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Another victim of Cat Quality!

My dealership is having the shafts welded and re-turned. Then they are having a groove machined in the shaft and the inner race of the bearing so they can add a key.
Which dealer?
 

I tried set screw and green loctite on a brand new shaft and bearing. 1700 miles later is had just started spinning on the shaft and the green loctite was gone. A setscrew will not hold it for any length of time IMO.




I'm surprised you only tightened it down to 35 ft.lbs on an already worn shaft. I figured there would be failures from those who had not tightened down enough.

I used 35lbs and a bit more on a new shaft and bearing using anti-sieze on the bolt and wedge, hopeful that was enough to hold it. Won't know till I tear into it next Dec for certain, but I expect it will be fine.

Just curious, why would you wait till next December? It would seem like pulling it apart now would allow fix time and parts access and should it not be in good shape it would give others a heads up on the wedge.
 
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I did the set screw at 500 miles. At 6000 miles I was seeing some wear. It helps but eventually it will spin. I like the idea of the interference fit bit not sure how you’d get the bearing pressed on the shaft. Or removed for that matter.
 
Also , I am tired of people claiming these problems are "CAT'S fault" It has been 7 years, It's Yamaha's problem now also. Their name is on those sleds.

Good point.
Even though it's made in TRF, Yamaha has allowed it for sooo long, they are just as much to blame at this point.
 
Just curious, why would you wait till next December? It would seem like pulling it apart now would allow fix time and parts access and should it not be in good shape it would give others a heads up on the wedge.

I work major hours in the summer and am off December 1-March 1. I don't work on sleds anymore during the summer months.

I'd bet the BOP wedge is working great for 80-90% of the people out there. Maybe not so well for those that didn't test the fit on their bearing and shaft or tighten enough and went by what others were doing on the internet for torque. After all, every shaft is going to be different sized and some use oil, grease, or anti-sieze on the wedge which will require a different torque in each case, some even went dry I bet, some used anti-sieze on the bolt and others used loctite. It's all over the board for what is needed there anyway.

Mine was good and tight on the bearing starting around 20 ft. lbs. I only had .0015" slip fit on it when installed, so it didn't take much to tighten up on the bearing. The problem is most don't know what the fit is on theirs I'd bet. My shaft that had 2300 miles on it was at .008" slip. I've heard of some new shafts and bearings at .0035" and it appears they are all over the board on fit.
 
Both mine I test fit on the bench with a new bearing. Made a scratch mark when wedge was just tight enough I could not slide the bearing. Put it all in sled then matched the marks back up on wedge. Hoping for best. Will find out soon.
 
I did the set screw at 500 miles. At 6000 miles I was seeing some wear. It helps but eventually it will spin. I like the idea of the interference fit bit not sure how you’d get the bearing pressed on the shaft. Or removed for that matter.
Warm the bearing then cool the shaft down to slide the bearing on. Use a keyboard duster or something. Spray the inside of the shaft. You would not believe how much you can get metal to shrink with one of those.
 
I work major hours in the summer and am off December 1-March 1. I don't work on sleds anymore during the summer months.

I'd bet the BOP wedge is working great for 80-90% of the people out there. Maybe not so well for those that didn't test the fit on their bearing and shaft or tighten enough and went by what others were doing on the internet for torque. After all, every shaft is going to be different sized and some use oil, grease, or anti-sieze on the wedge which will require a different torque in each case, some even went dry I bet, some used anti-sieze on the bolt and others used loctite. It's all over the board for what is needed there anyway.

Mine was good and tight on the bearing starting around 20 ft. lbs. I only had .0015" slip fit on it when installed, so it didn't take much to tighten up on the bearing. The problem is most don't know what the fit is on theirs I'd bet. My shaft that had 2300 miles on it was at .008" slip. I've heard of some new shafts and bearings at .0035" and it appears they are all over the board on fit.


Understood. I'm likely one of the guys that didn't torque it enough then. I will check it and tighten her up this spring.
 
I have the bearing wedge sitting on my work bench next to my brand new sidewinder with zero miles. Would it be relatively safe to just install at 35lbs on a brand new sled or do i need to tear the brake down and test it out like i would on a used sled?
 
I guess I am one of the 90% with good luck on BOP wedge. Have 6000kms on wedge and no wear on shaft, looked like new! I installed at 4500kms (10500kms total on sled) and inspected shaft then, no wear, only faint signs of bearing starting to spin. I also tap the wedge in so its flush with end of shaft then torque to 30lbs. I agree with others that unless you know your shaft is good you are just guessing with putting wedge in...
 


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