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Driveshaft toast bearing seems OK......


yamaha owners are demanding, this design flaw is maddening and shouldn’t exist for sure. I am not excusing it but the latest poo and doo 850 engines don’t last longer than these axle and bearings and they sell boatloads of them and very few complain. They say it’s all part of the ride man! (That’s a quote from 2,000 km blown 850 doo owner) Resale isn’t very strong out of warranty though. Our local cat dealer mimics what you guys are saying, he doesn’t think it’s a big deal but I honestly think he has very few high milers like a lot of Yamaha 4stroke owners are. We have put Travis fix on three for this winter and are hoping for much improved reliability and durability without maintenance. Now that wedges are installed we need snow!
 
Has anyone that did the peening and loctite had a failure yet?


I did green 638 loctite on the shaft with set screw and the loctite was gone and set screw worn right down in 1700 miles. Loctite Not even there! Dan peened and upon taking it apart peens were gone and shaft worn.

Might as well wrap some electrical tape around the shaft to hold it, hope and pray it holds. I don't think so.

All these supposed fixes are really just a hope and a prayer. Might get a few miles out of them, but not a cure by a long shot. BOP wedge is the only hope for a possible fix. And IMO it won't help everyone. Shafts that are already worn a bunch or some that don't tighten enough, will still have issues down the road.
 
I checked this on the second year. I used to replace my bearing on my Apex every other year because it was cheap and good insurance. I am sure it will get covered under warranty, but wonder how long until they can get it in and if they have a shaft in stock.
 
Sure is a bad one! Wow!
Mine at 5500 miles was not that bad at all, but I still changed it out. Make sure to look at all with that kind of play, whereas some have reported changing out much more then just the shaft and caliper bearing.

As I see it, most dealers do not look for that problem unless changing track, I mean if one does not loosen track and more to inspect that problem, it can go unnoticed until it shows itself with much more damage.

It’s the DYI maintenance guys that pick it up sooner then later.

Nice catch.

I too cannot believe this problem and much more came over from the previous Viper models in this chassis, but it has and I have been checking on mine yearly thanks to Cannondale and many others now since the Winder appeared on the scene.

Some very smart dealers made sure all got a 5 year warranty with the Spring Surge buy. Thank you my dealer!

Good luck to you race, hope they have all in stock! They did when I got my new shaft and bearing, and they knew of the problem and had ordered many more way back then!
 
Sure is a bad one! Wow!
Mine at 5500 miles was not that bad at all, but I still changed it out. Make sure to look at all with that kind of play, whereas some have reported changing out much more then just the shaft and caliper bearing.

As I see it, most dealers do not look for that problem unless changing track, I mean if one does not loosen track and more to inspect that problem, it can go unnoticed until it shows itself with much more damage.

It’s the DYI maintenance guys that pick it up sooner then later.

Nice catch.

I too cannot believe this problem and much more came over from the previous Viper models in this chassis, but it has and I have been checking on mine yearly thanks to Cannondale and many others now since the Winder appeared on the scene.

Some very smart dealers made sure all got a 5 year warranty with the Spring Surge buy. Thank you my dealer!

Good luck to you race, hope they have all in stock! They did when I got my new shaft and bearing, and they knew of the problem and had ordered many more way back then!
On a once over warranty ending service , they would not have found the axle issue , if I hadn't had them replace the track at that time.
They warrantied the shaft but still charged me an additional $850 , as they were going to replace the track anyway . and only discovered the worn axle/bearing , and were going to charge me for that also , until I told them Yamaha is covering it, with others on TY.
 
I did see you post that in another thread about the dealer that had no idea about the bearing and axle problem . There in Connecticut correct ?
I don’t know of any ct Yamaha dealer
 
I don’t know of any ct Yamaha dealer

I think they are all gone. I have a Cat dealer 1.3 miles down the road & they are more then willing to work on my sled.
They took over the Cat half of Shark Cycle in Stafford Springs. The Polaris half went to Scranton Powersports in Vernon.
 
Sure is a bad one! Wow!
Mine at 5500 miles was not that bad at all, but I still changed it out. Make sure to look at all with that kind of play, whereas some have reported changing out much more then just the shaft and caliper bearing.

As I see it, most dealers do not look for that problem unless changing track, I mean if one does not loosen track and more to inspect that problem, it can go unnoticed until it shows itself with much more damage.

It’s the DYI maintenance guys that pick it up sooner then later.

Nice catch.

I too cannot believe this problem and much more came over from the previous Viper models in this chassis, but it has and I have been checking on mine yearly thanks to Cannondale and many others now since the Winder appeared on the scene.

Some very smart dealers made sure all got a 5 year warranty with the Spring Surge buy. Thank you my dealer!

Good luck to you race, hope they have all in stock! They did when I got my new shaft and bearing, and they knew of the problem and had ordered many more way back then!

Good point.
The only way to notice this, unless looking for it, is if you remove it.
While in the brake hub, it's hard to notice, unless again, looking for it
 
I think they are all gone. I have a Cat dealer 1.3 miles down the road & they are more then willing to work on my sled.
They took over the Cat half of Shark Cycle in Stafford Springs. The Polaris half went to Scranton Powersports in Vernon.
I am just thinking for any warranty work would be nice for a local dealer
 
I did green 638 loctite on the shaft with set screw and the loctite was gone and set screw worn right down in 1700 miles. Loctite Not even there! Dan peened and upon taking it apart peens were gone and shaft worn.

Might as well wrap some electrical tape around the shaft to hold it, hope and pray it holds. I don't think so.

All these supposed fixes are really just a hope and a prayer. Might get a few miles out of them, but not a cure by a long shot. BOP wedge is the only hope for a possible fix. And IMO it won't help everyone. Shafts that are already worn a bunch or some that don't tighten enough, will still have issues down the road.
Yup I got away with peening and repeening on original shaft 4 seasons but this last season it bit me. Fubar shaft and bearing. BOP wedge is only hope unless welding and turning the shaft and then it must be a tight slip fit which will require a good tap to get it on and a puller to get it off. Buddy did his and it has lasted but even that is not guaranteed.
 
I just put in the black diamond steel shaft and new SKF bearing, it’s a tight fit, had to hit it on half way. I also bought a BOP wedge when I thought I was getting the stock shaft but everywhere was on back order. The BOP wedge does fit the black diamond driveshaft, so I put that in too. Hopefully I’m all set till I have to get the bearing off.
 
4200 miles on 2017 ltx le, repacked driveshaft bearing each season. Put a new bearing in this year, same ID that the old one was and both slide on and off shaft the same but dont wobble on shaft. So I just peened the shaft and put it back together, I had to do a little bit of pounding to get the shaft back in the bearing. Everything else looks real good, the rotor has very little play. All in all it is still a better snowmobile than any Doo I or my wife have ever owned!!!
 


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