Yes, They can break. There are fatter washers you can get. They breake ,I think when you tighten the wing nuts to tight and the ears bow in. My ext 505 also had weak ears, but I put two nylon washers in between the ears, and have never had a problem . I bought a Detect- ed red carbon shaft for my Nox 600. The shaft has a little wider bottom where the rubber washers go into. With that working , I still don't tighten the ears down to tight. I use it in the surf and it barley moves. You don't have to white knuckle them tight. Enjoy your machine.
