2011 Diamond Drive bearing?

Farmington Motorsports #9 · Oct 10, 2011

So I have been reading as much as I can on the bearing failure on the Diamond Drives and how people are machining a bearing down to replace the old bearings on what looks to be 09-2010 models. I have seen a few questions asked about the 2011 models and if they are having the same issues, but haven't seen any clear answers.

Does anyone know if the 2011 M series sleds are having these same issues with the Diamond Drive bearings, or did A/C correct the problem? I haven't had any issues with mine, but want to know if I should tear it apart or not?

Sorry if this has been addressed, but I haven't been able find this answer.

Thanks -

powderfire600 · Oct 10, 2011

my 2011 m8 had the small bearing and a spacer so i swapped it out with 5203 bearing with no problems

Farmington Motorsports #9 · Oct 11, 2011

Thanks for the reply - it sounds like I should tear mine apart and see what it looks like. Anyone else replace theirs on a 2011?

Thanks -

Coldfinger · Oct 11, 2011

Can't tell you if the 2011's are having any problem but I can say these parts all have the same part number:

Bearing in question
Gear it goes on
Ring Gear it goes into
Drive shaft
Spacer on brake side

I forgot to check the bearing spacer/washer that goes behind the bearing though.

I suspect the washer is the same as well.

My thought is unless they made the tunnels a hair wider there will still be bearing problems (if tunnel width is what was causing the problem).

kidrman · Oct 11, 2011

My 2010 with 400 miles was shot. I had to machine the shaft to get the wide bearing on.

waycooljr · Oct 11, 2011

Diddo on my 11' HCR. inner seal of bearing was gone, bearing was rough, and a couple of teeth flaked on the gear that mates to planetary gears. All in 400 miles!! Cat is still replacing it with the small 6203 bearing. I had to machine the shaft down around .050 for the big bearing to fit and not have any case contact issues.

kidrman · Oct 12, 2011

I took off .035 but could have taken a little more for future bearing tolerances.

Farmington Motorsports #9 · Oct 12, 2011

Has anyone tried the 4203-2rs bearing for a replacement? It looks like it is 16mm wide so a person wouldn't need to machine the shaft down. I would like to try this bearing vs. the 5203 which is 17.462mm wide - anyone have any experience with it?

Thanks -

Coldfinger · Oct 12, 2011

I was considering the same thing but the 4203 can't handle the side loads like the 5203. The bearings are designed differently. I think 5203 would be a better choice than 4203, even without machining down the drive shaft.

I'm still curious about the lubrication issue. I know a few people have tried the bearing without seals but have not reported the results.

kidrman · Oct 12, 2011

If you do the 5203 without machining the shaft you may have clearance issues and the bearing will be destroyed in short order.

vdo1948 · Oct 12, 2011

Questions from a non-gearhead. Been riding an M7 so I ignored the bearing issues. Now have '11 M8 and sounds like I need to pay attention. When you talk about machining the shaft you are shortening the shaft, correct? I.e. the shaft is too long or the tunnel not wide enough. How do you figure out how much to machine off the end of the shaft? Or is it beyond an amature's skills and I just need to truck the sled to BDX or some such.

Any help appreciated.

powderfire600 · Oct 12, 2011

vdo1948 said:
Questions from a non-gearhead. Been riding an M7 so I ignored the bearing issues. Now have '11 M8 and sounds like I need to pay attention. When you talk about machining the shaft you are shortening the shaft, correct? I.e. the shaft is too long or the tunnel not wide enough. How do you figure out how much to machine off the end of the shaft? Or is it beyond an amature's skills and I just need to truck the sled to BDX ro some such.

Any help appreciated.

my 2011 had the spacer on the shaft, so just take the small bearing off and the spacer and just slide the bigger bearing on. other wise u had to mill the shaft so the bigger bearing sat flush with the top on the older dd's. plz correct me if im wrong anyone?

kidrman · Oct 13, 2011

You are right to a point. Given manufacturing tolerances each owner should measure the clearance with the wider bearing installed to determine if machining the shaft is necessary on their sled. If the DD cover won't sit flush without the screws being used to pull it together when installed the bearing will have side loads it us not designed to support.

Coldfinger · Oct 13, 2011

As I understand it, Black Diamond says to remove the whole DD, install the bearing, and then install the DD in the sled.

They say with the DD out of the sled you will not need to apply force to the cover screws to seal the cover.

To me, that may be true but it would be hard to tell if there is pressure once you tighten up the DD to the sled.

Can it hurt to take a little off the drive shaft, even if you don't technically have to?

Has anyone tried using a few flat washers on the brake side to space that out a hair and thus eliminate the need for any drive shaft machining?

JROD · Oct 24, 2011

I just picked up an '11 HCR so I'm trying to research this whole complicated mess. I have full access to a lathe in order to machine the shaft but I'm hesitant as it seems everybody has a different idea as to the solution.

So far I'm leaning toward machining the shoulder of the shaft back .050" in order to accommodate the 5203 bearing. I just can't believe the wide variety of fixes I'm hearing about this....

newtrout · Oct 24, 2011

1000+ miles on the 4203 on a 2010 M8. It's still smooth as butter. BUT, I repacked it with a high quality grease before installing. Do it like you would a dirt bike wheel bearing. Pull the seals with a pick, flush out the crappy factory grease, pack 50% full with high quality synthetic, reinstall seals.

I'm sure the 5203 is stronger, being a true angular contact bearing. But this has worked for me. My stock bearing was shot in a few hundred miles.

kidrman · Oct 24, 2011

JROD said:
I just picked up an '11 HCR so I'm trying to research this whole complicated mess. I have full access to a lathe in order to machine the shaft but I'm hesitant as it seems everybody has a different idea as to the solution.

So far I'm leaning toward machining the shoulder of the shaft back .050" in order to accommodate the 5203 bearing. I just can't believe the wide variety of fixes I'm hearing about this....

This is what I would do(did)!

Stack · Oct 24, 2011

Farmington Motorsports #9 said:
Has anyone tried the 4203-2rs bearing for a replacement? It looks like it is 16mm wide so a person wouldn't need to machine the shaft down. I would like to try this bearing vs. the 5203 which is 17.462mm wide - anyone have any experience with it?

Thanks -

Get a good quality 4203 bearing and it will definitly be an improvement. I researched the 4203 exhaustivly till I found a mfg that was worth trying. I do agree that a 5203-2rs would be more of an improvement, especially with a brand name mfg like SKF. I am running a 4203, and I have sold several to others on here through my contact at Motion Industries.

DoubleP · Oct 24, 2011

I replaced my 11 HCR with the bdx 5203 even though the stock one was fine. It is a simple swap and nothing else.

Coldfinger · Oct 24, 2011

I'll sound like a broken record here, but has anyone run the 6203 bearing without seals and what luck did you have?

I noticed my 6203 outer seal was displaced and the bearing cage shot, but all the bearings were going strong even though 2-3 balls were free floating in the groove.

It seems like the extra oil they get once the seal fails extends the life of the bearings but I have no way to prove this. That bearing is supposedly sealed because it is a "pocket" bearing which doesn't get adequate oil supply from the DD oil.

I only recall people noticing the bearing problem after they check it because of what they've read here. I'm not aware of anyone having a total failure.

2011 Diamond Drive bearing?

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