3,000 miles and still on the original drive axle, here's my .02

[stevewithOCD]

First of all, I can NOT effin' believe this is still going on!
I do believe a "key" would hold, since it would only be holding a race, but there is very little metal in the race to "groove" so i would be interested in seeing what is done.
We can all agree that keeping the track tight will/should help.
When running studs it's a must anyways.

This sled is down to 3 things to make it one of the BEST:
1. Chaincase drain plug
2. Top Gear
3. KRFS: Keep Race From Spinning

 

[TD Max]

It would involve machining the drive axle smaller, but I wonder about using a speedi sleeve on the axle to get the correct interference fit of the bearing?

 

[FrozenTows4]

First of all, I can NOT effin' believe this is still going on!
I do believe a "key" would hold, since it would only be holding a race, but there is very little metal in the race to "groove" so i would be interested in seeing what is done.
We can all agree that keeping the track tight will/should help.
When running studs it's a must anyways.

This sled is down to 3 things to make it one of the BEST:
1. Chaincase drain plug
2. Top Gear
3. KRFS: Keep Race From Spinning

These are all simple fixes
1. Chaincase Drain Plug
-add plug to bottom of chain case.
-sight glass now has been replaced with a plug. Adding drain plug would be easy.
-Low cost production adder.
2. Top Gear
-replace with Oilite Bushing.
-provision for ample oil introduction.
-Low cost production adder.
3. Keep Race from Spinning.
-variation of Barn of Parts Drive Shaft Saver
-production will know what torque spec is needed new. It would be in the manual.
-Low cost production adder.

Bonus material would be to bring back greasable A-Arms
-greasable bolts
-Low cost production adder.

Sad part is the bigger picture is selling new sleds and supporting service departments.
-Chaincase oil change
-too much hassle for some
-bring it in

-Top Gear
-considered a wear item? Maybe
-too much hassle for some
-bring it in

-Spun Drive Shaft bearing
-goes unnoticed for 90% of consumers
-when recognized, parts are needed
-too much hassle for some
-bring it in

 

[4strokes]

thinking about the whole keyway thing, as thin as it is etc. I wonder if I took this new shaft and put a very small spot weld near the inner clip and matching notch in the bearing with a Dremel, would be better than a loose key. I doubt the bearing would wear off the weld, but it would still be loose and wear some I would guess. I still think the wedge would work best, but I would recheck often.

 

[ClutchMaster]

thinking about the whole keyway thing, as thin as it is etc. I wonder if I took this new shaft and put a very small spot weld near the inner clip and matching notch in the bearing with a Dremel, would be better than a loose key. I doubt the bearing would wear off the weld, but it would still be loose and wear some I would guess. I still think the wedge would work best, but I would recheck often.

The old concentric locking collar used on previous sleds worked just fine, why not use that?
I’m in agreement that Yamaha knows fixing these issues will result in less service work and eventually lower sled sales. It’s a balancing act they play.

 

[74Nitro]

The old concentric locking collar used on previous sleds worked just fine, why not use that?
I’m in agreement that Yamaha knows fixing these issues will result in less service work and eventually lower sled sales. It’s a balancing act they play.

True. I worked at a Polaris dealer way back in 95-96 and went with the boss to a dealer meeting. When we brought up issues of high maintenance areas on the machines at that time, their response was "do you want to sell parts or not".

 

[74Nitro]

First of all, I can NOT effin' believe this is still going on!
I do believe a "key" would hold, since it would only be holding a race, but there is very little metal in the race to "groove" so i would be interested in seeing what is done.
We can all agree that keeping the track tight will/should help.
When running studs it's a must anyways.

This sled is down to 3 things to make it one of the BEST:
1. Chaincase drain plug
2. Top Gear
3. KRFS: Keep Race From Spinning

4. Tensioner roller bolts.

 

[4strokes]

True. I worked at a Polaris dealer way back in 95-96 and went with the boss to a dealer meeting. When we brought up issues of high maintenance areas on the machines at that time, their response was "do you want to sell parts or not".

If it weren't for Polaris, I wouldn't be able to afford a Yamaha. they make a pretty hefty profit on wiring issues on year old rangers alone. and with the right advertising people are lined up to buy them. I would have a hard time selling new Polaris with a straight face. 8 out of 10 atv and utvs are Polaris around here. more or less always broken, 1960s Yamaha wiring was better than modern Polaris.

 

[NOS-PRO]

Been there done that as well.. maybe on a stock winder but as you crank up the power it magnifies the problem.

My Winder has been flashed since day 1. But other sleds may not work. That is why I posted it as my .02

 

[NOS-PRO]

On My 17, I have the original shaft with 15000kms on it. I changed the bearing at 7000kms, at 12000kms and added a BOP wedge at that time. The fit is a little sloppy, but tightened right up with the BOP wedge.

I run my track banjo tight almost. Just feels like this sled runs and drives better with a tight track.

This is exactly, perfectly said....I have mine the exact same way

 

[MrSled]

My Winder has been flashed since day 1. But other sleds may not work. That is why I posted it as my .02

I have a bud at put 10,000 miles with zero issues, I have viper with 9000 miles boosted since day one with zero isses, my 17 winder was .060 spun off at 5000 miles and Stephs winder was .030 spin off at 2300 miles. I just did another 17 winder with 2600 miles and his was spun to .015 off. Some are possibly not a problem but based on my findings I would guess the majority are. To me the only fix is BOPs locker.

 

[cannondale27]

I have a bud at put 10,000 miles with zero issues, I have viper with 9000 miles boosted since day one with zero isses, my 17 winder was .060 spun off at 5000 miles and Stephs winder was .030 spin off at 2300 miles. I just did another 17 winder with 2600 miles and his was spun to .015 off. Some are possibly not a problem but based on my findings I would guess the majority are. To me the only fix is BOPs locker.

Yup it’s a crapshoot. There is some that run forever and some that don’t. QC and China issue

 

[ClutchMaster]

Yup it’s a crapshoot. There is some that run forever and some that don’t. QC and China issue

yep!
I think a lot has too do with how much grease and what type you run in the bearing. I had almost zero wear on my shaft the first 2500 miles, hardly any grease in the bearing.
I repacked the bearing full of grease (NLGI #2) that is fairly thick and the next year it was spinning on the shaft badly.
Think about a roller bearing @ 4000 rpm packed fully with thicker grease.......there’s a lot of friction compared to a bearing with almost no grease or oil. Spin up a bearing almost empty and a full bearing, you’ll see what I’m talking about.
The race is creeping/spinning some from the added resistance.
Either way it should be locked in some fashion to the driveshaft.

 

[Turboflash]

We all know what we're talking about but technically, it's always the shaft that is spinning inside the bearing since engine power is turning shaft. The bearing has nothing turning it so technically, it can't spin on the shaft. I think to Clutchmaster's point, imagine how hard a bearing full of grease turns when it's cold. Take any good bearing that has grease in it and put it in your freezer. When you pull it out, try turning it. It turns harder than you'd expect. Same as sled sitting outside in cold. More grease the bearing has, the worse it is.
One other thing I did to find out how warm/hot that bearing gets when I'm riding. I removed the foot stirrup and guard from the brake side and rode several hours on fairly fast trails. After a short blast on a lake, I braked to stop quickly and put my fingers down on the track shaft where it sticks out of rotor, and did what I could to put my fingers on caliper housing behind the rotor. No heat at all, was barely even warm. I also tested track shaft right next to seal in tunnel. Not even warm. All cool/cold. This was after riding in 20 degF weather for a few hours.
My conclusion is that bearing is always cool. And in morning, it's cold meaning it doesn't want to turn with shaft (lots of drag from grease) so shaft spins in bearing. I think when you're riding and you accelerate shaft quickly allot (on-off throttle) the shaft spins in bearing allot. At steady speed, I think bearing eventually catches up to track shaft RPM and stops spinning. But of course, it's only momentary with this application because we're always on and off throttle.

 

[cannondale27]

What I meant was shaft OD size. It’s all over the place new. Can’t polish a turd.