I've bottomed out really hard with mine more than my share, and hit some pretty hard stuff where it felt like the sled was going to break in half. So far the W-arm is intact and no cracks, but I'm definitely keeping an eye on it.

 

[Mikey]

Wish I wouldve read this post before I posted on this subject on another post

 

[RX-1MAN]

Both my SRX and RX-1 broke in the same place. Just ahead of the rubber bumpers on each side at the cross piece the limiter staps go around. Both replaced under warranty so I guess they are in the system now.

 

[Vmax4]

Anyone get them replaced after your sled was out of warranty

Wondering if yamaha has goodwilled any W-Arms for people that are out of warranty???

Thanks,
Steve

 

[4Fighter]

Re: Anyone get them replaced after your sled was out of warr

Wondering if yamaha has goodwilled any W-Arms for people that are out of warranty???

Thanks,
Steve

Hopefully, I'll find out today?

 

[ReX]

Steve,
It's good to inspect the whole sled, but I wouldn't worry too much about the arm. I think the people breaking them are abusing the machine, otherwise Yamaha would have reinforced them. If I wanted to break my sled, I could do it in 5 minutes. There is a limit to what any machine will take. Did you see that in that recent comtest to drive vehicles across the desert by computer had a Humvee broke an axle after a few miles?

Hang on now - Abusing the sled??...

If Yamaha has a totally different definition of how a sled should be ridden compared to Polaris, Cat, and Skidoo I might agree with you. I don't see anything in the literature or advertisements that state you have to ride a Yamaha on smoother trails and at lower speeds than all the rest.

I personally have never broken a single suspension component in 28 years of sledding on Polaris and Skidoo machines. No cracked slide rails, no broken suspension arms - nothing. I did typically go through 1-2 sets of idler bearings per season and the odd idler wheel - but could change just the bearings ($5 vs $68 on the Yamaha). All of my previous sleds have at a minimum of 15,000 kms on them before I move on (typically because the engines need another crank, clutches are toast, etc.).

This is my first Yamaha and the 3rd pivot arm (w-arm) is cracked again, the slide rails are cracked, the 4th set of idler wheels are shot and one fell off, the rear pivot arm is showing signs of failure, etc. All season I rode with Cat ZR's, Polaris XCR's, Skidoo Rev's, Skidoo Mach 1's and an 05 Vector. They ride the same trails at the same speed, hit the same bumps, get a little air off the same rises, and none of them have a single suspension problem.

If I pay almost $15,000 to buy a top performance sled, there is only one reason - to enjoy the performance and overall capability that the machine can provide. If I didn't want the performance, I'd buy a low performance sled and save my money.

 

[4Fighter]

Yooper,

I respectfully disagree with you about us abusing our sleds - unless you call riding E.U.P. MI trails abusing your machine. Compared to Canada, I would then.

ReX,

Am I reading your post correctly? :shock: 3rd W-arm and you have an 05 RX-1. What gives? Those ['04 & '05] are two totally different suspensions :?

 

[ReX]

ReX,

Am I reading your post correctly? :shock: 3rd W-arm and you have an 05 RX-1. What gives? Those ['04 & '05] are two totally different suspensions :?

http://www.rx1.info/viewtopic.php?t=13077

I noticed a small crack on my first one at 5300 kms. The second one broke at 9000 kms. The third one has a very small crack just starting at 10,300 kms. It doesn't look like it's going to actually break for a while, but I know where to look and looking closely the crack is already there.

 

[4Fighter]

And I see you ride in Canada so the trail conditions obviously account for nothing.

 

[ReX]

And I see you ride in Canada so the trail conditions obviously account for nothing.

We do have bumpy trails too.

 

[scott boddie]

w arm broken

my w arm broke in half last weekend and i was 20 miles from home i drove very slow trying not to hit any bumps i did make it home i bought a new one reinforced one i have 2990 miles on sled while changing w arm i looked at all other parts ALL of my bushings are just about worn out completely all w arm ones gone down to metal i always grease sled at least 4 times a season all front end bushings completely gone also shock ones not even there so check these over good i thought yamaha was a very good sled ?i looked at my arctic cat 2 up 4500 miles every thing still looks new i ride same trails just as hard whats up yamaha !!!