Bnorth
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I'll get one tonight when I inspect after yesterday to see if anything new developed.
Held great RPM in some of the heaviest snow I've ever ridden though!
Kanedog discovers a Clutching CATastrophy, again. Pics!
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Held great RPM in some of the heaviest snow I've ever ridden though!
did you buy an alpha?
Bnorth
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yes picked up a used 19 165, first ride yesterday big learning curve
mountainsledmania
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They are dope.... just wait ull see
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kanedog
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New Evidence has presented itself!
It’s called hidden hype. Hidden hype is when a factory mentions the good factors of an upgrade, but fails to disclose why the upgrade was done. Note how the Torque Control Link(TCL), Carbon Fibre, 2.5lbs less weight is mentioned first? But the last point, waaaaaaay at the back is “engine vibration damping.” The part wasn’t changed to save 2.5lbs or to save money. The part was changed to help fix an engineering blunder. Carbon is a ton more expensive than aluminum. They are using the CF to try to limit the vibrations. In a sense, Cat is essentially is admitting there is a problem with vibration. Is this a big deal? Normally, it wouldn’t be.
But then what was the purpose of a new top end? Saving weight? Nope. A whole 3% more power? Nope. Vibration/Harmonics? You can view this thread/evidence, “threvidence?” and decide for yourself.
In this case, there are widely known problems with clutches cracking, some exploding and structural components weakening from cracking or bolts backing out.
There are many denied warranty claims on the gears(no, chunky milky oil and worn/damaged gears is not normal) and clutches so the customer has to buy a new clutch plus the labor to install. The customer is now paying the company to fix the companies mistake AND the company is making profit from the customer. After the one year warranty, everything is denied and the repairs are gonna pour in. More profit. Picture owning a year old sled. Now Imagine an exhaust spring failing(and they fail a lot thanks harmonics) and it goes through both clutches. Boom, $1,000-$1,500 just like that. Don’t forget that the company knows there is a big problem but didn’t tell you. This is just plain wrong.
With the new top end, different hP/tq curve and a sort of Cf vibration isolator, I’m pretty sure the 2020 and 2021 sleds will be vibe free. It’s some ‘17’s, 18’s and 19’s that are gonna cause grief and pain for customers.
It is wrong because people’s safety is at risk, the company is aware of it and it’s being ignored. I feel more serious today but don’t take it as angry at all. Calln’em as I see ‘em. I still love my Cat sled and like Amazon says, I “would buy again.”
The above are my beliefs.
It’s called hidden hype. Hidden hype is when a factory mentions the good factors of an upgrade, but fails to disclose why the upgrade was done. Note how the Torque Control Link(TCL), Carbon Fibre, 2.5lbs less weight is mentioned first? But the last point, waaaaaaay at the back is “engine vibration damping.” The part wasn’t changed to save 2.5lbs or to save money. The part was changed to help fix an engineering blunder. Carbon is a ton more expensive than aluminum. They are using the CF to try to limit the vibrations. In a sense, Cat is essentially is admitting there is a problem with vibration. Is this a big deal? Normally, it wouldn’t be.
But then what was the purpose of a new top end? Saving weight? Nope. A whole 3% more power? Nope. Vibration/Harmonics? You can view this thread/evidence, “threvidence?” and decide for yourself.
In this case, there are widely known problems with clutches cracking, some exploding and structural components weakening from cracking or bolts backing out.
There are many denied warranty claims on the gears(no, chunky milky oil and worn/damaged gears is not normal) and clutches so the customer has to buy a new clutch plus the labor to install. The customer is now paying the company to fix the companies mistake AND the company is making profit from the customer. After the one year warranty, everything is denied and the repairs are gonna pour in. More profit. Picture owning a year old sled. Now Imagine an exhaust spring failing(and they fail a lot thanks harmonics) and it goes through both clutches. Boom, $1,000-$1,500 just like that. Don’t forget that the company knows there is a big problem but didn’t tell you. This is just plain wrong.
With the new top end, different hP/tq curve and a sort of Cf vibration isolator, I’m pretty sure the 2020 and 2021 sleds will be vibe free. It’s some ‘17’s, 18’s and 19’s that are gonna cause grief and pain for customers.
It is wrong because people’s safety is at risk, the company is aware of it and it’s being ignored. I feel more serious today but don’t take it as angry at all. Calln’em as I see ‘em. I still love my Cat sled and like Amazon says, I “would buy again.”
The above are my beliefs.
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Bnorth
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2019 800 Alpha 165 ~1000km
banditpowdercoat
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no pics B
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kanedog
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Bnorth there is no pics showing up. Please fix. Your evidence is needed. Cheers
I see his pics just fine.
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kanedog
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Would you mind to post them up?
pfi572
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kanedog
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Oh my. Those towers are flexing like crazy. The cover is flexing like crazy. Those towers are fatigued from flexing. The cover is fatigued from flexing. Jiezuzzz. That little chunk of tower already flew off. Yikes. Check the front of your boot for shrapnel imbeddedness.
I wonder if the weights overcoming the primary spring causes a lot of flex on that wimpy cover. Add in the odd full shift out where the cover hits the spider nut and there is a recipe for exploding clutch.
Cluck me. How long do they field test these things anyway? Like once around their building? It’s gotta be less than 750 miles. They woulda have experienced a cracka lacka flexy clutch and noticed a self destructing clutch in action.
This truly are self destructing primary clutches(SDPC).
It’s so true it’s not even funny. It kinda is funny tho. Heehee
The above are my beliefs.
I wonder if the weights overcoming the primary spring causes a lot of flex on that wimpy cover. Add in the odd full shift out where the cover hits the spider nut and there is a recipe for exploding clutch.
Cluck me. How long do they field test these things anyway? Like once around their building? It’s gotta be less than 750 miles. They woulda have experienced a cracka lacka flexy clutch and noticed a self destructing clutch in action.
This truly are self destructing primary clutches(SDPC).
It’s so true it’s not even funny. It kinda is funny tho. Heehee
The above are my beliefs.
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bjd68
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Ok whats the solution? easiest thing to prevent this from happening ?
I don't think the covers are flexing. Others have noted that the clutch can't 'bottom out' unless the belt isn't there. The towers key into the cover and clearly there isn't enough meat or quality of material to hold the centrifugal forces exerted by the towers at high rpm. If one or two towers is flexing out 10-20 thousandths of an inch there goes your balance. Think about the tiny bit of material they remove with the drill bit to balance them. At 8000rpm forces are huge.
You could have a clutch balanced by NASA and still be vibrating like a mofo if your crank run-out isn't near perfect.
For some reason I can only see Bnorth's pictures when viewing from my phone?
You could have a clutch balanced by NASA and still be vibrating like a mofo if your crank run-out isn't near perfect.
For some reason I can only see Bnorth's pictures when viewing from my phone?
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kanedog
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Thunder products 911 cover. I have no association with Thunder products clutching.
Remember though, if the clutch tower was flexing the metal is now weakened. The clutch needs replacement. Now, how do you convince the dealer to replace the clutch if it’s not broken? The Cat policy is it won’t get warranty unless it’s broken. Should we wait till it blows apart hoping we don’t lose a leg if it happens? It’s like, is this situation really happening? Are there pieces flying off a clutch spinning at 8000rpm? Yea, it’s happening. It’s definitely a head shaker.
Can someone figure out how many mph an 8” diameter wheel spinning at 8000rpm is? This would be good info to know.
It sucks for the consumer because he needs either an expensive clutch cover right out of the gate, live with a cracking clutch and/or be faced with buying another clutch.
Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just gathering publicly available info.
The above are my beliefs.
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190 mph
tex78
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How Come there's still only one pic??
Complexd
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not trying to be a smarty pants but i think its 380 mph (558 ft/s), thats the OD speed at 8000rpm anyways. None the less its not a good situation to be in lol
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