Mathews Lift - Warning - It bit me

[BenHankins]

*set up: Lift 29.5- 28.5” DL 65lb, Easton axis long range 450 grains. Just FYI for guys looking to buy a Mathews used lift or new original lift. I bought a used lift that was in like new condition from a shop this summer. I have shot it for 2 months getting it ready for an archery elk hunt in Colorado opening day. Last weekend I noticed a louder noise every time I shot the bow, took it inside and discovered one of my limbs had a big splinter. Took it to the shop immediately last Saturday afternoon, shop is closed on Monday, they didn’t talk to Mathews until this past Tuesday, Mathews wouldn’t ship the replacement limbs until the next day (Wednesday) and now I’m looking at this coming Tuesday to get my limbs and bow back… talk about being stressed when you leave for a trip in a week and do not have a working, tuned bow… The worst part had to be the customer service rep at Mathews, I called last Monday hoping they could go ahead and get my limbs shipped to the dealer (dealers closed on Mondays), or a rebate on a new bow, or really anything. After the rep showed zero empathy and no discussion on any sort of favors I calmly made the comment if Mathews knew these malfunctions came from a bad batch of materials it seems the right thing to do would be to allow customers with those serial numbers to come in and get replacement limbs. He began to go off on me saying this is “not a known problem” and there was no bad batch and that I just got all that from “crap I’ve read on the internet”. I calmly got off the phone and questioned my loyalty to the brand. I’ve owned several Mathews, my whole family has been running Mathews since the Q2 days. All in all I was extremely disappointed, it seemed everyone involved did not care I had a trip, that I worked extremely hard getting up at 4:30 am to train and sacrificing every free second to get better for season, spending my commute to work practicing calling, etc… Anyhow lessons learned: #1 try to have a backup bow, even if it’s a cheap one. #2 if a product has known flaws, no matter what the fanatics are positively saying about it, stay away from it (if it’s going to make that much difference). The original Lift bows are no joke, please do not bet your season on one. From what I’ve heard Mathews has fixed the problem with the new lift x and any of their warranty returned limbs haven’t had any problems. Maybe I should’ve kept shooting with a splintered limb, who knows. It is what it is. #3 there were signs my bow was defective… I got it all set up, put a new set of gas systmx strings and couldn’t get the bow to peak weight and the bow specd out, it was 5 pounds light. I honestly thought it might’ve been the strings and cables. If you can’t get your bow to the peak weight, take it in immediately! Hope this helps some be more prepared than I was.

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[hiker270]

Obviously Mathews knows the Lift has limb issures. Thats why they are giving a lifetime warranty to secondhand buyers. Thats great unless your limb breaks in the middle of a high dollar hunt. Or any time during archery season for that matter. Thats why a back up bow is almost a necessity.

 

[BenHankins]

Obviously Mathews knows the Lift has limb issures. Thats why they are giving a lifetime warranty to secondhand buyers. Thats great unless your limb breaks in the middle of a high dollar hunt. Or any time during archery season for that matter. Thats why a back up bow is almost a necessity.

That’s the part that annoyed me when the rep denied it was a known issue. He acted like it was very rare. I read similar opinions which lead me to buy one thinking it was rare for a malfunction, or an issue that would be quickly discovered.


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[Pharmseller]

Backup rifles are common, backup bows not so much. Good lesson.

 

[Lawnboi]

not defending Mathews.

Almost every manufacturer has some issues with limbs splintering. Almost all manufacturers require you to go through a dealer for parts as well.

Unfortunate but this isn’t a Mathew’s problem. I had the same happen to me mid season with a Hoyt 15 years ago.

If you are that serious about how hunting you would be smart to buy a backup.

 

[BenHankins]

not defending Mathews.

Almost every manufacturer has some issues with limbs splintering. Almost all manufacturers require you to go through a dealer for parts as well.

Unfortunate but this isn’t a Mathew’s problem. I had the same happen to me mid season with a Hoyt 15 years ago.

If you are that serious about how hunting you would be smart to buy a backup.

That’s good to know, I just haven’t seen problems with other brands, probably due to the lack of popularity. Never had an issue with a bow but yes I will try to have a backup from now on.


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[3forks]

That’s the part that annoyed me when the rep denied it was a known issue. He acted like it was very rare. I read similar opinions which lead me to buy one thinking it was rare for a malfunction, or an issue that would be quickly discovered.


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For what it’s worth, I know a guy who’s runs an archery shop and Mathews is the top bow they sell (250+ Mathews bows a year). I happened to be in the shop the other day when he was selling a guy a bow, and the guy opted for a Hoyt over a Mathews. After the guy left, I asked if people ask about Mathews limb issues and if it affected sales… he told me that issue didn’t really pose a problem, and of all the Mathews they sold that could have been affected by the issue, they’ve seen less than 6 limb failures.

While there’s no doubt Mathews had some limbs splinter, I think it gets blown out of proportion on the internet. Mathews was smart to offer a warranty for secondhand buyers. 1) because it reassures people an issue will be taken care of if it does occur, and 2) because if the splintering issue doesn’t really happen often - Mathews isn’t going to have to warranty anything/spend any money on this. Offering the warranty just shows that Mathews is listening and cares about their reputation.

All that being said, if you get a bow and the limb splinters, it’s a big deal. Sucks about the timing for you, but think about this… the shops are packed right now with guys who are just now beginning to shoot their bows and get ready for a hunt. Everyone’s coming in with a problem they’re just now finding or knew about and blew off, and you’re competing with them for the shop and manufacturer’s attention and they’re slammed, too.

 

[BenHankins]

For what it’s worth, I know a guy who’s runs an archery shop and Mathews is the top bow they sell (250+ Mathews bows a year). I happened to be in the shop the other day when he was selling a guy a bow, and the guy opted for a Hoyt over a Mathews. After the guy left, I asked if people ask about Mathews limb issues and if it affected sales… he told me that issue didn’t really pose a problem, and of all the Mathews they sold that could have been affected by the issue, they’ve seen less than 6 limb failures.

While there’s no doubt Mathews had some limbs splinter, I think it gets blown out of proportion on the internet. Mathews was smart to offer a warranty for secondhand buyers. 1) because it reassures people an issue will be taken care of if it does occur, and 2) because if the splintering issue doesn’t really happen often - Mathews isn’t going to have to warranty anything/spend any money on this. Offering the warranty just shows that Mathews is listening and cares about their reputation.

All that being said, if you get a bow and the limb splinters, it’s a big deal. Sucks about the timing for you, but think about this… the shops are packed right now with guys who are just now beginning to shoot their bows and get ready for a hunt. Everyone’s coming in with a problem they’re just now finding or knew about and blew off, and you’re competing with them for the shop and manufacturer’s attention and they’re slammed, too.

I’m glad Mathews does offer that warranty for sure, I could be in a lot worse shape. In all honesty, a week to get the limbs back is not bad at all. Yes I understand it’s prep season, I don’t mind to install them I just need someone to get them to me!!! lol. I just had in my mind, I’ve never asked for anything, I’ve never rushed any bow shop to do anything. I guess I thought someone would help a fellow hunter out who’s in a bind. I live in Arkansas… doubt this shop has much priority items at this time but who knows. The “it’s rare it happens” got me, that’s why I took the leap of faith and bought one. I do think it happens quite a bit. Every person I hear from says their shops only had like 6-10 bows come back. If every bow shop says that, it’s not rare. Most average shops probably sell around 100 bows a year I’d say failure is around 5-10%, you see a lot of different folks complaining about it and real world experiences. If it was rare people wouldn’t be talking about it so much and Mathews wouldn’t have released a statement.


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[Miflatlander91]

For what it’s worth Im not a fan boy but I am impressed they shipped the limbs that fast I had a prime I cracked a limb on… called the dealer got ahold of the rep he said I have these limbs on hand I picked one…. It took them a month to get the limbs to me from the other side of the state and when I received them the build date was only a week before. I was not impressed with the way that got handled


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[BenHankins]

For what it’s worth Im not a fan boy but I am impressed they shipped the limbs that fast I had a prime I cracked a limb on… called the dealer got ahold of the rep he said I have these limbs on hand I picked one…. It took them a month to get the limbs to me from the other side of the state and when I received them the build date was only a week before. I was not impressed with the way that got handled


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Please don’t comment unless you help me wallow in my self pitty and pain lol


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[Billy Goat]

Man, I'd just hunt with it and replace the limbs when you get back.



The splinters are pretty superficial, hardly effect anything. Its not like the limbs are delaminating and coming apart.

 

[BenHankins]

Man, I'd just hunt with it and replace the limbs when you get back.



The splinters are pretty superficial, hardly effect anything. Its not like the limbs are delaminating and coming apart.

I think you are right I probably should’ve. What worried me was the noticeable change in noise when the bow went off. I’m not 100% certain but I think it changed my tune a little too.


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[Billy Goat]

I think you are right I probably should’ve. What worried me was the noticeable change in noise when the bow went off. I’m not 100% certain but I think it changed my tune a little too.


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Check your cam lean.

Im not saying you are wrong, but if that 1 limb actually is costing you 5# in peak DW your cam lean is gonna be pretty crazy.

The noise is likely just that splinter vibrating on the limb.

I had a limb do a similar thing on a TRX several years ago. Took 4-5 weeks to get replacement limbs, I kept shooting it, think I logged over 1k shots with it.

 

[BenHankins]

Check your cam lean.

Im not saying you are wrong, but if that 1 limb actually is costing you 5# in peak DW your cam lean is gonna be pretty crazy.

The noise is likely just that splinter vibrating on the limb.

I had a limb do a similar thing on a TRX several years ago. Took 4-5 weeks to get replacement limbs, I kept shooting it, think I logged over 1k shots with it.

The cam lean wasn’t too bad, i did notice when i got the bow the limbs looked slightly off-kilter. The shop kept the bow.


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[Billy Goat]

@BenHankins I'm betting this is the issue for the 5# off.

Its always good to measure what you get before you put them on, its not uncommon to need to add or remove a few twists. The 5 piece Mathews setup with the bare loop on the cable seems to untwist and produce some problems for people.

 

[BenHankins]

@BenHankins I'm betting this is the issue for the 5# off.

Its always good to measure what you get before you put them on, its not uncommon to need to add or remove a few twists. The 5 piece Mathews setup with the bare loop on the cable seems to untwist and produce some problems for people.

That’s a good video thanks for sharing it. I bet that’s what happened. I always assumed if the ata length was within spec 29.5” then the cables and strings were at proper length. I wish I would’ve tried that. I will try it if it’s still like that.


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[trevore]

That def sucks. But they all do it. I personally would not be that concerned with a splinter. If it popped in the middle like a delam then yeah its broke broke. I keep two bows set up. They are twins. Same model, same sights, rests, peeps. Tuned and ready for any western hunt. Hope you get it back up and running quickly. Best of luck on your hunt.

 

[Miflatlander91]

I think you are right I probably should’ve. What worried me was the noticeable change in noise when the bow went off. I’m not 100% certain but I think it changed my tune a little too.


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lol I totally understand the pain and pity! But I bet it definitely changed the tune that’s how I found out my last bow cracked a limb was consistently left almost just moved the rest then I saw the limb


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[sambo3006]

I'm sorry to hear about the limb issue. I hope you get it up and going in time for your trip. I have been on multiple out of state archery hunts, and always took a backup bow. The first time I didn't I got burned. I was out in Utah with a Parker bow I had purchased new a couple of months prior. I missed a shot at a buck and noticed that the bow sounded louder than normal. Inspection revealed that the upper limb had cracked right in the limb fork, and the upper cam was leaning pretty bad. I had extra strings and cables, extra rest, sight, etc, but not an extra limb. I ended up having to share a bow with my hunting partner. When I got back I got replacement limbs and promptly sold it. Lesson learned.

 

[BenHankins]

I'm sorry to hear about the limb issue. I hope you get it up and going in time for your trip. I have been on multiple out of state archery hunts, and always took a backup bow. The first time I didn't I got burned. I was out in Utah with a Parker bow I had purchased new a couple of months prior. I missed a shot at a buck and noticed that the bow sounded louder than normal. Inspection revealed that the upper limb had cracked right in the limb fork, and the upper cam was leaning pretty bad. I had extra strings and cables, extra rest, sight, etc, but not an extra limb. I ended up having to share a bow with my hunting partner. When I got back I got replacement limbs and promptly sold it. Lesson learned.

Thanks for sharing. Hopefully our stories will encourage others to have a backup. I haven’t mentioned this yet but I do have my dad’s old Mathews Q2 that I’ve been shooting the last week. It’s an inch too long on the DL but holds and points so well. I’ve got it shooting 273 fps with my 450 grain arrow, 29” 70.5 lbs. I’m honestly debating pulling the plug on the lift and focusing on the Q2 lol!


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