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broken drive shaft

T
Feb 1, 2010
262
163
43
Entiat, WA
Could someone tell me how a driveshaft breaks over night???

I was a kid once. I'd break stuff doing something stupid, put it back, then "oh no! It's broken! I just went to start it up! I wasn't even doing anything!" Maybe there's more to the story? Not to badmouth your son at all snowbyrd, of course I don't know either of you. Heck, your son could be older than I am, it's pure speculation on my part assuming he's 16-25.
 
S

snobyrd

Well-known member
Nov 27, 2007
1,130
427
83
northeast bc
It was my sons friends brand new pro, it was late , about 9 pm, they had about 20k road ride to their camp, about 16" of snow, so no land mines were hit, sled was parked for the nite, in the am my son wanted to try the sled, with no go..I don't understand how overnight it broke either, but maybe in the morn the track was froze a little, give it gas to move and snap.. It really doesn't matter, I hope this thing isn't that fragile, cause I'll destroy it over winter...
 
M

mjschem

New member
Nov 20, 2010
9
0
1
Not an experienced poster by any means....but My buddy back home just facebooked me his friend broke his drive system on his 13 pro with only 40miles on her. Something about the shaft turning the gears which turns the track. didn't make much sense to me.... he's kind of an idiot with explanations. but the first thing I did was come on snowest to see if there have been problems since i'm looking at a 13 pro myself. same issue maybe?
 
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snobyrd

Well-known member
Nov 27, 2007
1,130
427
83
northeast bc
I still got a perfectly good turboed cat in my shop that I'm looking at selling to make room for a pro that's due to be delivered dec1, I'm having second thoughts already about durability issues with these pros.
 

whoisthatguy

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Dec 27, 2007
811
248
43
From the Operating Instructions:
Drive Belt/QUICKDRIVE Belt Break-In
The length of the break-in period varies depending on the type of drive
system. The break-in period for a new drive belt is 30 miles (48 km).
The break-in period for a new QUICKDRIVE belt is 100 miles (160
km).
• During the break-in period, vary the throttle position under 50% and
limit full throttle use.
• Always take time to warm up the belt and driveline prior to operating
the snowmobile.


From the statement on the last line, the inexperienced operator may have failed to properly warm up the belt and driveline with a blow dryer, prior to operating it either on the previous day or the morning of discovery. Thus voiding the warranty. Motorcycles which also use the belt drive system, normally do not operate in the same extreme temperature conditions as a snowmobile. Peculiar to the snowmobile, the heating of the steel/belt drive end of the driveshaft from presumable belt friction, while the aluminum portion within the tunnel area is being cooled by the snow, might cause the steel to enlarge the keyed junction between the two. That presumable internal rounding of the aluminum, then could cause the joint to self destruct from that temperature differential. If that were the case, only a solid one piece steel driveshaft would be the only viable solution, in my opinion, as is used in the chaincase versions.
 

Pro-8250

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Mar 4, 2008
4,028
1,637
113
Northern MN.
I still got a perfectly good turboed cat in my shop that I'm looking at selling to make room for a pro that's due to be delivered dec1, I'm having second thoughts already about durability issues with these pros.
I personally know three people that had nothing but trouble with their diamond drives on their Arctic Cats. People keep buying them too! Here in the Midwest I don't see or hear all of the problems with the Pro or any 800 Polaris that I read about here on SnoWest. Normally there are a lot more sleds putting on a lot more miles here. Not bashing, maybe I just don't get it.:face-icon-small-hap
 

sdmc

Active member
Premium Member
Feb 17, 2010
114
29
28
Layton, Utah
From the Operating Instructions:
Drive Belt/QUICKDRIVE Belt Break-In
The length of the break-in period varies depending on the type of drive
system. The break-in period for a new drive belt is 30 miles (48 km).
The break-in period for a new QUICKDRIVE belt is 100 miles (160
km).
• During the break-in period, vary the throttle position under 50% and
limit full throttle use.
• Always take time to warm up the belt and driveline prior to operating
the snowmobile.


From the statement on the last line, the inexperienced operator may have failed to properly warm up the belt and driveline with a blow dryer, prior to operating it either on the previous day or the morning of discovery. Thus voiding the warranty. Motorcycles which also use the belt drive system, normally do not operate in the same extreme temperature conditions as a snowmobile. Peculiar to the snowmobile, the heating of the steel/belt drive end of the driveshaft from presumable belt friction, while the aluminum portion within the tunnel area is being cooled by the snow, might cause the steel to enlarge the keyed junction between the two. That presumable internal rounding of the aluminum, then could cause the joint to self destruct from that temperature differential. If that were the case, only a solid one piece steel driveshaft would be the only viable solution, in my opinion, as is used in the chaincase versions.

Your not seriously suggesting we warm the belts with a blow dryer every time we go for a ride? Or we void the warranty? What do we plug it into? A current bush at 8,000 ft?
 

Bocephus

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Dec 27, 2010
1,638
765
113
Your not seriously suggesting we warm the belts with a blow dryer every time we go for a ride? Or we void the warranty? What do we plug it into? A current bush at 8,000 ft?

better install a solar panel on the hood!
 

hypertoys

Active member
Lifetime Membership
Sep 17, 2012
13
36
13
Dawson Creek
www.hypertoys.ca
In regards to the driveshaft failure, I am a dealer for Polaris and I spoke to Polaris Industries directly this morning and want to clear the air on a few things regarding some of this verbal diarrhea, because some of your breathe is smelling really bad. First of all there will be no service bulletins available at this time. Have they seen a couple fail, sure, is it an epidemic, NO! Failure is caused by inadequate bonding agent applied at time of assembly. Polaris is addressing the issue right now and taking care of there customers. We are still rocking the number 1 mountain sled! I am sorry about all the haters who don't have belt drive, at least we have a company that is trying to think outside the box and deliver performance to units to the demands of the customer. Polaris saw the line, others thought impossible :face-icon-small-win.
 
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