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Hi everyone,
I am hoping that some of you can shed some light on an issue that I ran into. I have a 99 Max IV. I snapped the left rear axle (right under the engine) when starting from a dead stop. It didn’t go through any serious torture in the past, so needless to say it was a shock when it broke. I talked to RI and they are sending out a new axle and sprocket set (one piece). From what I learned, during the 1999 year when they changed axles there was a design that had 2 separate axles instead of a one piece unit. As you can see from the picture, my axle broke right between the two sprockets (which is what RI had guessed when I told them it broke.)
My questions are as follows:
- Has anyone else had a failure like this? It surprised me to say the least, but I really wasn’t beating the heck out of it which might have caused this to happen.
- Should I expect any of the other axles to break? Unfortunately I do not have the ATV with me as it is in my buddies shop and I forget what the other side looks like. Is the right axle and sprocket assembly the same? If so, is it likely that will fail as well?
- I will be doing some plowing this winter. Would that put some additional stress on the axles and cause it to break?
- Once I get the axle replaced, I’m sure I’m going to baby the heck out of it because I’m worried of other axles failing. Should I be that concerned?
- Looking at the picture, does this failure look “normal?” It seems that the metal was almost crystallized or that the forged component was faulty? Thoughts?
Any comments that you have would be appreciated. The Max has about 300 hours on it.
Thanks.
I am hoping that some of you can shed some light on an issue that I ran into. I have a 99 Max IV. I snapped the left rear axle (right under the engine) when starting from a dead stop. It didn’t go through any serious torture in the past, so needless to say it was a shock when it broke. I talked to RI and they are sending out a new axle and sprocket set (one piece). From what I learned, during the 1999 year when they changed axles there was a design that had 2 separate axles instead of a one piece unit. As you can see from the picture, my axle broke right between the two sprockets (which is what RI had guessed when I told them it broke.)
My questions are as follows:
- Has anyone else had a failure like this? It surprised me to say the least, but I really wasn’t beating the heck out of it which might have caused this to happen.
- Should I expect any of the other axles to break? Unfortunately I do not have the ATV with me as it is in my buddies shop and I forget what the other side looks like. Is the right axle and sprocket assembly the same? If so, is it likely that will fail as well?
- I will be doing some plowing this winter. Would that put some additional stress on the axles and cause it to break?
- Once I get the axle replaced, I’m sure I’m going to baby the heck out of it because I’m worried of other axles failing. Should I be that concerned?
- Looking at the picture, does this failure look “normal?” It seems that the metal was almost crystallized or that the forged component was faulty? Thoughts?
Any comments that you have would be appreciated. The Max has about 300 hours on it.
Thanks.
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