Answering a few questions.
Ok, first of all hello Aaron. glad to hear you got your sled out alittle.
Things have changed alot sense I posted last year about the 900 cranks.
With the problems the 800 cranks have had, I have traced alot of the same problems to the 900.
Let me say before I go on that Aarons accually one of the first TorqueMaster set-ups and his price does not reflect what was all done to his case.
Questions that must be asked before we go on.
Why do some 900 motors go 4000 plus miles with no problems????
Why do some 900 motors make it 2000 miles and then fail ???
Why do some 900 motors go only hundreds of miles and then break the PTO - end.
I have had quite a few of these apart lately and have checked them out extensively.
There are two main reasons for the wide range of PTO - end & rod failures.
Number one, - the case fit to the bearings is all over the place from way to tight, To way to loose.
Now that being said, if the cases are to loose what happens is over a short period of time - The PTO end goes out of tru and once it gets past the point of no return the shaking of the drive clutch tears the PTO- end off. this is a progression form lets say .002 - then .003 - then .0045 - then .007 - then .009 - then .013 - them - .016 ( Mental Picture ) as the crank starts to get worse it becomes its own worst enemy and as it gets worse it gets worse faster ( some people can feels this happening ) and performance also drops off at a somewhat relative rate.
Number Two, - the case fit is to tight and everything seems great on the sled and it runs perfect and then out of the blue it just locks the motor for a nano second and the drive clutch weight shears the PTO - end right off ( most of the time the crank frees back up before you even check the recoil rope and give it a tug. ) a few have said the motor was tight but then in a few minutes felt normal and started fit up.
Ok, all this being said there are lots of factors that enter in to improve on these findings............Or make them happen faster.
A - sled storage I.E. Where its parked ( heated garage ) ( or sitting outside )
B - Warm-up time ( HUGE Difference ) depending on how your crankcase fit is.
If you have a very loose fit case and your sled is sitting out over night and the crank is let say ZERO degrees and you start your sled and let it idle 10 to 15 minutes and take off...................
The crankcase is alumimun and it now has warm water in the front of the case and its starting to grow a few thousands and the crank is still frozen and there is NO case interferance fit and the crank is floating in the case only to be held in place by the factory lock ring groove " on the Inner bearing next to the water/oil pumpshaft.
Now when you hit the throttle and the drive clutch slams against the belt and all that torque from the 80mm stroke 900 pulls on...............
THE PTO ROD PIN - Because the case has let loose on the two stock PTO bearings and this can only go on for so long ( the only reason ) they last as long as they do is because the 900 has a HUGE rod pin and gives great supporrt ( Unlike the 800 ) the reason the 700 Domstics last so long is because the 700 rod pin is much bigger then the 800's. and the 900 is monsterous.
That all being said.................. The birth of the TorqueMaster 900, I am offering this in 3 different versions.
#1 - Stock Crank
#2 - Stock Crank center and Billet MAG & PTO - ENDS 30mm or 33mm
#3 - All Billet 33mm PTO - END
These will all have the Triple PTO Bearing Kit.
Now, there are lots of reasons I went to three bearings.
A - It divides the load applied to two bearings 33% ( Obvious )
B - The PTO Picks up a new spot in the case and adds 33% more area of support. ( VITAL ) to the used case coming thru that have prior damage.
C - Bearing temp goes down and so does bearing swelling caused by the transfer of energy to the belt pull. ( Especialy Important on the RMK's )
Of course, my next statement is an educated guess ( Only time will tell )
I believe that the 900 Motor with its Monster Rod pins and the Lock ring groove moved from inside the crank centers to the outside inner PTO bearing, and the proper case fit that the crank will be almost indestuctable. ( some people can break an anvil ).
The key to all of this............. Is doing it before your crankcase is woren to a point where we can't fit it properly to the bearings.
The make or break factor to this is............
#1 - if your case has enough OEM fit to work with
#2 - if you have not drove it to long with a bent crank.
#3 - Blowen a belt at close to full throttle ( This is the death of the case )
As for the Prices quoted for the PTO-end only ( VOID ) due to the fact that My Billet end cannot be used with out changing the MAG -end also. There is no way to get it to balance. ( Note ) That even with the added weight of the Billet MAG & PTO - ENDS weight needed to be added to get to 60% of what you would call perfect balance of the 80mm crank ( there is not perfect balance to a crank ) I do not want to talk about balance, It is far to complex.
You can use the stock belt with the Cat drive clutch, It uses a 900 Cat Bolt & a Cat Puller. Drive clutch belt clearance MUST be checked after you have installed your clutch weights of choice. ( they MUST be cat weights or a Cat weight engineered copy ) NOT a Polaris weight
Weights effect clutch shimming, get ONE brand of weight and STAY with it do NOT jump around unless you COMPLETELY understand how much sh!t you can screw up running the wrong style weight in your drive clutch and how much it can effect belt shimming.
As for prices on all the options please don't ask, when I get time they will all be on my ebay store listing.
Do yourselves a favor, ask around about our TorqueMaster 800 Bottom-Ends, I have sold alot of them and the feedback on them has all been the same ( The smoothest best their 800's have ever ran. )
Thanks
Dan.
