Tether Fail with Pics. Season over...

theletup · Feb 5, 2013

So my season is over after today's double fail. Throttle stuck wide open so i pulled the tether and tether failed to shut down the sled. Bucked me and bombed straight into a tree about 100 feet away... she's done for.

Pretty bummed that my tether didn't kill the sled... just sucks when you're standing there watching your sled side hill away from you and there's nothing you can do to stop it. Thing was wide open until the tree won. I couldn't believe it.

Hit at about 50 or so at least. Still wide open. Accordion tunnel, busted bulkhead, obliterated a-arms, broken shock, broken bumper, over structure destroyed, steering post snapped off, crushed pipe, broken/cracked engine, all plastics done, headlight busted out and that's just what I could spot without taking anything apart. Can't understand why the throttle stuck in the first place which wouldn't have been a big deal but you can imagine my surprise when I pulled the tether and she just gained speed instead of stopping.

The picture with me standing in the background is how far the sled traveled before impact. Strung her all back together with some utility line I've been carrying around for the past 2 years so we could tow it out. Luckily we were above a road when it happened right before popping over a ridge into a bowl so it was pretty easy to get it out. My first total experience so I'm pretty bummed out. Hopefully I can afford a new sled next year.

theletup · Feb 5, 2013

by the way 2011 pro for sale, minor damage

Snopro_69 · Feb 5, 2013

No insurance??

norsepeak · Feb 5, 2013

ouch! Been there myself. Had a new snowchecked 09 XP that I piled up with only 300 miles on it. Clipped a rock in a chute and got tossed, it kept going into a tree about half way down the chute. Sucked bad, but I had insurance, so they bought me a new sled, and I bought the wrecked one back from the insurance and then re-sold it within 5 min. for 1500 profit.

m8magicandmystery · Feb 5, 2013

tether stock or aftermarket...and did it work well on earlier occassions...testing etc..??

rubber cap type or clip type..??

wow..feel for ya...

akstormin · Feb 5, 2013

Man that sucks, hope its insured. I too am interested in why the tether failed. Like to hear your thoughts on that subject.

Steelman · Feb 6, 2013

I have a factory Polaris tether and would also like to hear more on it. I have been off mine a couple times and worked. Lets us know and man I feel sorry for you bud!!

snengineer · Feb 6, 2013

1-Do you have Insurance?

2- If no insurance then ask Polaris why the tether failed.....it would probably be a long road but it might get you some help.

Himark · Feb 6, 2013

That sux...Insurance on that new of sled I hope so. If no insurance and putting together on a budgit PM me I know a guy with a tunnel with minor damage.

theletup · Feb 6, 2013

Snopro_69 said:
No insurance??

I do have full coverage through State Farm. Sh!tty part about it is I'm only going to get about $7000 after deductible for a 2011 RMK 800. I don't have enough money for a new sled yet since I still owe $6500 on this one (bought new).

m8magicandmystery said:
tether stock or aftermarket...and did it work well on earlier occassions...testing etc..??

rubber cap type or clip type..??

wow..feel for ya...

It was an aftermarket "Pro Designs" clip style. I always test it every ride before taking off from the lot. In fact I usually just use it as my main kill switch and this is the first time it's failed all season. Right when i needed it most. I'm guessing it froze open and when the clip pulled it did not close all the way.

I normally never talk bad about products but I'm so god damn disappointed with this tether... And the throttle for that matter. I feel like calling Paul (Sled Solutions) and telling him he should stop selling these things. I used to think they were the best and tried to get all my friends to use them even.

Himark · Feb 6, 2013

take the cash keep the salvage and fix it yourself. You will have left over money to use for sledding and or upgrades. *(maybe a better tether

)

Blown Motor · Feb 6, 2013

Ya send it to insurance and buy it back. You could be riding that thing for less than a 1k bucks I would say and enjoy the rest of the season, duct tape her up, black gorilla tape looks pretty sweet on plastic haha. (Doesnt look like tunnel has damage)

summ8rmk · Feb 6, 2013

Possibly not the tether.
I broke the vacume line to the fuel pump on my old 583. I started the sled up and it went full throttle , I hit the kill switch and nothing! I turned off the key and nothing! I yanked the sparkplug wires off and still nothing! For almost 30 seconds all I could do is just stare at the sled in disbelief!
I kept asking myslef how the hell can this thing still be running and what can I do before it blows up? My guess is that with the vacuum leak that it was so lean the cylinder temp was hot enough to ignite what fuel was left in the carbs.
Luckily I had the belt off!

Blu Du · Feb 6, 2013

my friend put a a tether on his 2012 pro too. it was motorcycle tether that wasn't design to get wet and froze. he was haveing trouble all winter with it not shuting off when he pulled it.i bet money you have the same tether too

tdbaugha · Feb 6, 2013

Ive been having problems with my Pro-Design all winter. Pull the clip and it doesn't shut off. If you push the "plunger" in it will shut off. Must not be making good connection.

I called Pro-Design on Monday to tell them what was up. He tells me "There is no way that is happening. We have been making them for 20 something years and have not had one fail..." I told him I could send him a video of it not working and he said don't bother, he's not replacing it.

theletup · Feb 6, 2013

tdbaugha said:
Ive been having problems with my Pro-Design all winter. Pull the clip and it doesn't shut off. If you push the "plunger" in it will shut off. Must not be making good connection.

I called Pro-Design on Monday to tell them what was up. He tells me "There is no way that is happening. We have been making them for 20 something years and have not had one fail..." I told him I could send him a video of it not working and he said don't bother, he's not replacing it.

Well that's really good customer service

Yeah I had read of some people having problems but mine always worked find until yesterday so I figured maybe it was a bad batch or something. I think snow probably gets inside and keeps it from making full contact? IDK? Doesn't matter to me at this point but I would hate to see the same thing (or worse) happen to anyone else. Looking into it more though I think I probably should have had mine mounted differently. I have mine mounted horizontally to the console and it probably should be mounted upside down (don't know if it would really make all that big of a difference). I'll post a pic of how mine is mounted. My buddy has had his mounted the same as mine for 2 seasons and it works perfect every time. We even tried packing a bunch of snow all over it yesterday to try to get it to fail and it still worked just fine. ? Luck of the draw I guess?

On another note:

I think I did find the reason for the throttle sticking open. When I was coming around the first tree (the one I'm standing next to in the picture about 100 feet away), I think one of the branches clipped the bottom of the bolt that mounts the flipper causing a bend in the mounting/swivel bolt. So when I let off the throttle it must have held the flipper open. This is the only thing I can come up with as the handle bars were not hit by the second tree and after looking at the sled the bolt is bent and throttle sticks badly every time now.

Oh and I walked into my garage this morning and realized I DO have a back up sled. Check it out!

PJ-Hunter · Feb 6, 2013

There has gotta be a way for warranty to kick in. Didn't the Prolaris's have a 5 year warranty? And the tether failed? I think Poo should do something.

rmscustom · Feb 6, 2013

tdbaugha said:
Ive been having problems with my Pro-Design all winter. Pull the clip and it doesn't shut off. If you push the "plunger" in it will shut off. Must not be making good connection.

I called Pro-Design on Monday to tell them what was up. He tells me "There is no way that is happening. We have been making them for 20 something years and have not had one fail..." I told him I could send him a video of it not working and he said don't bother, he's not replacing it.

Mine does the same thing.

SledsWest · Feb 6, 2013

PJ-Hunter said:
There has gotta be a way for warranty to kick in. Didn't the Prolaris's have a 5 year warranty? And the tether failed? I think Poo should do something.

Ya right. as soon as you tell them you installed an aftermarket tether...they'll laugh and tell you good luck.....

wag13 · Feb 6, 2013

tdbaugha said:
Ive been having problems with my Pro-Design all winter. Pull the clip and it doesn't shut off. If you push the "plunger" in it will shut off. Must not be making good connection.

I called Pro-Design on Monday to tell them what was up. He tells me "There is no way that is happening. We have been making them for 20 something years and have not had one fail..." I told him I could send him a video of it not working and he said don't bother, he's not replacing it.

rmscustom said:
Mine does the same thing.

sounds to me like Pro-Design's product isn't as "bullet proof" as they believe it to be.

Tether Fail with Pics. Season over...

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