DirtSlide recently has had the lower brace of the fork on his XL comp buggy tear apart. The brace, which connects the fork to the bottom end of the of the steering head, torn in half at the steering bolt hole and tore the weld at the fork. The fork did not collapse but was probably very close to it when he discovered it.
DirtSlide is a big guy and drives his buggy hard, but not that big. I recommend every check these points for signs of damage on a regular basis, unless you feel like having your fork tear apart while riding.
I am wondering if an after market fork for the XL comp might be a good idea for those who are hard on their buggy. Has anyone else had this problem?
S
Sky Country Reflex 4,7,10
Sky Country AlaSCa 10m?
Jojo Rage 8m
Firebee 3m
PL XL Comp

the damage that occured is from the surface terrain we ride on. guys that run on smooth surface beach / playa dont incur as many problems as well do.

i'm only 120lbs, and i've been able to break off a set of footpegs after 6 months. also bent rear axles / bolts, and the front fork head piece.

its okay ... DS is going to get to bash around a Flexi and a Libre Sprint soon. Our Apexx buggies dont work well in our small park.

Dang Ricardo, I thought that was your son in your avatar! :shocked2: Just kidding. You guys must have lots of ditches at your beach. I've got over a hundred pounds on you but hope not to tear up that much stuff ever. I don't intend on any wheels coming off the ground though.

in all fairness to my poor xr+ it has taken over two years of hard abuse from my 215lbs and i mean every thing from two wheels ,360s,standing while riding, so i think is was time to spend the $100.00 to have some reenforcement done on the old girl .if only i was weldngod i could have saved some cash but i would have just spent it on a new kite which i don't need anyway edit 4 hours later , just got back from a wicked sess had three nice jumps and hitting speeds over 26mph so i guess the 100 bucks is paying off 3.3m cooper was rippen today.

I checked my fork today part way through this afternoon session. Five cracks that were not there when I checked yesterday. One where the steering bolt passes through the lower brace. The others in the four welds that hold the brace to the fork. I continued flying, but it was pretty tame flying after my discovery. Shame the wind was honking. I guess I will have to steal the GF's buggy until I get a new fork.
I weigh the same as DS, but I have only had my PL for a little over a year.
I will attach some photos soon.
S

Fork photo

Right side of fork. Note the crack in the fork tube itself just above the brace.
This is very similar to the failure of DirtSlides fork. Anybody know if you can put a Libre fork on a PL buggy or am I going to have to build my own replacement fork?
Any builders out there feel like making an after market fork? I do not think I am that radical a buggier that my fork should fail in a little over one year.
DS, your first fork cracks were after one year and this year the fork was near catastrophic failure when you noticed it.
Check your buggy.
S

Man that looks scary Scudly