T3 Light vibration in drivetrain at 30km/h plus

chrishew

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Hi Guys. I have a 2015 163 T3 with about 300 kms on it. I went for a quick 15 min ride down the ditch of the highway #1 this past weekend. The snow as fairly hard and only existed in the drifted in areas. Ride was going good than I catwalked out of a 3' deep drift and hit another hole in the drift about 15' past fairly hard with front section of the rear suspension still with the throttle pinned and skis in the air. There was nothing solid underneath (I went back to check and just snow). the sled immediately developed a vibration similar to an hour glassed drive belt. Not really bad but noticeable once you get up to quicker speeds and faster you go worse it gets. I need to know how to track down what I've bent or broken? Gave it a quick lookover when I got it back to the garage and I can't see anything obvious. I was going to try switching drive belts since I have a new spare anyway but seems pretty unlikely that I would of smoked it. Was thinking maybe I bowed the driveshaft a bit. How can I check that out? I spun the track on a stand for a bit and can't feel the vibration up on the stand in the garage. What about putting a straight edge along the centre section of the driveshaft. If anyone has bent the driveshaft before where was the kink or bow noticeable? Thanks.
 

chrishew

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Know I shouldn't be ditch banging with a 3" 163 but was just trying out my new handlebar setup and rear torsion springs before my trip next week.
 

chrishew

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Maybe. That's easy to check. Thanks. I think they would be too tight to spin but worth a look.
 

tex78

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Heck no, my buddy lost his back wheel, in the time it spun the drivers on the shaft.... U will see plastic hanging out between driver and shaft if it turned
 

pfi572

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OEM are not that hard to spin on shaft.
Avids on the other hand are harder to spin due to steel bands and tighter fit.
 

chrishew

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Good to know. I will check the drivers tonight.
 

team dirt

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Also remember on the T3 with the drop and roll the drivers hang down below the belly pan a good few inches compared to the standard xm where they are flush. if you hit something the shaft is exposed so you could easily bend it.
 

chrishew

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Checked the drivers this morning and neither of them have spun, they're in time and can't see a physical bend in the driveshaft but I should try pulling off the disk cover and watching the disk for wobble while I spin the track. Mine definitely won't be that bad but might be able to see it vibrate when I spin it up to speed. Yeah "team dirt" that's exactly what I was thinking about the extended chain case. Makes these driveshafts more vulnerable to impacts from rocks, stumps, or I guess just hard drifts. I think this is more than likely the problem, hit the drivers hard on this drift and put a slight bow in the driveshaft.
 

caper7

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My buddies freeride had a vibration and the top bearing in the crankcase was shot with basically no miles .
.
 

chrishew

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I'm fairly certain its a bent driveshaft. Sucks I don't have enough time to check it out for sure with my work schedule this week, so I need to order one today to get it in time for my ride. I just talked to the dealership about warranty and I live 1200kms from where I ordered the sled, I would need to take it to a local dealer and have them assess. Instead since I'm planning on a 3 day ride starting Tuesday I'm going to have them send me a new one to my in-laws in Sicamous and I'll change it when I get there on Monday, then send the bent one back to them and they'll see if they can get it covered under warranty. No promises though.
 

tex78

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I'm fairly certain its a bent driveshaft. Sucks I don't have enough time to check it out for sure with my work schedule this week, so I need to order one today to get it in time for my ride. I just talked to the dealership about warranty and I live 1200kms from where I ordered the sled, I would need to take it to a local dealer and have them assess. Instead since I'm planning on a 3 day ride starting Tuesday I'm going to have them send me a new one to my in-laws in Sicamous and I'll change it when I get there on Monday, then send the bent one back to them and they'll see if they can get it covered under warranty. No promises though.
Take pics as u do it


Think they will stick it to u, unless a dealer does it..

But u never know
 

chrishew

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Good call Tex, I will. I'll be working on it at Rene's with his mechanic probably, so hopefully that will help the cause.
 

tex78

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Hope that helps yes


Hope it's not a bugger to do either

Should be ok as it's close to new

But that brake rotor can be stuck on bad

Make sure u antisize the shaft where rotor is... Makes it nice for the next guy, could be u lol
 

chrishew

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Antisieze. Yes definitely. Hopefully comes off easily enough cause its new but I've worked on one other before and it was a pain. The way I ride it will be me taking that rotor off the next time :rolleyes:. I'm going to drop down to a 20 tooth upper at the same time.
 

deaner

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Maybe have a look at the back of your secondary and make sure all 4 bolts are there that hold your helix in. Ive had them break before and it can cause a wierd vibration, but its not just a straight vibration. Kind of cyclical. But easy to check anyways.
 

Ramjet15x

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I had bent shaft last year, didnt see if you spun up the track or not, mine was noticable, through your sled on side and spin it up a little and watch drivers, i also had bent wheels in skid that were slightly folded over, could only see in line of wheel, still "round" but couldnt feel in deep snow but was brutal on hard pack
 

chrishew

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Yeah I did spin it up but its not really noticeable on the stand. Even when riding it was a fairly faint vibration but I could definitely tell something changed right after I had a fairly hard impact with a wind swept snow drift. I'm going to pull the brake cover off tomorrow morning and spin up the track see if there is any wobble in the brake disc. I'll post a vid if there is anything to see.
 
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