I'm on the fence to change or not...driveshaft

[apltx08]

I've got 10.000kms on my APEX '08 and as we all know these famous drive shaft seem to fail around the 10 to 15k...so what should I do, my buddy's '05 RX1 failed last year at 13.000kms so this is why I'm kind of nervous to start off the season and have it fail!!!

I don't seem to read post or hear of the newer ones failing or was it '05 proned to fail and they improved the newer ones, any of you with higher milage failing?

 

[APEX 06]

DO IT NOW BEFORE THE SNOW FLYS.

 

[woolyviper]

if your track is loaded with studs, i'd change it. the failures i've seen are in studded machines - last one i saw was broke clean off and the guy had lots of studs in the track.

 

[apltx08]

I don't run studs...neither did the '05 RX1 and it snaped at 13.000kms, I don't know if its me missing the post's but their doesn't seem to be much breaking anymore on the newer models, was it a '05 problem?

 

[attack2006mb]

i have an 06 attak broke driveshaft in first year maybe 5000 km. have over 22000 km now no picks

 

[yamadog07]

interesting post. you got me thinking.
i have an o7 attak, 10,000 kms.
i am about to install cobra track and extroverts. sounds like i should do drive shaft also ?
what type of cost are we looking at for drive shaft ?
anyone know if you can by new drive shaft with extroverts already installed ?

 

[mikeyd]

Broke my drive shaft on my 07 Apex GT with approximately 6,000 miles on my last trip of the year last March. Cobra track with 144 studs

 

[guardrail]

Does running the track a little tighter to stop ratcheting have anything to do with it?

 

[ahicks]

Not long ago somebody wrote in that the new '10 extrovert setup wouldn't work on the older sleds because the shaft OD had been changed to something larger. Guess I was just thinking that may be something to check into if I were considering extroverts as well as a new shaft? Not sure if it would work, or what might be required to make it work, but the larger shaft should pretty much assure no further issues, may kill 2 birds at once?

 

[kinger]

A new microbelmont is like $175 and supposed to be super strong. Sounds like cheap reassurance and keep yours a a back up.

 

[apltx08]

'09 & '10 shafts will not fit, they're longer to fit in the extra bearing in the chaincase cover and '10 have a larger dia. its a different set-up.

 

[Kaz]

'09 & '10 shafts will not fit, they're longer to fit in the extra bearing in the chaincase cover and '10 have a larger dia. its a different set-up.

I don't see the drive shaft being any longer then previous years at least by looking at the parts diagram for 2009. Are you positive the newer drive shafts won't fit in years previous to 2009?

From what I can tell the complete gear set that bolts on the end of the drive shaft is similar to previous years, the only difference maybe item 80 which bolts on the end of the drive shaft and is inserted in the out board bearing added to the chain case cover.

Kaz

 

[SIMMER]

10,000 Km (6000 miles) seems to be the point when you start riding on borrowed time. 2 guys in our group snapped theirs in the exact same spot (right at the chaincase bearing)....1 studded and 1 unstudded. Both were around the same mileage (5-6000 miles) The one thing that seems to be common is that this tends to happen on the Attaks more than the shorties.

 

[apltx08]

I ordered a new drive shaft and 2 oil seals, I guess will be wrenching on the weekend, its suppose to rain anyways, they want $180.00 Canuck bucks, it must be made of gold!

 

[yamahahaapex]

Are you telling me that everyone is only getting 10,000kms out of a driveshaft roughly? So it sounds like changing the driveshaft every 10,000kms should be routine maintenance. The bad part is thats one thing I have ever changed yet so im wondering how hard this will be. Thats crazy