Drive Shaft issue

[duck]

Rivets introduce the possibility of fracture. AND, many people are not comfortable drilling and riveting a shaft..Not to mention, if Polaris does this ona warranty basis vs a recall.. the riveted ones will not be covered.

If the shaft can not "tear" then the end cap can not seperate from the shaft and fail.. This clamp we have is VERY custom.. you can not tell from the installed pic, but it mates the shaft to a Tee... it WILL strengthen the problem area and greatly reduce the ability of it failing. AND, it will not void your warranty..

The end cap can not rotate if the out shaft does not fracture or buldge.. with this on there, it will not be able to fracture.. without it, it is free to fracture which will cause end cap rotation.

The real fix will come from Polaris but ordering, and I am guessing, 5,000+ shafts and having your dealer install them at their leisure, is NOT going to be a quick deal.. this will take MONTHs and MONTHs... in the mean time, this kit we offer should greatly reduce the failure rate and keep you on the snow....If you do experience failure, you will not be able to easily get your sled out of the backcountry because the sled will not be able to "roll"

We are doing this as a "stop gap" measure until Polaris steps up.. Again,, the downtime associated with this failure is HUGE.. as is the expense..

Piece of mind I suppose....

 

[maxwell]

nice peice RK. thats exactly what i envisioned. do you have a side photo of it? you need a bolted fitting so you can adjust the clamping force. cant do that with a rivet.

did you do any stress testing in the shop to test it or do you feel its not required?

 

[Toyboy]

Not a poo guy so I don't have a dog in this fight but the machined down plastic driver pressed over it with the metal band around it looked like a better fix to me. Jmo

 

[Toyboy]

Wouldn't a gear clamp work as well?

 

[RK Tek]

nice peice RK. thats exactly what i envisioned. do you have a side photo of it? you need a bolted fitting so you can adjust the clamping force. cant do that with a rivet.

did you do any stress testing in the shop to test it or do you feel its not required?

This is not a permanent fix for this issue.. The design of this shaft is flawed .. What I am offering is a re-enforcement that WILL strengthen the critical areas.. This is an interim measure to ,help, get people on the snow and riding while Polaris get the recall going.. The recall could take months and months and I do not want to sit out fearing that I may get tossed over the bars and have to leave my sled on the mountain for a few days or weeks..Or, worse yet, crack my head open or break my ribs during that flying exercise...

This kit will, no doubt, offer some benefit and make me more comfortable when riding. In the end, the final fix should come from Polaris...

 

[teeroy]

Not a poo guy so I don't have a dog in this fight but the machined down plastic driver pressed over it with the metal band around it looked like a better fix to me. Jmo

my thoughts as well. I envisioned Kelsey's fix to be similar but made of aluminum and split in two, minus the band.

 

[Dukeman2006]

So is all the sled that are made before 9/12 haveing the issues?

 

[Toyboy]

T I think you got something there talk to a machinist and patent that then sell it to Polaris lmao

 

[RK Tek]

my thoughts as well. I envisioned Kelsey's fix to be similar but made of aluminum and split in two, minus the band.

Ahh, that is exactly what it is.. I am confused on what you think this part, wemake, looks like.??.

 

[Toyboy]

There is a pic a page back that looks like a metal band with a bolt in it. I was thinking a metal puck machined to fit the hex shaft split in two and tapped for two bolts.

 

[RK Tek]

There is a pic a page back that looks like a metal band with a bolt in it. I was thinking a metal puck machined to fit the hex shaft split in two and tapped for two bolts.

I guess the pics are not that good..

But what you have wished for is exactly what we have produced...

Since I know what it looks like I guess it is difficult for me to be objective as to what the pic actually shows... But, rest assured, the part is a custom fit piece that hugs the shaft and is bound with 2 stainless steel bolts and lock nuts..

 

[Toyboy]

Well then that should work nicely. But better pics would show what it is better perhaps some of it not installed.

 

[tavis43]

40 km ride today no problems

 

[CUSO]

You mean like this????

There is a pic a page back that looks like a metal band with a bolt in it. I was thinking a metal puck machined to fit the hex shaft split in two and tapped for two bolts.

 

[GSTEIN]

Switched over from doo and am not really liking that there could be an issue with the drive shaft when I had no issues with my 2012 Summit X (just my experience). Have a trip planned for the end of the month and wanted to make sure I would have no issues. I contacted my deal and I guess there have been 13 konwn cases and their advice from what they have heard (possibly from polaris) is that if its going to go its going to happen right away. They recommended putting a few miles on it and so today I got out and started breaking my sled in. Was riding in about 8-10" of snow which is somewhat decent. I got a Pro RMK Retro 163" with a build date of August 15, 2012 which was a Wednesday. I got no glue coming from the sides but there is glue sticking out of the 2 insert holes which is rock hard. I got 11 miles on it which isn't that much but kept checking the drive shaft and it appears to be holding up good. Every other part of the sled seems to be great and holding it on edge is about 1000 times better than my doo was (can't speak for t-motion) Am going to try to get out again but I'm 90% confident taking it to the backcountry. Just wish Polaris could verify build dates of the faults or something to give most owners peace of mind.

 

[teeroy]

Ahh, that is exactly what it is.. I am confused on what you think this part, wemake, looks like.??.

the pic on your link looks like a band bent to shape, I was thinking of this.....

You mean like this????
View attachment 141503

yes! exactly what I had pictured. pretty cool you could fab that drawing up, thought of trying it with ms paint....lol

 

[Toyboy]

That exactly what I mentally pictured but the pic doesn't look like that.

 

[Toyboy]

Cuso what do you do for a living that you could pull that out in 9 min. Lol

 

[cs5]

You mean like this????
View attachment 141503

This in my opinion is a better set up because there will be far less ice build up on this part compared to the other and I would be less concerned about a balance issue with this one. Someone build this please I will take a pair one for each side.

 

[duck]

This in my opinion is a better set up because there will be far less ice build up on this part compared to the other and I would be less concerned about a balance issue with this one. Someone build this please I will take a pair one for each side.

Thats awesome!
Even if the shafts were ok with the glue, this is a good reinforcement of the end of the shafts.