Barn of Parts Driveshaft Saver....Bearing Lock

[Firecatdude]

No that won't matter, do it the way I said, tighten slowly bringing it up little by little while rotating the track around and around, this will normalize the bearing on the shaft as the bearing self aligns and normalizes on the shaft without being crooked on the shaft.

Hey Knapp, is it better to turn the track by hand or use throttle when doing this? Thanks

 

[DMCTurbo]

I see precision EFI has copied your design. That's pretty sad in my books... All the other big players sell yours from what I can see.

 

[ROCKERDAN]

I see precision EFI has copied your design. That's pretty sad in my books... All the other big players sell yours from what I can see.

Yep just seen their copy on IG.....Travis should get some cash for his design!

 

[1nc 2000]

Travis's design can be installed on both driveshaft bearings if desired where as the copy can not.

 

[KnappAttack]

Hey Knapp, is it better to turn the track by hand or use throttle when doing this? Thanks

I turn it by hand because you need to have the secondary off to access the wedge decent.

 

[hibshman25]

Yep just seen their copy on IG.....Travis should get some cash for his design!

Disappointing to see. I know of some that made there own personal version and that doesn’t bother me, but for a vendor to copy and retail is pretty low.

Trying to figure out how you keep the china clone from spinning though if it is not snug initially in shaft?

 

[jonlafon1]

Disappointing to see. I know of some that made there own personal version and that doesn’t bother me, but for a vendor to copy and retail is pretty low.

Trying to figure out how you keep the china clone from spinning though if it is not snug initially in shaft?

WE ALL know who gets credit for fixing the biggest flaw on these sleds!!!!! I wont forget

 

[mbarryracing]

Ok figured I'd share some photos. I have about 2000 mile snow on my '15 RTX-DX and hadn't serviced the driveshaft bearing yet. I didn't want to go much longer and risk wearing the drive shaft bad so decided to pull it apart, but didn't pull the rear suspension. I copied what another member on here had done with just loosening the track and jamming a sized length of wood between the driveshaft and the front cross shaft to hold position. Put on my contortionist hat on and managed to remove the 3 retaining bolts from inside the tunnel. Hard because of the setup Loctite on the threads.
Caught it in time, only polished a bit, no galling and no OD loss. The factory PEER bearing definitely was slipping on the shaft, and definitely had ingested some water. Slid right off the shaft, was indeed sloppy fit.

 

[mbarryracing]

My local bearing dealer Greg at Buffalo Bearing had a choice of 6009 bearings, Cheap Chinese like the factory PEER which had hard almost plastic like seals, or a KBC brand that is a German company but manufactured in South Korea. Those had a nice rubber seal. The 6009 is industrial bearing with very general tolerances so you could have one tight and another loose.
Now for a snowmobile driveshaft bearing, super tight tolerances are actually a waste because of the environment it lives in. But in this application where you want it as tight to the shaft as possible I banked on the premise that the China bearing could be all over the place on the ID and the German company maybe tighter like their shaver razor blades... I was right, still slid over the shaft but no wobble.
I elected to remove the seals off the new bearing and flush all the factory grease out in my parts washer, then lightly repack with Amsoil waterproof grease.
View attachment 159321

 

[mbarryracing]

Also had procured a Driveshaft Saver from Travis at BOP, I did put some waterproof grease on the tapers but also Never Seize on the threads, which I know will reduce torque required (threads lubes) but I was electing to try starting with light torques and increase to find where mine actually started to expand and grab the bearing.

 

[mbarryracing]

The Driveshaft Saver was tight going into my 2015 shaft, I even sanded the ID of all the surface oxidation, Had to persuade it a little with a hammer.
Got it in place to recommended depth, slid just the new bearing on and snuck up on the torque starting at 10 ft lbs until the bearing no longer slid around on the shaft at 17 ft lbs. Backed it off and retightened 2X's to same torque and it repeated. Now I knew the minimum I had to get it to when it was all installed with the housing and I could no longer manually check it.

 

[mbarryracing]

Started putting it all back together, Torqued to 20 ft lbs for a little more, the rotor still slid over the splines just fine.

 

[mbarryracing]

Had to use a ratchet strap trick to draw the two running boards together to get the snap ring on the shaft . Seems good now. Will test drive it on the trails tomorrow.

 

[jonlafon1]

Had to use a ratchet strap trick to draw the two running boards together to get the snap ring on the shaft . Seems good now. Will test drive it on the trails tomorrow.
View attachment 159329

Check it on a stand for wobble.. Turning the track while slowly increasing torques on the BOP wedge help seat the bearing better on the shaft(perKnapp).. Ask me how i KNOW?
If the bearing is not seated correctly you will see the brake assembly wobble while turning track(10-25 MPH) on a stand. Don't ask me how I know!

 

[mbarryracing]

Do you mean loosen the BOP wedge, spin the track up on a stand, to let the bearing settle, then torque it up? I was pretty sure the bearing was seated all the way in to the inner clip because before I reinstalled the outer half of the brake caliper and the brake pads on either side of the rotor, the rotor still had axial play on the shaft after I got the outer clip on. I don't think the rotor will cause the brake to wobble unless the drive shaft is no longer true. I don't think 20 ft lbs would deflect the shaft.
Was it the bearing possibly being cocked on the shaft causing the whole assembly it's in to wobble? Mine slid over the shaft pretty snug already so I will run it up when I tighten the track to check to see if it's cocked or the shaft isn't true.