I've been getting a lot of PM's with questions about the bonded A-arms on the 2013-2014 & 2015 PRO RMK's.
In 2013 Polaris moved to a lighter lower A-arm for the PRO (only) models. The top arm went unchanged from previous years.
This different lower A-Arm, as most know, is steel/aluminum bonded hybrid design. In 2013, there were many that experienced separation of the cast aluminum end piece and the steel tube. Some of these were from accidents or "glancing" side blows to the ski like from a tree/stump or rock...but to be fair, some of the failures were from adhesive failures.
Good news is that for 2014, it seems that Polaris worked on some minor design changes (no holes for water to enter)...adhesive injection hole location, QC and changed production methods seemed to have been adjusted. I noticed, overall, that the 2014's have more adhesive squeeze-out.
For 2014, there were not the same amount of complaints of failures and I'd expect that for the 2015's.
Where a welded A-arm (on 2011/12 or the std RMK models thru 2014 plus the 2015 Std. RMK non-snowcheck models)... would bend or break from a hard hit... the bonded lower A-arms can also bend or break or have the adhesive bond fail and separate.... Again...this separation is much less apparent on the 2014+ models. The most common bond failures are caused by hitting a rock/stump/ice chunk hard on the side of the ski that gives a sharp shock load to the joint.
Although anything IS possible... I do not recommend that the consumer try to repair a bonded A-arm. Rivets or bolts simply are not up to the task and may fail catastrophically on you in the field by placing undue "hot spot" loading on the casting or tube... and similarly, I dont recommend that you attempt to repair them with adhesive as they have to have all of the original adhesive removed, prepped/cleaned properly, fixtured and the adhesive injected in the right amount at the right temp.
That being said, if you have a 2013 Bonded A-arm... I DO recommend that you block off any welding gaps or holes from manufacturing with a good RTV sealant AFTER you ensure that all water is dried from the inside of the tubes.
Now we get on to replacing your A-Arms.
Some have asked, "Can I just use a welded A-Arm from a 2011/2012?..
The answer there is NO. That A-Arm requires you to use a shock that is almost one inch longer than the that on the bonded A-arms.
The factory Replacement bonded A-arms are currently at around $340 each MSRP with a "street price" of around $280 each. This comes complete with new ball joint ($46 msrp), 4 bushings ($1.20ea, msrp), and 2 andodized pivot shafts with nuts ($20ea msrp).
Aftermarket options for replacing ONLY the lower A-arms, and retaining your stock length 2013/14/15 shocks... are Timbersled SRA (stock replacement arms) and Alternative impact lower arms... $175 and $223, respectively.
Both brands require you to re-use or replace the stock bushings and pivots and the Timbersled requires you to use re-use or replace the ball joint from your stock units.
Complete A-arms kits (a 4 arms.. 2 upper/2 lower) that use the stock length 2013/14/15 16-5/8" shocks are available from Z-Broz, K-Mod, Timbersled and Alternative Impact.
These would be "bolt on" replacements... though the Z-Broz would be best run with the shock-eyelet lengthening kit to have the shock length correct.
.
.
In 2013 Polaris moved to a lighter lower A-arm for the PRO (only) models. The top arm went unchanged from previous years.
This different lower A-Arm, as most know, is steel/aluminum bonded hybrid design. In 2013, there were many that experienced separation of the cast aluminum end piece and the steel tube. Some of these were from accidents or "glancing" side blows to the ski like from a tree/stump or rock...but to be fair, some of the failures were from adhesive failures.
Good news is that for 2014, it seems that Polaris worked on some minor design changes (no holes for water to enter)...adhesive injection hole location, QC and changed production methods seemed to have been adjusted. I noticed, overall, that the 2014's have more adhesive squeeze-out.
For 2014, there were not the same amount of complaints of failures and I'd expect that for the 2015's.
Where a welded A-arm (on 2011/12 or the std RMK models thru 2014 plus the 2015 Std. RMK non-snowcheck models)... would bend or break from a hard hit... the bonded lower A-arms can also bend or break or have the adhesive bond fail and separate.... Again...this separation is much less apparent on the 2014+ models. The most common bond failures are caused by hitting a rock/stump/ice chunk hard on the side of the ski that gives a sharp shock load to the joint.
Although anything IS possible... I do not recommend that the consumer try to repair a bonded A-arm. Rivets or bolts simply are not up to the task and may fail catastrophically on you in the field by placing undue "hot spot" loading on the casting or tube... and similarly, I dont recommend that you attempt to repair them with adhesive as they have to have all of the original adhesive removed, prepped/cleaned properly, fixtured and the adhesive injected in the right amount at the right temp.
That being said, if you have a 2013 Bonded A-arm... I DO recommend that you block off any welding gaps or holes from manufacturing with a good RTV sealant AFTER you ensure that all water is dried from the inside of the tubes.
Now we get on to replacing your A-Arms.
Some have asked, "Can I just use a welded A-Arm from a 2011/2012?..
The answer there is NO. That A-Arm requires you to use a shock that is almost one inch longer than the that on the bonded A-arms.
The factory Replacement bonded A-arms are currently at around $340 each MSRP with a "street price" of around $280 each. This comes complete with new ball joint ($46 msrp), 4 bushings ($1.20ea, msrp), and 2 andodized pivot shafts with nuts ($20ea msrp).
Aftermarket options for replacing ONLY the lower A-arms, and retaining your stock length 2013/14/15 shocks... are Timbersled SRA (stock replacement arms) and Alternative impact lower arms... $175 and $223, respectively.
Both brands require you to re-use or replace the stock bushings and pivots and the Timbersled requires you to use re-use or replace the ball joint from your stock units.
Complete A-arms kits (a 4 arms.. 2 upper/2 lower) that use the stock length 2013/14/15 16-5/8" shocks are available from Z-Broz, K-Mod, Timbersled and Alternative Impact.
These would be "bolt on" replacements... though the Z-Broz would be best run with the shock-eyelet lengthening kit to have the shock length correct.
.
.
Last edited:
