Cracked Tower Mirror Arm

[trayson]

So, I have an Aerial Wakeboarding tower mirror arm. it's a quick release and I've been pretty happy with it.

I went out the other day and found it cracked. I was pretty surprised. I almost always trailer with the mirror off, and I found the crack when I was trying to put my mirror on.

I've talked to Aerial and emailed them the pictures. Hopefully they'll get me a new arm piece. I'll keep you all updated.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qhAPd2Xi6uw/VW3mzacPXAI/AAAAAAAAZD0/9jeI5Otab_0/s800/20150530_155226.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZoqHGGbOINM/VW3m0mjJVtI/AAAAAAAAZD0/Do20rvfycG4/s800/20150530_155248.jpg

[gregski]

It looks like the clamp was overtightened, or tightened while not installed. The pictures on their website are slightly different, it looks like the clamp mechanism has less deflection possible but it actually looks like a solid piece so I'm not sure how it would even clamp. It makes me wonder if this was a known issue and they modified their design a bit.
http://www.aerialwakeboarding.com/wakeboard-tower-mirror-p/bt-mirkitadju-pa.htm

[mmandley]

You sure no one ran into it going from the front to the rear? I like how mine folds forward so it gives way to that.

Either way hope they can do something for you.

[trayson]

You sure no one ran into it going from the front to the rear? I like how mine folds forward so it gives way to that.

Either way hope they can do something for you.

I want to give them an opportunity to do something for me. If they're not willing to, I might just have a buddy of mine do a quick TIG weld on it. He'd do it for free and it would be worth a try before paying money to fix.

But I've heard good things about their customer service and they publish a 5 year warranty on the mirror arm, so I'm optimistic that they'll help me out.

[mmandley]

I want to give them an opportunity to do something for me. If they're not willing to, I might just have a buddy of mine do a quick TIG weld on it. He'd do it for free and it would be worth a try before paying money to fix.

But I've heard good things about their customer service and they publish a 5 year warranty on the mirror arm, so I'm optimistic that they'll help me out.

Tig weld would look nasty on a finished chrome no? Might have to powder coat it then.

[trayson]

Tig weld would look nasty on a finished chrome no? Might have to powder coat it then.

It's aluminum. I'd imagine it'd look like the tig welds that are on the tower. It's on the back side of the mirror arm, so I wouldn't see it as a driver. LOL.

I'd just have to see how it turned out. Hopefully it won't even come to that.

[parrothd]

I've never tig weld, but mig on steel, have him weld it then grind smooth..

[parrothd]

Oops that's a stress crack from over tightening, probably crack again unless you get a really deep weld..

[jstenger]

You will need to grind out the center of the crack before you tig/mig weld it. Otherwise you will not get 100% penetration.

[trayson]

Yeah, my friend that welds knows what he's doing.

Update on Aerial, they don't care. since I wasn't the original purchaser, the 5 year warranty is meaningless. They even tried to tell me "well, it's not like when you get a warranty on a car when you're not the original purchaser...". *shaking my head* Um, I told the guy, actually YES, when you buy a car, you still DO get the warranty regardless of whether your the original owner or not.

They won't even sell me just that middle piece. My choices are to buy a whole new arm or go pound sand. I called them 4 times and emailed them pictures of it twice. Every time I was promised a callback to see what my options where. NEVER GOT ONE CALLBACK. their follow-through was terrible.


So I will pursue the welding. It might not hold, but I have nothing to lose.

[spyder]

sounds like a company to avoid... side note, seeing it that close.. you need aluminium polish ;)

[mmandley]

Sorry to hear that Trayson.

[viking]

Just a good reason NOT to use them. Word travels fast so they'll get whats coming (or not coming) to them!!