Replacement wheels

[mooseflyer]

Hi guys, I made the post below in the RS General section a week or two ago, but got no replies. Anyone care to comment? Advice appreciated. Thanks!



I picked up a 2006 RS Venture last season for use at the family cabin when the wife and I go to visit. It has about 1200 miles on it. I noticed at the end of the season that I have 2 wheels that have the rubber pretty much trashed and should be replaced. Forgive the new guy, but I'm not sure what they're called exactly - they're the first two wheels that the track encounters after coming "down" from the track drive mechanism. They're located where the track makes the "bend" to horizontal. Hope that makes sense.

Any suggestions for replacement? Just order some new ones from Yamaha, or something else? Any links to a source would be appreciated. Are they hard to replace? I've never owned a snowmobile before, but I'm at least a little mechanically inclined (I don't have a service manual, however). I don't need anything fancy (read $$$) as the sled will only see mabye 200 miles a year.

Unfortunatlely I don't have any pictures at the moment, as my Venture is 2000 miles away.

Thanks for any suggestions!

BTW, It does have a factory modification done under warranty to add a couple of extra wheels near the middle of the hyfax due to the excessive hyfax wear reported to Yamaha on this model year. The previous owner had this taken care of before I purchased it. These "new" wheels appear to be fine, as do the others. It's just the first two that are worn.

 

[sleddog66]

Not sure if you have maybe the low snow extra wheels that are from yamaha, or the anti stab wheels(aftermarket). Is there 2 wheels or 4 side by side(2 inside the drivers). Either need pictures, or do a search. The 4 wheels would probably be the whal Bros anti-stab kit. 2 wheels would probably be yamaha geniune accessories.(do a parts search) Good luck

 

[APEX 06]

Yeah pics will help alot

 

[maim]

I would just put aftermarket wheels as some of the yamaha ones do not have replaceable bearings.

 

[Irv]

I would just put aftermarket wheels as some of the yamaha ones do not have replaceable bearings.

The new 2010 wheels all come with replacable bearings now, that is what I put in my 08 Vector.

 

[mooseflyer]

Thanks gents. I'm pretty sure all of the parts on the machine are stock. It appears that I need to replace item #18 in the attached parts diagram. The other crappy pictures are the result of 3 days of trying to talk my non-tech savvy parents through photo taking 101 (sigh). Obviously not the best pics, but hopefully gives an idea. The incredibly blurry photo shows how the rubber is pretty much gone.

Looks like these wheels can be had for $80 each from Yamaha, or $59 from www.powersedge.com . Not sure if there's any difference in the wheels to justify the added expense from Yamaha (maybe the replaceable bearings as Irv describes?).

Any tips for completing the work? I assume I'll need to at least loosen the track? Other than that, how are these things held in place?

 

[sherlock29]

you can pic up some yammy wheels with a 6005 bearinf in them. Yamaha wants so much for those wheels because they come with a new aluminum mount also... not required if in good shape. On my RTX i repalce these inner wheels yearly... yes they blow apart. last i bought them they were like $30 a wheel. in this location, the suspension has to be removed as the wheels are mounted on the main cross shaft that holds the front shock with spring.

 

[ecopter]

Aren't those just regular accessory wheels? Port Yamaha has them for $19 to $20 bucks with the bearing.

jf

 

[sherlock29]

yep they are!~

 

[canoehead]

I personally would go with the Excell wheels, they're priced right, are slightly larger, have a changable bearing and save your Hyfax.

 

[mooseflyer]

Thanks again fellas. Canoehead, I did some research on your suggestion of the Excell wheels. Mostly positive feedback, but there was some concern over bending the rails with the larger wheels. Hopefully that's an unfounded fear - I see that Excell has a few thousand miles of testing on them. Overall they seem like a positive improvement so I'll probably order some up unless anyone has some last minute warnings about them. The Excell website does not list my RS Venture as a sled that these wheels will fit, but I just called them up and was told that they would, in fact, fit my Venture.

 

[sherlock29]

Just make sure they have a 6005 bearing....(its just in the center wheels) any other size WILL NOT fit. been there,... done that!

 

[mooseflyer]

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Gone Blue]

I would go with the low snow or hyfax saver added wheels and then use the Yamaha accesory wheels for the rest of your skid.

http://www.portyamaha.com/eshopprod_cat ... _Wheel.htm

These wheels are the best buy for the money. They have replaceable bearings and are wheel made. G.B.