Best belt for my sled ?

[yamaha4sea_fan24]

I’m at 1500 miles on my Gates 8JP length, looks great yet and just picked up a second to replace it and move it to the spare location.

I'm running stock belt as of now as well. Picked up a new spare from a buddy that previously had a viper for $35. Can't complain with that for a spare!

 

[Turtle]

Wouldn't the softer 8JP/Gates belt wear quicker vs the OEM 8DN? The 8DN belt has proven itself over MANY years.

Kinda depends on how hard you are with the throttle. The 8DN is hard and will last a long time. But I’ve found they don’t really like big high speed boosted pulls. Then tend to slip and I’ve blown a few doing so. But for performance the softer belts are better. And I’ve been getting 3000-4000 miles out of my Ultimax belts.

 

[cannondale27]

Whatever belt you choose clutch for it and stick with it.

 

[stormin norman]

I have run the stock 8JP on my 14 LTX and with 2200 miles on the belt it is still in spec and in great condition. I do keep my clutch's and belt as clean as possible. Have not tried the 8DN belt yet, would it preform better?

 

[Carla 123]

I have run the stock 8JP on my 14 LTX and with 2200 miles on the belt it is still in spec and in great condition. I do keep my clutch's and belt as clean as possible. Have not tried the 8DN belt yet, would it preform better?

How do you keep the side panels clean with that 8jp.my white panels we totally black .will never use that belt again.just a spare.

 

[stormin norman]

I do have to work at keeping the sled clean. I have added a extra vent behind the secondary clutch ( by my knee ) that removes a lot of heat and hopefully some of the belt dust.

 

[Studroes144]

I actually never ran the 8jp on mine from brand new because of all the complaints I read about. I only ran the 8dn with pretty good results and then I switched to the gates carbon fiber 8dn length and liked the responsiveness a lot. I turboed mine last year and was climbing quick to 8600-8800 rpms and then it would fall off 500-600 rpms and slowly start to climb up. After a lot of clutching I switched to the gates 8jp carbon fiber (40C4313) and wow what a difference. It seemed to really make it feel much snappier. In fact before I could feel when the turbo spooled up and with 8jp length it feels like it's instantly into the boost. I kind of wished I would have tried the 8jp length gates before boosting it. Either way I liked both gates carbon fiber belts but prefer the 8jp length. With either gates belt you will lose maybe 300 rpms because they are a bit tackier than the yamaha belt which will require some clutching.

8jp length gates belt is the perfect match up for a turbo sled. The longer length 8dn belts make for unnecessary clutch movement to get the sled into motion. That difference that you felt when going to the gates 8jp length belt was much tighter deflection. With the longer 8dn belts the primary had to more the less “waste” some of its shift in order to take out the slack of the belt and put the sled in motion. When it revved up good that was the “wasted shift”, then once all the slack was taken out of the belt then the clutches were in too high of a gear ratio..that’s when you would lose rpm. Then the slow climb back up to peak rpm was the engine and clutches over working to get back to proper rpm. With the performance I lost going to the longer 8dn belt I’d never run one on my personal sled, no matter how cheap or readily available they are. I’ve had so many messages over the past 5 years regarding clutching on these sleds, I’ve did my best not to step on toes with the whole belt issue but the longer 8dn belts have given as much or more issues than the original 8jp belts did. You can change clutching until you’re blue in the face and try 10 different setups but if you are running an improper length and/or width belt, you’ll just be chasing your tail. I’ve tried atleast half a dozen belts on my turbo and the gates 8jp length hands down has been the best in every category.

 

[rbell14]

Well said and makes a lot of sense to me!

 

[Studroes144]

Another thought I just had is belt width..people have complained from the start about the harsh engagement of the viper and a huge factor in that is the belt to sheave clearance. When comparing a Yamaha belt to a gates belt, the yammi belts are narrower, not a huge amount but it is noticeable. So with a narrower belt when your weights overcome the spring pressure and engage the belt it’s not a smooth transition with the narrow belts because the larger gap between the belt and sheaves makes the clutch “slam” into the belt so to speak. Now different springs and weight profiles can alter this and improve it..but the issue still exists. The 911 cover that you can adjust that clearance would be a great option. I don’t have one nor have I ever used one, but the concept and idea is great..another great idea is simply a wider belt. If you’re into taking comparison measurements, try some different belts and and with a feeler gauge check the clearance on the primary clutch between the belt and sheaves. On mine with the gates belt and .018 gauge fits and a .020 gauge does not, that’s right in the desired range. Even with yamaha’s Stiffest primary spring with my weights and roller setup my engagement is 2300 and very smooth..but the kicker is that when it engages the sled instantly starts to move, no belt slack to overcome and no belt slipping with the gates.

 

[Rich Kay]

Another thought I just had is belt width..people have complained from the start about the harsh engagement of the viper and a huge factor in that is the belt to sheave clearance. When comparing a Yamaha belt to a gates belt, the yammi belts are narrower, not a huge amount but it is noticeable. So with a narrower belt when your weights overcome the spring pressure and engage the belt it’s not a smooth transition with the narrow belts because the larger gap between the belt and sheaves makes the clutch “slam” into the belt so to speak. Now different springs and weight profiles can alter this and improve it..but the issue still exists. The 911 cover that you can adjust that clearance would be a great option. I don’t have one nor have I ever used one, but the concept and idea is great..another great idea is simply a wider belt. If you’re into taking comparison measurements, try some different belts and and with a feeler gauge check the clearance on the primary clutch between the belt and sheaves. On mine with the gates belt and .018 gauge fits and a .020 gauge does not, that’s right in the desired range. Even with yamaha’s Stiffest primary spring with my weights and roller setup my engagement is 2300 and very smooth..but the kicker is that when it engages the sled instantly starts to move, no belt slack to overcome and no belt slipping with the gates.

The 911 cover is the solution for proper belt clearance as much as the belt ride height adjustment is for belt deflection. This belt option we have is a tuff one. I feel the width of any belt ya choose is adjustable by the 911 cover option.. very nice given the other benefits it offers. The other is the softer or harder factor of the belt choices as it effects or calls for clutching changes. But for me its the overall length of the belts that is very important. Yes you can change the belt height for long or shorter belts but unless you can change your C/C distances it effects the whole shift ratio at low mid and top end based on a longer or shorter belt.

 

[cannondale27]

8jp length gates belt is the perfect match up for a turbo sled. The longer length 8dn belts make for unnecessary clutch movement to get the sled into motion. That difference that you felt when going to the gates 8jp length belt was much tighter deflection. With the longer 8dn belts the primary had to more the less “waste” some of its shift in order to take out the slack of the belt and put the sled in motion. When it revved up good that was the “wasted shift”, then once all the slack was taken out of the belt then the clutches were in too high of a gear ratio..that’s when you would lose rpm. Then the slow climb back up to peak rpm was the engine and clutches over working to get back to proper rpm. With the performance I lost going to the longer 8dn belt I’d never run one on my personal sled, no matter how cheap or readily available they are. I’ve had so many messages over the past 5 years regarding clutching on these sleds, I’ve did my best not to step on toes with the whole belt issue but the longer 8dn belts have given as much or more issues than the original 8jp belts did. You can change clutching until you’re blue in the face and try 10 different setups but if you are running an improper length and/or width belt, you’ll just be chasing your tail. I’ve tried atleast half a dozen belts on my turbo and the gates 8jp length hands down has been the best in every category.

Is this the Carbon Gates Studroes? I believe with my setup I have addressed all of your concerns with 8dn length belts. Probably would have saved alot of time and $ sticking with proper length belt though! 911cover,Gearing and the wieght,roller and spring combo I have. It works and its 8dn length. Not Turbo though.

 

[Studroes144]

Is this the Carbon Gates Studroes? I believe with my setup I have addressed all of your concerns with 8dn length belts. Probably would have saved alot of time and $ sticking with proper length belt though! 911cover,Gearing and the wieght,roller and spring combo I have. It works and its 8dn length. Not Turbo though.

Yes gates carbon. Unfortunately I never got the chance to try it on mine when it was n/a..never needed to for that matter, 8jp worked fine for me. 8dn also worked fine, I didn’t see any benefits or down falls one way or the other (that’s on basically a factory stock sled with clutching). With the turbo (my personal experience atleast) the Yamaha belts just wouldn’t cut it. I blew a lot of them and felt like I was chasing clutching all over the place. With the gates belt I just felt like there’s a few less variables to worry about. I did let a buddy use a gates belt on his n/a viper. With the stock belt it would hit the rev limiter atleast half a dozen times or more from a dead stop. With just swapping to the gates belt it lowered his rpm right down to the 88-8900 range and held right there. I rode the sled back to back and it ran noticeably better with the gates belt, however at cruising speeds he like the quicker rev up that the Yamaha belts had..he’s more of the stand-up ditch banger rider lol but in reality there was no difference in performance, just one of those mind games where if the engine is screaming it must be going faster.

 

[cannondale27]

Yes gates carbon. Unfortunately I never got the chance to try it on mine when it was n/a..never needed to for that matter, 8jp worked fine for me. 8dn also worked fine, I didn’t see any benefits or down falls one way or the other (that’s on basically a factory stock sled with clutching). With the turbo (my personal experience atleast) the Yamaha belts just wouldn’t cut it. I blew a lot of them and felt like I was chasing clutching all over the place. With the gates belt I just felt like there’s a few less variables to worry about. I did let a buddy use a gates belt on his n/a viper. With the stock belt it would hit the rev limiter atleast half a dozen times or more from a dead stop. With just swapping to the gates belt it lowered his rpm right down to the 88-8900 range and held right there. I rode the sled back to back and it ran noticeably better with the gates belt, however at cruising speeds he like the quicker rev up that the Yamaha belts had..he’s more of the stand-up ditch banger rider lol but in reality there was no difference in performance, just one of those mind games where if the engine is screaming it must be going faster.

Just to be clear I only run the actual 8DN for trail riding long distance. When I am playing around or speed running I run a Dayco XTX 8dn length. Drops rpm by 100 and very consistent also.

 

[Snowmobile Mike]

So with my situation Stock EVERYTHING and I haven't rode it, it only has 143 miles on it ,2016 XT SE, Belt now is from factory, I believe the 8JP, I have ordered the 8DN belt for spare . I guess I should just clean clutches and belt ( it's been sitting for two years ) and go with what's on it for now ! Would you guys agree then when original belt is close to being used up go to Gates and always keep 8DN for spare ? ? ?

 

[cannondale27]

No. Get another Gates for spare. 8dn is different size and compound.