viper s w-arm

blueblooded

blueblooded

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May 16, 2003
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Lockport ny
I just picked up my new viper s today and was wondering if the w arm on the viper is better than the one on the srx's?I must have broke the w arm on my 01 srx 4 times.I had it reinforced with chromoly plating and it still broke.Should i buy the reinforced w arm from maximum performance or is the viper one less likely to break?
 

it will break.... i don't have the S model, mine is an 02 and it broke. the only thing better on the S is the Ohlins in the front, and i think they have clicker shocks in the rear. same proaction skid though. i am on my second, and if this one goes, i'm gonna get the maximum performance one
 
All the years I have had the proaction skids I have only broke one...I have removed the bump stops and let the shock rubber stopper and the coils bottoming stop the front arm....like they did when the proaction 1st came out. The use to have bad shock caps and that was their fix....but they since have change the shock caps....just my 2 cents...
 
I perceive that many of the broken W-arms are largely due to adjustment. If the springs and shocks are not allowed to absorb the energy generated by large bumps or landings, something else has to.
 
i always install bearings in thefront shock of my sleds skids, this cures the problem, as the shock bottoms out when the arm bottoms out. the stock bushings are very loose when it was new. they only get worse. this causes the shock to bottom out after the arm bottoms overextending the arm. the arm goes from this extreem to the other which is the straps trying to bend the arm the other way. this is why srxes break more arms. they have a dam stiff spring in the front. the first couple years these sleds had alot of preload on this spring and on the straps. 2000 and newer had less preload and were better but still the same stiff spring pounding the straps and trying to bend the arm back.
just a thought.
 
W Arm

I replied to your post on Amsnow but I see the post has rapidly been ruined by some of the morons that frequent that site. Anyway, when the W Arm broke on my '00 SRX during the first season I beefed it up over the summer and had no problems after that in over 8000 miles. I took 1" x 1/16" flat stock and welded it down the entire length of the outer edges of the W Arm. I also did the same on the inside edges of the arm where I could get at it. I then overlayed all of the factory welds and gusseted some of the corners. It took me a few hours but it never failed after that. I did 3 others just like this and none have broken since. If you have access to a welder I'd say weld the crap out of it and you should be fine.
 
In my opinon you would have to be doing some crazy stuff to break it. I rode the crap out mine and never had a problem with anything breaking.
 
Thanks for the replies- i guess i'll just try not to abuse my sled to bad and keep an eye on it.I bought this sled so i can rip threw the rough stuff and be able to keep up with my buddies on zr's and revs,now i gotta baby it so i dont break anything?I hope not!
 
I've heard that if your control rods are set for a lot of weight transfer you lose your coupling and the front arm gets a lot more abuse? I don't know if this is true but I remember someone telling me that. I pounded on my srx way harder than I probably should have and never broke my W arm but when riding I usually kept the control rods from transfering a lot of weight.
 
The W-Arm is what essentially holds the shocks in places and allows for there to be a Suspension. Here is a picture of a W-arm here

http://www.maxxperf.com/W_Arm.jpg

We at www.Cbperformanceparts.com have just made some prototypes of some "H-Arms" to lighten up the rear suspension. This "H arm" weight 2 1/4 pounds where as the stock W arms weighs 8 1/4 pounds as we measured yesterday. We are going to be putting these in some of our selds this year but they seem pretty strong. They are amde of hardened aluminum and I will let you know how they work in the rear suspension, BTW this "H arm" just replaces the "W arm" but in the process, it drops your sled 6 pounds, I will let you know how it works out.

Damn, you beat me to it! LOL
 
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