Diamond drive bearing upgrade thread with lots of pictures

[tavis43]

what year was this on?

 

[eforwell]

It is on a 2009 M8. I just got one and want to take care of this right away. Apparently the faulty bearing #14 & spacer can be replaced with a double row bearing from a 2006 M7 part # 1602-348 from cat as well. I am not certain but think the faulty bearing is part # 14 here on assembly #12 (' + objMainFrame.arrApplicationTitle['EN'] + ' -- Arctic Cat Consumer: [2009 M8 153 BLACK (S2009M8H3EUSB)]                                                                               ) or 1602-842 with spacer and needs to be replaced. Can you confirm please?

 

[Stg2Suby]

thought this should be brought to the top but also i am curious did you guys have to machine the shaft? or can i slap the 5203 bearing in and go?
any pics of the machine job or if a better quality 6203 would do?
Thanks for the help guys going to tackle this job in septemeber once race season is over

I didn't machine the driveshaft or elsewhere to make up for the wider bearing; couldn't get a straight answer to this back when I had it apart so I spoke to BDX and they said don't bother machining anything just install the wider bearing in place of the stock bearing + spacer. Personally I think machining the shaft is probably the right way to do the mod but it still works fine (and a lot simpler) without machining anything.

 

[Stg2Suby]

Quick question for you....for a guy who doesnt have the press or all these tools how hard will this job be? Any idea what a dealer or mechanic would charge for this? I am looking at an 09 M8 and it has no issues right now but would be something worth looking into? Might these bearings be covered under extended warranty as well and have them done by cat dealer? Thanks for your time, EF

If you're comfortable pulling a chaincase or changing a driveshaft type of job then this is no problem, the hardest part was prying the chaincase off the mounting studs when removing it (just takes patience and a couple prying tools). You don't need a press either, as someone pointed out above you could improvise with a c-clamp to get the new bearing on. To get the original bearing off you might need a puller or take the shaft into a shop (like I did). And I would recommend a high quality bearing if you're going to all this trouble, not sure how good quality the stock A/C bearings are. Can't comment on the warranty thing but worth asking if you're still covered. And yes I would look into this on your machine; it's a known problem and hard to detect early stages of bearing failure without looking inside the case.

 

[leadfoot33]

excellent i bought the sled and it came with what appears to be the bigger bearing in a sealed bag so i will just pop that bad boy on there before this season. i jsut seen lots of people sayign welly ou can machine it but dont have to and others saying you have to, i dont want to machine it so this will be my route
Thanks again

 

[eforwell]

Just ordered a bearing from BDX. Figure either way I will use that one over the cat one. Not sure if they will do it on warranty or not but either way I will have piece of mind for the upcoming season! Might take a stab at it myself if it is not under warranty and just go the shop route to pull the old bearing and press the new one on. I would like to be able to service the DD myself for upcoming seasons as I am planning on riding this sled for a long time! Cant wait to get this 09 M8 on the snow!!!

 

[bryan_117]

Anyone know where i can get the 5203 bearing in saskatchewan?

 

[Slamnek]

Anyone know where i can get the 5203 bearing in saskatchewan?

Commercial solutions

 

[Bernoff]

Not really related to topic but have to say that STg2Suby has a nice clean shop. I,m feeling a bit of shop envee coming on

 

[Stg2Suby]

Haha thanks Bernoff but those pics were taken in my basement and kitchen! I have shop envy too as in no shop at all; just a freezing cold garage where I remove parts and take them inside to work on.

 

[bigbore]

is this DD bearing still an issue in the 2011 M1000 snow pro model as well?

 

[Gonriggen]

QuestIonI have a m6 07 is the bearing the same, I have not heard issues on it. I have 1500 and 1700 miles on the 2 sledsOne last thing, can do this by just removing the "star bolts" and just take the casing off. What is easier? Removing the whole thing or just casing....thanks for pic's

 

[Slamnek]

QuestIonI have a m6 07 is the bearing the same, I have not heard issues on it. I have 1500 and 1700 miles on the 2 sledsOne last thing, can do this by just removing the "star bolts" and just take the casing off. What is easier? Removing the whole thing or just casing....thanks for pic's

I believe the bearing is the same. yes you can do all of it with out removing the diamond drive from the sled, i just did it last night on my 09. I have 1500 miles on my sled and i'm not sure how i made it 3 days in revy last spring because there are chunks of bearing in the bottom of the cases. You remove the torx bolts and the outside cover comes off and to get the inner gears out you must take out the bolt that is in the shaft that your break disc is on. its a 5/8's socket.

 

[Shitfly]

it was like clock work on my stock DD with the single row 6203 bearing... every 300 miles is was pooched. bearing cage starting to come apart. but with the bigger bearing ( i just took the cover off... never took the whole DD out) the outer cover would not go on all the way.

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???

 

[Shitfly]

Great thread by the way Stg2! Thnxs.

 

[linksys]

Does this bearing issue exist in the 2010's & 2011's also?

 

[Slamnek]

Does this bearing issue exist in the 2010's & 2011's also?

2010's from what i have read, yes but not sure about the 2011's

 

[Stantheman]

Did you also use the BDX Xtremem Duty Oil when you did the upgrade? I see on there site that they sell a 12oz bottle for the 07-up Reverse Case. Looking at doing this with my 2010 before it blows apart and was just hoping to get everything I need before I start, seeing how the nearest cat dealer is 300km away.

 

[Stantheman]

Oh and what kinda condition are you guys finding the gasket is in? Reuseable or wise to have a new one on hand?

 

[Slamnek]

my gasket was fine, i will be reusing it. I'm not sure what oil i will use. What gear oil are others running or should i just stick with the cat stuff?