Swingarm Cracks!!!

[hiperfind]

Hey all,

I am on my third stock swingarm, all of them have developed cracks in the welds all over the place. I have re-welded two arms only to have them crack again. My current arm has hairline cracks in 5 places right in the middle of welds. I am SICK of this! Do you guys have similar cracks and just ‘live’ with them? Should I be so concerned? Is this normal? Is there a better solution than a $800 stock swingarm?

Thanks,

G

[zilla rebuild]

i have a -2 swinger its a steel one that holds up awesomely well.
but if im nog mistaking 3 stock swingers together are also around 800$
otherwise you should look around for a burgard swinger they are a little cheaper

What kind of machine... if there cracking at the welds, something is definatly wrong with it, probably bad geometry, and the power transfer is causing the arm to twist, which is common...... is it a rectangular, or round tube....

Show up some pics, I can probably tell you whats going on.... Has it been mig welded or tig welded? What kind of material? Aluminum, steel, chromemoly?

Factory steel is really the only way to make a nice swingarm.... 4130 1.500" Round tube, 1.500" pivot tube, and twin backtubes... with a few crossmembers...

[ThrowinRoost89]

im guessing since its in the zilla forum, its a stock aluminum zilla swingarm : )

Yeah, i needed to read that a little slower... lol

You need a chromemoly tubular swingarm, that fucker will never break.

[sblt500r]

maybe its time for you to get an aftermarket arm. are all the bearings in good shape? are you jumping 50ft?!

my stock arm had cracks, all were up around the swingarm bearings. i just recently rewelded them all back up. the 87 arms crack around the swingarm chain slider because of the way it mounts, there is a bolt that runs straight through the swinger, and cracks form running up towards the swingarm bearings.

[ThrowinRoost89]

actually i had a +2 Oval Tube Metal Tech Swinger on my zilla and cracked it right in half....

i ended up buying a LSR +2 swinger with the round housing, and ended up trading that for a +4 Laeger swinger..... both of these 2 have been holding up well

I have built quite a few oval tubular arms, never had one crack... not even underbraced.... Just a chromemoly 1.500" dual backtube, with a JJ and A carrier, and ampco swingarm pivot bearings.

[hiperfind]

Cool, thanks guys, that's the consensous I'm coming to, is to spend the $950 on the LoneStar Racing(LSR) swingarm with carrier. Yeah, this is my 3rd stocker, had one of them welded once over the cracks(TIG, by a prof. welder), that lasted about 2 rides before it cracked through again.

It makes me wonder though, how many zillas are out there with cracks and are still holding up? An I being paranoid? I love the stock arm look, but it sure don't hold up well... I used to jump it 4-6 footers, nothing huge, but am mostly a fireroad rider.

SIGH!