Broken W arm

Jeff22

Jeff22

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
69
Age
44
Location
PEI Canada
finally got a new chain in my Viper and got it working. Yesterday noticed the track was ratcheting and knew it shouldn't be loose... lifted it up today and noticed the W arm is broken in 2 pieces, the bottom corner on the left broke right off. So now while i look at the snow outside i'm gonna pull the skid and get the welder out and patch her up.......Only 65 kms on the sled this year,, and i've had broken chains, broken wires, broken suspension parts,,, rough year on the sled for having no snow.
 
broken w arm

same thing happened to my 1998 srx, the sled came down off
a road aproach. didn't notice it 'til it was home. If you weld it up
strong remeber something else will break. just thought you'd like
to hear from some one this happened too.
good luck!
 
I bought the sled last year,, and sad to say,, i was stupid enough to never even look under it. I spend so much time with my camaro the sled got kinda neglected. I kept it real clean, but never looked it over at all. When I pulled the skid out today i noticed, there are no limiter straps in it at all. Previous owner removed them. Would this make life even harder on the W arm?? Anyway, the skid is out of the sled, I'm going to go over it well and replace any bearings or anything that need it,, maybe some new slides, etc. Probably go through BEtheVipers tighting of the skid,,he seems to have some great ideas on tighting the proactions up. All in all, after I weld the W arm back together, get some straps,, replace any worn parts,, and set up my suspension properly following BetheVipers articles,,, I'll have a much better riding sled.
 
Saw two SRX's on the trailside with the same problem today, same place was broken. :(. Actually the DOA count today was three Yamahas and one Doo. Bad day for the good guys.
 
Just like me and my SRX I just bought.Didn't check the skid to see what is happening with it.It had a broken w-arm..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and the bushings and washer on each end where not there.Had a lot of side play.The rails are worn out just before the bend.As if some one was running the sled with the sliders worn right off...crazy man.Mounting bracket on one side for the w-arm was broken and the other bent.
Why would someone take off the limiter straps anyways? WEIRD MAN!!!.With a lot of other things I am finding,the previous owner must of been nuts.He sure was rough with the sled.I am a little pissed off how much it is costing me now to fix things.Some sellers are just plain con artists I'll tell ya.
 
Pictures available in Yamaha section of snowmobile fanatics website

Looked like a possible fix

"As for W-Arms, we have about 5 around the shop and ALL of them are either welded to hell or they have a crack in it. This is due to the fact of bottoming out the suspension and the energy needs to go somewhere so the W-arm will crack and break. You are better off running without those rubber boots in there because it gives your W-arm that much more room to stop it's motiion. We just made up some aluminum ones that we are going to test out very shortly. 3.9 pounds lighter with the W-arm alone."
 
So how much pre-load do you want on the front shock then.You don't want it to stiff and it won't compress..thus putting pressure back towards w-arm.Mine is set at a 0 pre-load.
 
Last edited:
i've seen 3 broken in the last year my srx my dad's sxr and my buddy's viper none right through though just cracks starting. one suggestion i have is to just buy either a new or used one that way if it breaks on the sled all you have to do is swap it out for the good one then get the other one welded later. this way there's less down time. you can easily pull the skid swap the arm and put her back together in an hour if you've done it a few times. this way your whole trip isn't shot trying to get it welded.
 
If you guys weld gussets in a new w arm put a longer shock in with a lighter spring like the one here out of a rxi it will be fixed for good.3 seasons on this with lots of poundings...no cracks.
215_1568.jpg
 
Man thats ugly!! I've replaced mine this year, after 15k km. Was cracked. I have 136" and run 0 preload on my front shock, rear cranked in about 1" past stock and straps cranked in aboot 30mm. I wouldnt repair, replace ,cost aboot $220 cdn.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


Back
Top