2024 arctic cat blown belt

[Vern]

I usually wash my new belts, but have never broke one in.

 

[DDECKER]

Hi! Hello! I've broke belts on all my sleds well such is life now carry on.

 

[BeartoothBaron]

please explain the logic behind breaking the belt..... i mean ...explain it...what happen if the fiber are heated slowly vs fast and stretched slowly vs all at once.... ? i found its absolute bull ****... If your sled setup is wrong u gonna blow a belt no matter what broke in or not...and the opposite also hold thru...

First, a good break-in scrubs down imperfections and mismatches between the belt and clutch (up to a point; it won't help if the alignment is FUBAR, for one). Second, the resins and rubber compounds need the heat and movement of the clutches to fully cure and stabilize. Most FSMs reference a break-in, and so do aftermarkets. If it were pointless, somebody would be advertising "no break-in required!" but I know of no such belt.

I think belt break-in is comparable to letting your car warm up or easing it up to speed from dead cold vs. jumping right on the highway going 75. It used to be you'd ruin it so fast, you couldn't ignore it; now, with better oils and more precise tolerances, it's still causing damage, but slowly enough that it might not manifest until it's in the second or third set of hands. Similarly, belt break-in could double or triple the life, but if even an abused belt is able to get 500 miles or so, the thought will be "well, that's just how long they last." At least here it's a $200 belt, not a $10k engine, but then there's the question of whether that belt is leaving some performance on the table too...