Faulty parts + tree =

[Lomax]

This is my buddys less than 2 month old Polaris 500 Sportsman. Saturday night he was heading back to the truck on a dirt road at around 50 mph when the left A-Arm bolt broke and he lost all steering control. I looked it over very well and determined that it broke before the crash, It is the last picture in the lineup. Oh, and other than bruises, he is fine.

[MTS]

I swear them Polaris 500's are CURSED......i rolled one not to long ago.......Have also Snaped the Bolts out of the rear A Arm too, not to mention Strip the output shaft out of the rear diff on one side.......and Burned up the motor.......There Frickin Junk as far as im concend....LOL, But if i was your Friend there i would Be Ripping your Dealer a new one.....New quad up front RFN!!!:lol:

[wheelie king]

WIthout Wickedfinger jumping our ass for saying stuff about Polaris........

I gotta say, par for the course. I was waiting at the parts counter at the local Polaris/Yamaha dealer, and there was a guy speaking with a salesman about a Grizzly vs. Sportsman. The salesman's comment- in a chuckle- was " if you go with the Polaris, you better get an extended warranty".....no kidding.........that's pathetic. I just laughed.

To me, that speaks volumes. The salesman works on commission, and was trying to sell the Grizzly, which was LESS expensive that the Sportsman. Too bad.

[MTS]

WIthout Wickedfinger jumping our ass for saying stuff about Polaris........

I gotta say, par for the course. I was waiting at the parts counter at the local Polaris/Yamaha dealer, and there was a guy speaking with a salesman about a Grizzly vs. Sportsman. The salesman's comment- in a chuckle- was " if you go with the Polaris, you better get an extended warranty".....no kidding.........that's pathetic. I just laughed.

To me, that speaks volumes. The salesman works on commission, and was trying to sell the Grizzly, which was LESS expensive that the Sportsman. Too bad.
That sounds bout right!!! my Uncle Sure wish's he had bought a grizzly now insted of that 500 for a farm quad.....I Told him so.....:lol:

[250r'en +TCB]

I trust polaris ATV's................. as far as I can throw one!!! hahaha they are such unreliable POS's!!!!
Polaris makes GREAT snowmobiles!!! And that is what they should stick to!!

[85hondaatc125m]

lets not get into this again
http://www.3wheelerworldforums.com/showthread.php?t=1640&highlight=polaris+sucks
I think any quad will be faulty, but it just so happen to be a polaris this time

[MTS]

lets not get into this again
http://www.3wheelerworldforums.com/showthread.php?t=1640&highlight=polaris+sucks
I think any quad will be faulty, but it just so happen to be a polaris this time
Yea but the 500 sportsman Dose seem to have an abundance of Problems......:lol:

[bkipker2009]

ok i see it must be pick on polaris week. ill let you know that i have a 1999 polaris 500 it has tooken me every where i need to go and more. 3000+miles and only one time it let me down but still got me home when i atempited to jump a 45ft tabletop at very high speeds. i also take it mud bogging weekly through 3.5 ft mud/water.it has never left me stranded. and rides like a cadillac. goes through 4 ft snow drifts look like a boat through water.faster and better ridding than most not all trikes.ask cragster he will tell you that this is a pretty damn dependable quad. i also know a guy that had a 05 griz after 30 miles the left rear tire assembly fell of when he was riding. so i end this speach with a slap in the face and a *Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited* i aint yo babys daddy ha ha

[Tri-ZNate]

Man the more and more I look at the polaris quads the lack of quality shows more and more. Like TBC said their snowmobiles are GREAT but their quads suck big time.

[smokinwrench]

[QUOTE=Lomax] when the left A-Arm bolt broke and he lost all steering control. I looked it over very well and determined that it broke before the crash, QUOTE]

How did you determine the bolt broke before the crash?

I have to take failure analysis classes, so I can determine what caused failures on Caterpillar equipment. I agree that the bolt broke to cause that crash. The problem I see with that is to me it appears it is an impact break. Which means it had been in a severe hard impact, such as a tree while riding some high speed trails. He just happened to be going 50 mph down a smooth road when it finally gave loose from the a arm and popped out of place.

If you look how that bolt broke you can see how it is sheared. A sheared bolt like that didn't just happen on its own.

[MTS]

ok i see it must be pick on polaris week. ill let you know that i have a 1999 polaris 500 it has tooken me every where i need to go and more. 3000+miles and only one time it let me down but still got me home when i atempited to jump a 45ft tabletop at very high speeds. i also take it mud bogging weekly through 3.5 ft mud/water.it has never left me stranded. and rides like a cadillac. goes through 4 ft snow drifts look like a boat through water.faster and better ridding than most not all trikes.ask cragster he will tell you that this is a pretty damn dependable quad. i also know a guy that had a 05 griz after 30 miles the left rear tire assembly fell of when he was riding. so i end this speach with a slap in the face and a *Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited* i aint yo babys daddy ha ha
If his rear wheels feel off that is not a Manufacture defect, that is Improper PDI at the dealership when it was put togther, ;) And the one i have had Problems with is a 02 with well over 15k on it......

[Lomax]

[QUOTE=Lomax] when the left A-Arm bolt broke and he lost all steering control. I looked it over very well and determined that it broke before the crash, QUOTE]

How did you determine the bolt broke before the crash?

I have to take failure analysis classes, so I can determine what caused failures on Caterpillar equipment. I agree that the bolt broke to cause that crash. The problem I see with that is to me it appears it is an impact break. Which means it had been in a severe hard impact, such as a tree while riding some high speed trails. He just happened to be going 50 mph down a smooth road when it finally gave loose from the a arm and popped out of place.

If you look how that bolt broke you can see how it is sheared. A sheared bolt like that didn't just happen on its own.

That side of the ATV took no impact. The side that hit anything and everything was the right side, not the left. My guess is that it didnt break going down a smmoth road but rather on the trail somewhere (and the bolt might have just fell out instead of broke, the peice that holds that answer is actually missing), on the road is where it happened to work its way completly out of the A-Arm. When the bolt came out, the front of the A-arm then kicked outwards and forewards, inturn snapping off the sleeve that I took a picture of causing the front tire to go into some other interesting position and then all control of steering was gone. Quad then meets tree.

[Lomax]

If you look how that bolt broke you can see how it is sheared. A sheared bolt like that didn't just happen on its own.

I like a Polaris quad myself, but they seem to use some "less than qualitly" bolts on there quads and I have seen bolts break off for no real reason in the rear suspension so I am going to say it could happen in the front. On its own, prolly not, with extremelly little help, very possible.

[Somekindofjerk]

The outlaw they are making now is awsome, if i had the money i would buy one. Never ridden a fully manual or manual polaris at all for that matter but this thing looks crazy as hell!

[cragster]

ok i see it must be pick on polaris week. ill let you know that i have a 1999 polaris 500 it has tooken me every where i need to go and more. 3000+miles and only one time it let me down but still got me home when i atempited to jump a 45ft tabletop at very high speeds. i also take it mud bogging weekly through 3.5 ft mud/water.it has never left me stranded. and rides like a cadillac. goes through 4 ft snow drifts look like a boat through water.faster and better ridding than most not all trikes.ask cragster he will tell you that this is a pretty damn dependable quad. i also know a guy that had a 05 griz after 30 miles the left rear tire assembly fell of when he was riding. so i end this speach with a slap in the face and a *Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited* i aint yo babys daddy ha ha

Which reminds me..dont smoke crack! Lol but yeah that 4 wheeler has been a good one. Beau treats that thing like a rich kid on a beeter 200s