Diamond drive bearing upgrade thread with lots of pictures

[Stg2Suby]

New to The diamonddrive as well, just pulled the cover off the 09 HCR, found the 6203, looked in good shape. Not sure if it came stock or was put in(bought sled used), machine has 700ish miles.
From the pics in this thread this looks like the beefer bearing as far as size goes, there was no spacer and lateral play seemed non-existent. What would be the benefit of going to the 5203?
A seperate question I have is the play in the rotation(fwd-rev) of the shaft for the secondary(not play in the seal but "spinning" play. I'm guessing I have around 2-4degrees??, how much slop/play is normal?
Had the sled out for a couple day already and seemed fine, no filings/metal in the drive to be seen, all should be good to go???

Hey Shitfly there is quite a bit of rotational play in the assembly so I'm tempted to say don't worry about it. The play isn't in the gear mesh it's in the various carriers used to hold the gears in place.

And to clarify the original single row bearing is a 6203, it's 12mm in width and and A/C put a ~5mm spacer behind it. The upgrade bearings (5203 or similar) are double row bearings and about 17mm wide, so you don't use the spacer just press it on.

6203-2RS 6203-ZZ Radial Ball Bearing 17X40X12
5203-2RS 5203-ZZ Radial Ball Bearing 17X40X17.5

 

[Slamnek]

I just opened mine up on the weekend and the 6203 bearing is POOOOCHED. I'm not sure how i even loaded my sled in my truck. I ordered the bdx replacement bearing kit and it came with the narrow 6203 so i have now ordered the 5203.

 

[Shitfly]

Hey Shitfly there is quite a bit of rotational play in the assembly so I'm tempted to say don't worry about it. The play isn't in the gear mesh it's in the various carriers used to hold the gears in place.

And to clarify the original single row bearing is a 6203, it's 12mm in width and and A/C put a ~5mm spacer behind it. The upgrade bearings (5203 or similar) are double row bearings and about 17mm wide, so you don't use the spacer just press it on.

6203-2RS 6203-ZZ Radial Ball Bearing 17X40X12
5203-2RS 5203-ZZ Radial Ball Bearing 17X40X17.5

Thanks for the input! Overall the 6203 looked in good shape so have it all bolted up and oil in, so just going to run it for a month or so. Hope it holds up..
As far as that 'slop' in the rotation, I'll just have to check some other M's to compare. But overall this sled seems solid and rips pretty good. Great thread!

 

[Deasoninc]

Have one on hand , and good luck finding one

 

[Tsalmo]

I opened up my DD and the bearing was junk bought the 6203-2RS bearing hoping to put it back together this weekend. Just wondering if there is anything to watch for when reassembling or just slap it back together?

 

[Slamnek]

I opened up my DD and the bearing was junk bought the 6203-2RS bearing hoping to put it back together this weekend. Just wondering if there is anything to watch for when reassembling or just slap it back together?

do yourself a huge favor and get the double wide 5203 or 3203 bearing and it will last way longer according to everything that i have read. 6203 is only good for 1000km, some have piled up with 500km on them. Its a little tricky getting it all back together but not that hard. i had to lightly tap the cover on with a rubber mallet. it took me a good 1.5 hrs but i am brand new to cat and have never even seen inside a diamond drive let alone disassemble and reassemble.

 

[Tsalmo]

do yourself a huge favor and get the double wide 5203 or 3203 bearing and it will last way longer according to everything that i have read. 6203 is only good for 1000km, some have piled up with 500km on them. Its a little tricky getting it all back together but not that hard. i had to lightly tap the cover on with a rubber mallet. it took me a good 1.5 hrs but i am brand new to cat and have never even seen inside a diamond drive let alone disassemble and reassemble.

The bearing I picked up is 17 inside bore 40 OD 17.5 wide and is a double roller so should be the same as what you guys are putting in right? and I have never owened a cat with the DD but had the skid, drive shaft, and DD tore out in 2 hours these sleds are super easy to work on! I just hope its as easy to put back together.

 

[killerrf]

1602-348 is the cat part number for 5203 bearing that came in the 05-06 first DD. or just order a 5203 from a bearing shop.
i would do this bearing change without taking the whole dd off. that way when you put the bigger bearing on and the case halves dont go together without springing out or staying on by itself then you have to trim the bearing seat down. i just used a dremel to chew down the seat and had to trial a fit a few times but when done it pushed on and stayed tight in all spots. no gaps. 1300 miles later i took it apart this month and bearing is 100% as well as everything else. im sure this is the reason some are staying together and others are crappin out. side load on these bearings are no no. dont know why they couldnt have just put a heavier style bearing in any way like the 5203.
another thing to do is take the whole case out after and tap all the holes with a 1/4" course thread tap. then use 1/4"x 3/4" long allen bolts and then you can actually torque the case bolts to 10 lbs with no problems. throw them stock screws in the garbage.
i think that cat oil isnt very good oil. everything in the case is black. ive always used case mastertran oil. case is always clean inside when i take it apart and gears have no wear on them. good low temp properties.

 

[Tsalmo]

Just to let you guys know this upgrade doesn't work in a 08 XF

 

[grizzly700fi]

The bearing is still an issure on the 2011s. They are exactly the same as the 2010. On my sled i machined off .026" off the shoulder of the shaft(difference in the bearings, measure yours before taking any material off they're all different). $30 for bearing and $25 for the machining.

 

[kentz]

So should I buy the BDX complete kit, the BDX 5203 bearing by itself or just the 5203 bearing from a local bearing shop where its probably cheaper? There are two 5203 bearings listed as well, a 5203-2RS which is a sealed bearing (looks like the BDX bearing) or a 5203-ZZ which is a shielded bearing, which one is best? The sealed one has grease in it, but wouldn't you want the DD oil to get into the bearing instead? It says you can remove one of the seals or shields and that would allow oil into it, but which side of the bearing should you remove the shield from?

Thanks.

 

[killerrf]

just get the 2rs bearing. oil is going to get in past the seals anyway.

 

[kentz]

just get the 2rs bearing. oil is going to get in past the seals anyway.

Thanks ill give it a shot. Is it possible to change this bearing by just removing the case cover without removing the whole DD unit?

 

[Slamnek]

Yes you can change all the bearings without pulling the DD out of the sled.

 

[kentz]

Yes you can change all the bearings without pulling the DD out of the sled.

Thanks.

 

[catsass]

It is just as quick to pull it out and work on it on the bench.Half hour max to change the bearing and clean out the housing and re install. there is no oil mess in your belly pan either.

 

[IGBT]

Hi guys. I just brought home from the dealer a new 2011 SP M8 with 0 miles and 1 year warranty. I am new to sleds and want to ride instead of tearing into it. Is there a decent chance the factory bearing will last a few rides? Maybe 100 to 150 miles total? I am going to call the dealer tommorow and ask if they know about this problem and if fixing it myself will void the warranty. Thanks.

 

[4mcntrls]

I checked mine this year, over 1000 boosted miles and it still looks like new.

 

[IGBT]

I checked mine this year, over 1000 boosted miles and it still looks like new.

1000 miles on the old bearing with spacer or 1000 miles on a fixed double bearing?

 

[catsass]

You will be fine. My boosted M8 has 700 miles on it and the bearing was good as new. I just updated to the wider bearing just because i wanted to have a look at the bearing.