Bent Chain Tensioner Bolt

[Al Bundy]

Anyone ever experience this? To remove I was going to put a small piece of scrap metal behind the bolt head (to protect the case) and cut it off with a die grinder or dremel. Then remove tensioner and pray I have enough room in the case to turn the bent bolt. I welcome other ideas or suggestions! If someone happens to know the bolt size and pitch?
Thanks

 

[Al Bundy]

I've got to say I probably sat and looked at that tensioner bolt for more time than it took to get it out. I ended up using my reciprocating saw to cut the bolt inside the case to release pressure on the tensioner 1st.

I then cut the head off the bolt and used vice grips to turn it out of the welded nut. Sorry for crappy picture of the case.

I need to replace the tensioner, obviously the bolt, and check the bearings.

 

[jbeaus]

Glad to see you got it out, but Wow! are you not wonder how this happened , takes some major force to bend that bolt.

 

[Al Bundy]

After gassing up on pavement I gave it some throttle to get on the trail; someone pulled out in front of me and I had to hit the brakes hard. I heard an awful noise in the chaincase right after that.

 

[superfan75]

Did something else break in there for that bolt to do that or was it just the force from the hard breaking on the pavement.

 

[Al Bundy]

Everything but the bolt and tensioner are ok. The bearing in the cover is a little rough feeling so I'll replace that.

 

[Indy]

thats a new one, I've never seen this happen before.

 

[Sasquatch]

I'll hazard a guess. With the amount the bolt was turned in I think the chain is past service life! Looks like chain could be stretched bad, so angle on the roller block and bolt was at its end. Which could cause the bolt to angle down along side the roller block and past it when the chain slapped under hard braking. The chain looks bad as well with damage to outside links, the noise your heard was the chain catching something when the bolt jumped off the roller block and put to much slack in the chain. I would guess that if you took the chain and held it sideways parallel to the ground it would bend a huge amount. It should not bend very much when held in an 0 shape (next to nothing) so you can see how much the pins and plates have worn. Hard to tell but in the blurry pic it looks like the drive gear is worn as well. As I said a guess from a picture! Hands on is always better!

If it was me I would do all the bearings the chain and gears. Bottom line is the chain is damaged for sure now and I won't do a drive chain without gears unless the gears have only a few miles (even then gears are not going to break the bank are they), You now have had bits of metal and aluminum floating around in the oil which get on the bearings, stick to the rollers and shorten their life. Its all apart now is the time to rebuild it right! Chain, gears, bearings and seals. Check the other side at the same time and replace drive and jackshaft bearings cause its way easier now! Few hundred now or do it all again later for much, much more!

 

[Al Bundy]

I'll hazard a guess. With the amount the bolt was turned in I think the chain is past service life! Looks like chain could be stretched bad, so angle on the roller block and bolt was at its end. Which could cause the bolt to angle down along side the roller block and past it when the chain slapped under hard braking. The chain looks bad as well with damage to outside links, the noise your heard was the chain catching something when the bolt jumped off the roller block and put to much slack in the chain. I would guess that if you took the chain and held it sideways parallel to the ground it would bend a huge amount. It should not bend very much when held in an 0 shape (next to nothing) so you can see how much the pins and plates have worn. Hard to tell but in the blurry pic it looks like the drive gear is worn as well. As I said a guess from a picture! Hands on is always better!

If it was me I would do all the bearings the chain and gears. Bottom line is the chain is damaged for sure now and I won't do a drive chain without gears unless the gears have only a few miles (even then gears are not going to break the bank are they), You now have had bits of metal and aluminum floating around in the oil which get on the bearings, stick to the rollers and shorten their life. Its all apart now is the time to rebuild it right! Chain, gears, bearings and seals. Check the other side at the same time and replace drive and jackshaft bearings cause its way easier now! Few hundred now or do it all again later for much, much more!

You make some good points and I agree about the chain, it's beyond serviceable limits. Thanks for responding.

 

[Sasquatch]

You make some good points and I agree about the chain, it's beyond serviceable limits. Thanks for responding.

How many miles on the 04? I put a new chain in around 9,000 I think on my Warrior, all new everything in case, on the shafts and a new driveshaft to replace broken one. Around 18,000 miles now on the Warrior. Worst is waiting for the parts to come in. Few hours to put back together!

Lucky thing is the chain didn't break! On my 2000 Cat it broke piled up and broke the inner and outer cases adding another 500 bucks to the bill!

 

[Al Bundy]

How many miles on the 04? I put a new chain in around 9,000 I think on my Warrior, all new everything in case, on the shafts and a new driveshaft to replace broken one. Around 18,000 miles now on the Warrior. Worst is waiting for the parts to come in. Few hours to put back together!

Lucky thing is the chain didn't break! On my 2000 Cat it broke piled up and broke the inner and outer cases adding another 500 bucks to the bill!

Not sure about mileage. I bought the Warrior off a fella who had a binder full of receipts for service done, threads from this site, and repair manual; odometer stated 5,200 miles. Well, the original owner, also a member, noticed some pictures I posted and claimed it was his old sled. The funny thing was he went over all the service he had done with me and says @ 11 to 12k miles he had valves adjusted. Hmmmm. Come to find out, the fella he sold the Warrior to and I bought from switched out the speedo/odometer. So my best guess is around 15k. Waiting for seals now.

 

[Redbeard]

If it was me I would do all the bearings the chain and gears.

I could not agree more.

 

[Sasquatch]

Not sure about mileage. I bought the Warrior off a fella who had a binder full of receipts for service done, threads from this site, and repair manual; odometer stated 5,200 miles. Well, the original owner, also a member, noticed some pictures I posted and claimed it was his old sled. The funny thing was he went over all the service he had done with me and says @ 11 to 12k miles he had valves adjusted. Hmmmm. Come to find out, the fella he sold the Warrior to and I bought from switched out the speedo/odometer. So my best guess is around 15k. Waiting for seals now.

If the chain was never replaced 15,000 is a good run. Bright side is once redone 15,000 more miles of smiles! I really like my Warrior and it still runs strong. With the addition of the ZX2 skid it rode so comfy smooth. I ride it every winter for a few hundred miles and it just has that something I find hard to explain but it makes me happy!

I would have never bought my Apex but for the EPS and my age. When your shoulders ache on a good day not riding a sled, riding a sled for a week at a time in agony was becoming something I was going to have to give up. The EPS kept me going!

I love seeing the first Gen RX's on the trail!

 

[Redbeard]

Hey Al, just a thought...

Has your sled ever been re-geared with a smaller top sprocket? If you're replacing the chain, you might see about getting a shorter link chain. Maybe it's just the angle in the photo, but the existing chain looks plenty long; like you really have to crank-in the tensioner bolt to remove the slack. A shorter chain, if it fits, wouldn't put as much stress on the tensioner.

I regeared my Vector top sprocket from 22 - 21 several years ago. I also replaced the 70L chain with a 68L.

Just a thought.

 

[Al Bundy]

Hey Al, just a thought...

Has your sled ever been re-geared with a smaller top sprocket? If you're replacing the chain, you might see about getting a shorter link chain. Maybe it's just the angle in the photo, but the existing chain looks plenty long; like you really have to crank-in the tensioner bolt to remove the slack. A shorter chain, if it fits, wouldn't put as much stress on the tensioner.

I regeared my Vector top sprocket from 22 - 21 several years ago. I also replaced the 70L chain with a 68L.

Just a thought.

I think that chain has just stretched from years of use. The chain and sprockets I ordered are original and that's what's in there; 70L chain, 23t top and 38t bottom I believe.