Dave...any idea what is causing the bends? So far from what I have seen only guys jumping are bending them. Not saying they shouldn't be jumping them, just trying to maybe understand why they are bending. I've beat on mine climbing rooted up hills that require AWD and WOT to climb, catching roots on the way up, tossing the machine around ect and mine haven't bent, which again leads me to believe something is happening during jumps that is bending the axles, binding during plunge not allowing the axle to shorten on the landing or at full droop maybe CV binding (although I've read they don't) Honestly haven't jacked mine up and checked as I rarely jump mine, and the few times I have it's been nothing crazy. Thoughts?

 

I'm definitely curious to know what you find out. I'm also pretty sure the only reason my CV failed was when the axle bent then snapped, not to say that these CV's are as good as the older ones just something I noticed with my failure

 

I agree the smaller CV was a mistake, the twig thin axles are questionable as well....but they cam use the stronger material card there. I've been expecting to bend one at least, so far so good. Dave was the second issue on the replaced axle? Reason I ask is there has been some speculation of machines being delivered with a bent axle, ie bent from the get go or during transport and people not noticing right away

 

My driver side bent. The person behind me noticed it so I figured I had hit something but there are no marks on the axle. This was before any jump was done on the machine but climbing similar type hills as mentioned above. Not severe bend but it is noticeable. It's at the dealer now waiting on their opinion.

 

Not encouraging news now is it???

 

have raced mine in two 4 hour races, ran 4 classes in short c, no upgrades and not one prob yet

 

Every time I look at the rear of my XP I question how those little pencil axles are supposed to hold up to any power. I'm scared to jump on mine because I don't want to break them. Hell my 12hp Briggs & Stratton powered go kart has bigger axles than these things.

 

I agree and wonder how they hold up also. However, I also am shocked about how much torque and horsepower is transferred through the hollow, thin-walled drivelines of our cars and trucks without failure.

 

30" tires and I aint skeered. stand on it!

 

I ride strictly dunes bent the passenger side axle and fried the cv on a front. (2 seperate occasions and at least one involved hitting a berm hard and tweaking my tie rod as well.) Polaris replaced the front under warranty, and I straightened the rear at a machine shop for $20. My buddy just purchased aftermarket axles just in case as we are driving 15 hours to St Anthony's in Idaho and don't want to be without.

 

Keep us posted dave

 

Yeah my friend all I can say is am feeling your pain with my issues right now... I will be tearing into my XP this weekend. Hang in there...

 

I think we can kill the rumor of landing jumps on the gas and failing in torsion….here’s a pic of a rod in torsion failure.

From the pics I’ve seen it’s bending and looks nothing like that. These things are not seeing bending, the trailing arm and tie rods take it or should.

Begs the question “Why do some see issues and others don’t??” Well two things come to mind, Pol raw stock vendor did not qualify a lot of material or the manufacturing processes was flawed for a lot, probably why POL is willing to warrantee one time or some maybe they know those serial #s and if your one of them bingo!! We'll see if they keep eating warantee cost or change the 2012 design, rumor has it no change.

Good news is for those they won’t replace straightening as Jaydob200 did for $20 may be better than a new one. The cold work will strengthen the area that failed.

 

I think we can kill the rumor of landing jumps on the gas and failing in torsion….here’s a pic of a rod in torsion failure.


From the pics I’ve seen it’s bending and looks nothing like that. These things are not seeing bending, the trailing arm and tie rods take it or should.

Begs the question “Why do some see issues and others don’t??” Well two things come to mind, Pol raw stock vendor did not qualify a lot of material or the manufacturing processes was flawed for a lot, probably why POL is willing to warrantee one time or some maybe they know those serial #s and if your one of them bingo!! We'll see if they keep eating warantee cost or change the 2012 design, rumor has it no change.

Good news is for those they won’t replace straightening as Jaydob200 did for $20 may be better than a new one. The cold work will strengthen the area that failed.

I don't know what this means. Could you explain it please?

 

Hard to see, but the location of the bend is pointed out. Looked very wobbly on the machine...

 

Got a response yesterday back from Polaris. (exact quote)

"This customer already received on set of axles under good will. No assistance on axles again"

John Thole
Polaris Industries

Approx 30 miles on the new axles and the CV broke. Under good will,John acts like they are not having any problems. I could understand ( nor would I ask for warranty) if I was driving the car like the other XPs I drive or the Fireball cars that I drive. This XP is mostly driven by my wife (her car) and within 10 minutes after taking it out the CV blew!!!!!!!!! Hell I driven our stock RZR4 harder than the XP has been driven.

Dave - Fullerton Sand Sports

 

I purchased the 5 year warranty specifically for the axle issue concern I had with the XP....if they arent going to honnor there warranty to replace there garbage axles then Im going back to dealership to ask for refund.

 

I purchased the same warranty for wifes car and they are refusing to cover the axles.

Dave - FSS

 

if you dont drive the xp hard enough to bend or break a axle you should of saved some money and got a golf cart

i think alot of you just havent noticed the bend

i have one bent one...ordering some lsr axles , running it til they come


im suprised they warranty axles period weak or not

 

Haha. I checked all of mine again last night..they are not bent. Guess I should have gotten a golf cart. I do think TNT might be on to something with the theory that there maybe a bad lot, ie batch of axles out there..not heat treated properly or something. Maybe someone should get thier axle professionally tested by a Metalurgist...Polaris couldn't deny an issue if they come back sub-standard.

 

BTQ: Not true! Many are driving the XP hard no failures. My son is MX pro quad racer and we have been through a TON of stock after market axles over the past decade, there I agree with your statement to a point, but I have seem them fail over the silliest things. Lately he runs the stock Can-am DS450 no probs, Can am started making there own axles too.

Point is the quad axle is put in bending no doubt, the XP no. The trailing arm design you can not compare to another other model, you can not compare the rear of XP to the front. You have to be a complete idiot Pol to put this thin axle in bending like a quad and they didn’t, that’s what the beefy trailing arms, and tie rods are for. The axle in this design unlike a quad is torsion critical not bending, as far as torsion goes it is doing its job!!

Some where in the material or manufacturing process lays a flaw for some. When I say manufacturing I mean allot things, from the build of the axle, arms to the installation of them, same for the CV’s, frame, some cars may be putting the axles in small bending they should not see. If you have continuous failures and are completely stock, not running the machine as it was not designed for, you have a strong case against POL and them warranting their product. One could even argue they did not leave enough margins (thickness) to account for their own manufacturing flaws possibly, or like Highoctane pointed some are seeing compression they should not causing it to bend. POL probably sit on hoping most go after market rather than pursue them.

Highoctane: just saying the landing on the gas will not put the axle in compression.

Jack: Cold working – Simply put - Take any metal and bend it back and forth that cold works and strengthens it, shot peening does the same thing, both used on repairs often. Steel you can apply heat up too 800-1000F to help and it’s still cold working. You can repeat if it bends again, but at some point it will become brittle and crack. I mean if you were to bend this axle 180 degree many, many, times it would become brittle and crack. You can bend this axle to the point it’s about ready to crack, bend it back and it will be stronger, but you can only do it so many times before it cracks and we have a hard time determining how many times. Don’t want to get off topic got more questions shoot me a PM.

Good luck Dave!

 

i think the bending isnt from suspension load...i think its the twist before the snap


i just ordered 2 rear gorilla axles with cv's for mine, going to get my bent one replaced under warranty and just keep them as spares


i was going to get lsr, but i wanted the complete setup , the gorillas also claimed no binding so if it was from jumping should be less likely with them, i pretty much just run tracks and in 2 wheel drive

 

I think most breaks are from jumping. Ive seen it so many times in the sand those big horsepower buggies do just fine pulling wheelies, hitting whoops, but when they leap them big and come down under power you just hear them snap.

I think the XP axles are a bit small, but have not had any issues with them. Ive thought about beefier axles but would rather break an axle then destroy a transfer case. You replace a weak link, then what is the next weakest point?

Also another reason I did not buy the extended warranty because Polaris or any other company can find a way to deny the claim. And this happens with the big companies like Ford. Look at the 6.0 diesels, a engine guaranteed to have the EGR and high pressure oil seal go out yet not warrantied by ford.

 

I agree 99.9% minus the Ford 6.0L powerstroke EGR issue/HPOP issue. I have owned 3 6.0L powerstrokes, each having head gasket/EGR cooler/Oil coolers replaced all done at 85k-99k miles on them and dealer didnt flinch at replacing them. Im calling my Polaris dealership to ask for my money back on my extended warranty....not worth it now if they arent going to honnor a bad design.

 

just called gorilla they said they cant keep axles in stock so many ppl are breaking them , ordered them up

 

how pathetic is polaris...xp been out for almost 7 months and when u break a stock axle u cant replace it with stock because the dumb f#$%s dont have any for sale!!!!

 

opcorn:

 

Maybe they addressed this issue in the new releases...wishful thinking.

 

From what i was told by a guy that races for polaris, there gonna upgrade the axles and the front bearing carrier for the dive shaft.

 

I have sent a message to be forwarded to Kenny Kilgore and John Thule with Polaris on what is and what isnt covered by the Factory Warranty. And what will be "Good Will" under the descretion of whether Polaris will stand behind their product (knowing there is a problem) or not.

Will keep everyone posted to a response. The dealers dont have an exclusion list for their warranty, its forwarded to the Polaris factory rep. This must be where the "Good Will" happens or not.

We have the XP back at our shop and will be taking apart the suspension to find out where the problem lies. Already had an XP at the shop that had a bent axle we removed the shock and tire/wheel and moved the suspension through the stroke up and stroke down, we found on his you could feel a bind on axle that was bent.

Keep all posted to our findings.

Dave - FSS

 

I have sent a message to be forwarded to Kenny Kilgore and John Thule with Polaris on what is and what isnt covered by the Factory Warranty. And what will be "Good Will" under the descretion of whether Polaris will stand behind their product (knowing there is a problem) or not.

Will keep everyone posted to a response. The dealers dont have an exclusion list for their warranty, its forwarded to the Polaris factory rep. This must be where the "Good Will" happens or not.

We have the XP back at our shop and will be taking apart the suspension to find out where the problem lies. Already had an XP at the shop that had a bent axle we removed the shock and tire/wheel and moved the suspension through the stroke up and stroke down, we found on his you could feel a bind on axle that was bent.


Keep all posted to our findings.

Dave - FSS

Something is horribly wrong with the right rear suspension on my XP. It's in the shop now to get the ok from Polaris to tear the machine down to find out what the problem may be. I ended up in an ambulance last week due to some sort of axle lock up along with engine brake causing an out of control right side flip over (driving drags--about 40mph+). Not a happy camper. It was in the shop the week prior to the same problem--hard drift right on decel, w/braking--and they were able to duplicate it..but ruled out the brakes. ??? So there my XP sits....