P1000 A-Arm mount fragility question

[bldmtnrider]

Bought my machine about a month ago and thought I did a good job researching it, but it looks like I missed a common fragility issue.

Just how often are people breaking their a-arm mounts?

I keep coming across these threads while looking for something else and now I am somewhat obsessing over whether I need to address this now. There seems to be a common thread with broken mounts and aftermarket suspension parts, large tires, offsets,...

With the possible exception of upgraded shocks one day I have no intention right now to modify from stock parts and tire size. I've fixed enough crap in my time that I will go to the winch rather than "give her hell" on an obstacle. I get that accidents happen and sometimes you clip a tree, but how concerned should I be on the a-arm mounts with a stock setup?

 

[Admin]

 

[TripleB]

Bought my machine about a month ago and thought I did a good job researching it, but it looks like I missed a common fragility issue.

Just how often are people breaking their a-arm mounts?

I keep coming across these threads while looking for something else and now I am somewhat obsessing over whether I need to address this now. There seems to be a common thread with broken mounts and aftermarket suspension parts, large tires, offsets,...

With the possible exception of upgraded shocks one day I have no intention right now to modify from stock parts and tire size. I've fixed enough crap in my time that I will go to the winch rather than "give her hell" on an obstacle. I get that accidents happen and sometimes you clip a tree, but how concerned should I be on the a-arm mounts with a stock setup?

Unless you got a bad weld I don't think it's a major issue. I beat the s*** out of mine and have not tore a tab yet in 7500 miles. Mine is mostly stock other than 28 inch tires. I've added foward arched arms this week and I'm adding 30 inch tires tomorrow so time will tell. If you hit something fast enough I'm sure it would probably rip them even with a good weld. My other rig hit the ditch pretty hard Saturday night and all it did was bend a tie rod and junked out a rear wheel. The tabs were the first thing I checked lol.

 

[BigOL3]

Bought my machine about a month ago and thought I did a good job researching it, but it looks like I missed a common fragility issue.

Just how often are people breaking their a-arm mounts?

I keep coming across these threads while looking for something else and now I am somewhat obsessing over whether I need to address this now. There seems to be a common thread with broken mounts and aftermarket suspension parts, large tires, offsets,...

With the possible exception of upgraded shocks one day I have no intention right now to modify from stock parts and tire size. I've fixed enough crap in my time that I will go to the winch rather than "give her hell" on an obstacle. I get that accidents happen and sometimes you clip a tree, but how concerned should I be on the a-arm mounts with a stock setup?

I think in the VAST majority of the case of broken mounts it usually involves aggressive off road rock crawling.

 

[bldmtnrider]

Unless you got a bad weld I don't think it's a major issue. I beat the s*** out of mine and have not tore a tab yet in 7500 miles. Mine is mostly stock other than 28 inch tires. I've added foward arched arms this week and I'm adding 30 inch tires tomorrow so time will tell. If you hit something fast enough I'm sure it would probably rip them even with a good weld. My other rig hit the ditch pretty hard Saturday night and all it did was bend a tie rod and junked out a rear wheel. The tab was the first thing I checked lol.

What weld are we talking about here? Any pictures of a good vs. bad weld?

 

[TripleB]

What weld are we talking about here? Any pictures of a good vs. bad weld?

Not from me. I know nothing about welding. What I said is just totally my opinion so I wouldn't take what I say as gospel.

 

[tdhanses]

The SATV frame stiffener will help with beefing up the lower a-arm mounts, for under $100 its worth the investment.

Like the others said I’m not that worried, also where most are breaking these seems to also be where all other utv’s are breaking similar things, some pretty extreme rock crawling.

For CO riding I wouldn’t be too worried.

 

[TripleB]

The SATV frame stiffener will help with beefing up the lower a-arm mounts, for under $100 its worth the investment.

Most of the issues come from the upper tabs. I have the stiffener and forgot I bought it until I just seen u post this. Oh well I might add it tomorrow. Lol

 

[tdhanses]

Most of the issues come from the upper tabs. I have the stiffener and forgot I bought it until I just seen u post this. Oh well I might add it tomorrow. Lol

Yeah I still wouldn’t worry but from what I’ve seen they haven’t been to difficult to fix.

 

[Ridinfool]

Bought my machine about a month ago and thought I did a good job researching it, but it looks like I missed a common fragility issue.

Just how often are people breaking their a-arm mounts?

I keep coming across these threads while looking for something else and now I am somewhat obsessing over whether I need to address this now. There seems to be a common thread with broken mounts and aftermarket suspension parts, large tires, offsets,...

With the possible exception of upgraded shocks one day I have no intention right now to modify from stock parts and tire size. I've fixed enough crap in my time that I will go to the winch rather than "give her hell" on an obstacle. I get that accidents happen and sometimes you clip a tree, but how concerned should I be on the a-arm mounts with a stock setup?

I wouldn’t worry to much about it personally, I’m like you I’m not gonna go out there and beat on my buggy like an exwife, but I have had to ruff it up a few times to keep on keepin on. I think a lot of those broken tab issues are people thinking these buggy’s are indescribable then something breaks and they are mad. As far as welds go just look at the A arm where it connects to the frame, there is a bracket that is welded to the frame, it should have weld all the way around or most of the way. If not check with your dealer or have a welder fix it and keep going.

 

[rickoshea]

i beat the hell out of mine.stock suspension,aftermarket shocks.i stopped checking my mounts a while back.at this point i don't care.my extended warranty will cover them anyway.i saw absolutely no sign of imminent failure.

 

[CID]

snuffnwhiskey said this in another thread -
"I would take it to a fab shop and have it fixed and beefed up and do the other side while they are at it. You normally rip the whole tab off the frame instead of the bolt hole and is pretty common if you hit something somewhat hard. A steel angle from the 2 bumper bolts the the A arm tab is a easy fix and much stronger. If you replace the front clip with OEM, you may rip it again and be in the same boat. Worse is if the hole doesn't rip out and the tab comes off."

That thread -

P1000 - Broken Bolt mount to A-Arm. 2018 Pioneer 1000-LE

I would hope that Honda would take care of that for you JP as I see this as a design issue when a control arm which appears to be undamaged and reusable survives and the frame breaks?? Seams backwards to me. Shouldnt the frame be a little heavier at that point and the control arm be the weak...

hondasxs.com

His idea ties these 3 bolts together - top front on both sides seems to be the weak link. This pic shows a common repair.

Photo thx to ToddACimer -

 

[Russ989]

Bought my machine about a month ago and thought I did a good job researching it, but it looks like I missed a common fragility issue.

Just how often are people breaking their a-arm mounts?

I keep coming across these threads while looking for something else and now I am somewhat obsessing over whether I need to address this now. There seems to be a common thread with broken mounts and aftermarket suspension parts, large tires, offsets,...

With the possible exception of upgraded shocks one day I have no intention right now to modify from stock parts and tire size. I've fixed enough crap in my time that I will go to the winch rather than "give her hell" on an obstacle. I get that accidents happen and sometimes you clip a tree, but how concerned should I be on the a-arm mounts with a stock setup?

It depends on the type of use the machine will see. Dirt trails and farm use isn’t going to break anything. I clipped a tree doing about 15 and it didn’t do anything to mine except bring me to stop in a hurry.

 

[bldmtnrider]

The SATV frame stiffener will help with beefing up the lower a-arm mounts, for under $100 its worth the investment.

Like the others said I’m not that worried, also where most are breaking these seems to also be where all other utv’s are breaking similar things, some pretty extreme rock crawling.

For CO riding I wouldn’t be too worried.

Problem is I am leaving for Moab mid March. Not planning on going nuts out there with 2 kids in the back but you never know what surprise is around the next corner. Have problems in Colorado every now and then with enviros booby trapping the trails with pot holes (that was a fun dirt bike crash).

I'll probably look into the SATV guard and maybe some of the upper gussets just for peace of mind.

 

[Russ989]

Problem is I am leaving for Moab mid March. Not planning on going nuts out there with 2 kids in the back but you never know what surprise is around the next corner. Have problems in Colorado every now and then with enviros booby trapping the trails with pot holes (that was a fun dirt bike crash).

I'll probably look into the SATV guard and maybe some of the upper gussets just for peace of mind.

Like I said, depends on the use but mine has been to three different off-road parks with zero issues. I’m lifted with wheel spacers and 30’s. I also have SATV arms.

 

[Adam490]

If you have the means to do it or have a buddy who can, I'd do it. I've seen 3 machines rip the arm mount off the frame and it wasn't a bad weld. The frame is really thin wall tubing. Two of them were on trails that I wouldn't call extreme, just cruising along and catch a rut, root, edge wrong and it can happen. It's an easy fix that could save you a lot of money/headaches in the future.

 

[bldmtnrider]

Thanks for the replies. I am going to try to get this addressed before anything gets tweaked out of shape. I can machine and weld but time is always tight so a few hundred in parts is cheap insurance for not having to walk out with the little kids.

 

[Remington]

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