3500 miles driveshaft and bearing smoked

[cannondale27]

Pete that shaft wobbling around is probably what stretched your chain so much or the Top Gear bushing wore. You check that?

 

[snowbeast]

Steve top gear is fine,chain also looks good,no burrs or anything. I have the extended warrenty,and woody,s already put it in under warrenty like they were doing the work.it is in the works,dealer told me tonight it may take 3-4 weeks for an answer and than it may still be no,they claim it is a wear item,as yamacat states the bearing is larger for a reason,so we or dealers can remove it easy,because it is not a press fit...BS

 

[Pstn head]

Snowbeast... We're there no obvious signs like vibrations at speed or a wobble of sorts not even a vibration at your left foot ?
Just wondering so to make aware what to look out for....

 

[WVTurboLTX]

Steve top gear is fine,chain also looks good,no burrs or anything. I have the extended warrenty,and woody,s already put it in under warrenty like they were doing the work.it is in the works,dealer told me tonight it may take 3-4 weeks for an answer and than it may still be no,they claim it is a wear item,as yamacat states the bearing is larger for a reason,so we or dealers can remove it easy,because it is not a press fit...BS

It would be a bitch to take apart if it was pressed on. You would need a puller on the caliper.

 

[STAIN]

I drilled and tapped my driveshaft. Put a set screw in from the inside to lock the bearing to the shaft.

 

[snowbeast]

Snowbeast... We're there no obvious signs like vibrations at speed or a wobble of sorts not even a vibration at your left foot ?
Just wondering so to make aware what to look out for....

No not really,just overall top speed down some.

 

[KnappAttack]

Pete,
Tore into my sled tonight and my shaft is worn out and shot too. 2300 miles!! You've got to be kidding me!

My brakes acted like they were stuck on all the time and the disc was always hotter than all get out. Have a new shaft and bearing coming. What a pile of crap! Completely engineering failure. What ever happened to the lock collar bearing? Also very rough bearing in the suspension wheels.

Ski-Doo has this figured out why can't Cat? Doo has such better engineering, the bearing stays on shaft but holds much better in the outer flange with no wear whatsoever, Doo has far and away better build quality and parts. It's no wonder they are #1 in sales. This Cat I thought was better than the old 2012 ProCross POS, but evidently its not quite enough and still not enough. Can't wait till they bring back the Mach Z!!! Until then I'll need to keep re-engineering Cats engineering failures I guess.

Anyway, on a positive note, my 22 top gear and bushing looks like brand new though after drilling two oil holes in it last season! No wear to the bushing whatsoever.

 

[snowbeast]

Pete,
Tore into my sled tonight and my shaft is worn out and shot too. 2300 miles!! You've got to be kidding me!

My brakes acted like they were stuck on all the time and the disc was always hotter than all get out. Have a new shaft and bearing coming. What a pile of crap! Completely engineering failure. What ever happened to the lock collar bearing? Also very rough bearing in the suspension wheels.

Ski-Doo has this figured out why can't Cat? Doo has such better engineering, the bearing stays on shaft but holds much better in the outer flange with no wear whatsoever, Doo has far and away better build quality and parts. It's no wonder they are #1 in sales. This Cat I thought was better than the old 2012 ProCross POS, but evidently its not quite enough and still not enough. Can't wait till they bring back the Mach Z!!! Until then I'll need to keep re-engineering Cats engineering failures I guess.

Anyway, on a positive note, my 22 top gear and bushing looks like brand new though after drilling two oil holes in it last season! No wear to the bushing whatsoever.

View attachment 143704

Yes what a disappointing pile of crap parts they threw togeather,awsome motor,chassie pieced togeather,and like you mike,i thought once Yamaha took over production,it would be a quality build too. Ya,at least our top cat gears have held up,thats more than I expected.

 

[XP123]

I repacked my driveshaft and jackshaft bearings after the first year. The driveshaft bearing is a POS made in China but as long as you keep it greased it should be fine.

I hate the whole driveshaft design and the way the bearing and rotor are attached. My Circlip that holds the rotor assembly on broke last season and It's a good thing I noticed it before it all came apart. I hate the way Cat builds stuff and I just don't trust their engineering. If Yamaha continues to be connected to Cat they need to have a larger say in how they build these sleds

 

[craigwsrx]

10,700 miles and I am replacing axle shaft for the 3rd time. Brand new shaft had 5-6 thousands clearance. This time putting in an aftermarket shaft from Black Diamond which has only 1 thousands clearance. Will see how it holds up.

 

[FrozenTows4]

Have all these spun drive shaft sleds been running track tension 2 inches @ 20lbs per spec? Or the "only tight enough so it doesn't ratchet" mentality from years gone by?

 

[KnappAttack]

I run my track tighter than 2" @ 20 lbs. More like 1.25" at 25 lbs.

I can't keep it from ratcheting unless fiddle string tight. Thought Cat would have had all this inferior crap fixed by now. No wonder they're going down the toilet. I don't think even the infusion of Textrons money can help them at this point.

Quite a shame as the sled handles and rides so great, but lack of quality parts, testing and poor engineering are really souring my taste for anything Cat related.

Be interesting to see how Cat and Yamaha partnership shakes out. I hope they can both get it together going their separate ways. If it continues the ways its going, neither company will be in business long. Cat quality and engineering is bottom of the barrel and Yamaha needs chassis and suspension experts.

 

[sxr70001]

 

[snowbeast]

10,700 miles and I am replacing axle shaft for the 3rd time. Brand new shaft had 5-6 thousands clearance. This time putting in an aftermarket shaft from Black Diamond which has only 1 thousands clearance. Will see how it holds up.

Wow,5-6 thou clearance would be fine if they had a set screw to hold bearing in place,but .001 thou may be kinda tight,hope it hold ok,you could add bearing lock,which is what we may do,even though this time we will peen the shaft.

 

[STAIN]

Locked the bearing to the shaft. Do not over tighten.