Broken Staton engaging support
I broke an Engaging Support yesterday. Right off, I want to say I DO NOT blame the materials or workmanship of the Staton kit.
1) I should have bought the extra support when I purchased the kit. It still might have broken because,
2) I ride like a maniac. Things break. So be it.
Here's what I hit that was the proximate cause of the break. That rock has been there at least 6 years. I know it. I should have avoided it. My bad.
Here's the damage. I snapped the engaging support rod right where the pin keeps it from rotating (weakest point).
I decidded I wanted to beef up the whole support system. I looked around out in the junkyard and settled on some electrical conduit for the repair.
I cut it to length and flattened the ends in a vise.
I drilled one and test fitted it before trimming off extra material, rounding corners, etc.
I had to remove the motor because I needed to attach the new support at this point, and Staton uses a bolt there. I should have, and next time will, replace the bolt with thread stock so I won't have to do this the next time I break stuff.
I removed the retaining pin from the engaging support, extracted the end of the rod, cleaned the threads up, reassembled and reinstalled the rod.
The whole thing is a lot more solid. I can really feel the difference. Tomorrow, I'll go ride the gravel roads up in Porcupine, and see if I can break it again.
I'm betting it'll last a while.