Attention: Corporate office of Artic Cat….Redesign the Diamond Drive!!!!

[hatchers]

forget "rotating mass" and whatever else folks think they know to be meaningful...

the fact remains---> the DD i have is 50lbs of gearing stuffed in a 5lb bag, no way for debris to exit a gear tooth path, stupid stupid design..i bet this bugger has 7 miles of gear teeth

not that is matter much in my case, gonna call BDX and get whatever they tell me "better"

 

[WyoBoy1000]

A chain case usually uses a shaft that adds weight and has more drag, like some one said good OLD design. If you put in a chain case in the same place as a dd without the shaft when torque is put on the chain it pulls up on the lower shaft trying to pull the two sprockets together putting a bind on the bearings. A gear setup is a more accurate and better system if its the right one. the reverse dd's where a bad idea. I agree with a place to catch debris as well.

 

[1080paul]

I posted on earlier thread about converted to an electronic reverse. If that can be done,why not change to the 09 gears also?Problem solved.

I checked into this. You would be close to $3000 in just parts with this mod if you bought a BDx light drive and drive shaft. If a guy has a stock sled your better off trading in.

Lots of DD out there on short tracks. Seems like the DD with reverse are where most of the problems are?

 

[1Mike900]

No don't get me wrong, Either 3 gears in a new designed case or a chain assy. I wouldn't ever want to see a jackshaft setup come back. It is best to have the brake disk on the driveshaft anyway for safety, And it is geared down further so the engine has more leverage over it. Heck, Maybe a couple cogged vacume cleaner belts will do?

Mike

 

[snowhawkaddict]

Dear AC

Keep the diamond drive, and build us a Oneski!

Hurry before the other OEM's catch on.

 

[89sandman]

yes the 07-08 design is gauranteed to fail sooner or later, you would think ac could at least redesign the planetary, this is where 95% of failures i've seen come from. would never get rid of the reverse, would get rid of the sled first!!! if i only use it to get my sled off the trailer is worth all the hassle...

 

[shuttlevalve]

i thought the whole advantage of the DD in 04-06 was lower center of gravity, loosing 10 lbs of chaincase junk and more and less HP loss. then because people cant park and dont like to pull sleds off trailers they stuffed 12lbs of extra parts back into it and added new places to break it. There is a rule that doesnt get followed much "Keep it simple stupid". overengineered stuff is the first stuff to break.

 

[Needspeed]

A chain case usually uses a shaft that adds weight and has more drag, like some one said good OLD design. If you put in a chain case in the same place as a dd without the shaft when torque is put on the chain it pulls up on the lower shaft trying to pull the two sprockets together putting a bind on the bearings. A gear setup is a more accurate and better system if its the right one. the reverse dd's where a bad idea. I agree with a place to catch debris as well.

What about a setup like on a Pete Jackson Gear drive? The gear setup used to replace timing chains. Then you get away from the chain trying to pull the sprocket together. They have four gears one drive one driven and two in between to transfer the power. There would still be a jack shaft but no planetary gear. Just an idea.

 

[diggerdown]

The DD is the right idea with the wrong parts! Gears are stronger than chains but the use of the little planitary is just wrong. I've seen a fair number of blown chaincases too, so they are a long way from perfect.

 

[Elkhorn]

This DD will fail on a stock sled also, who makes a chaincase retrofit?, does it drop and roll?, anyone here running it?, how much?

I just added some pics

I got 2, 4 seasons on them, not a problem, I have gone over the handle bars twice with a broken chain, it can happen to either.

 

[hatchers]

I got 2, 4 seasons on them, not a problem, I have gone over the handle bars twice with a broken chain, it can happen to either.

a 15 wide bottom gear and chain will last forever under proper maintenance...i know a thing or two about gearbox applications...read a book about it

yes, the DD idea is superior to a chaincase....but the design is silly:beer;

 

[Drifter]

I got 2, 4 seasons on them, not a problem, I have gone over the handle bars twice with a broken chain, it can happen to either.

Me to 2100 km on one and 4600 on the other. Are you not changing the oil???

 

[Samurai]

I agree a design with a debris field in it would be a improvement. Many planetary systems such as Auburns dont have the feature also. Maybe it it wouldn't work, I dont know. But the concept sure has value.
We have a experiment on going, where we squirt in a shot of Lucas tranny oil in the DD before we top it off with OE DD oil. 5400 miles half of it turboed and not a problem. It's also the only DD we ever had that doesn't sweat oil. The thin viscosity of the OE oil is kinda mystifing for a planetary system in my opinion.

 

[Needspeed]

I used to change my chain case oil a couple times a year and it was easy to inspect the chain and gears, and never had a problem, you can catch stuff early when its easily visible the dd is a pain to inspect. But any way I think the properly designed gear drive would definetly be the way to go. Hope some one builds one some day. The Helical cut gears are a good start they are a ton stronger and can handle unbelievable rpms, but they are expensive to build.

 

[arctic matt]

I got 2, 4 seasons on them, not a problem, I have gone over the handle bars twice with a broken chain, it can happen to either.

HA, me too Twice with a broken chain!

 

[backcountryislife]

I've been through at least 4 exploded chaincases on my old sleds (thundercats) and not a single problem in over 14,000 miles on my M sleds aside from the leaking issue on the 07. The majority of those miles have been on 190+ hp M1000's.

some folks have had some bad luck with them, but I've had way more bad luck with chaincases. I'm extremely happy with the DD.

 

[05snopro440]

keyword "only"

Because Cat has a patent on it. Same reason Cat had the only AWS for years.

If you want a chaincase so badly go buy a Doo, they hardly have any issues .

 

[9500blizzard]

How does the BDX diamond lite drive work? Does it delete the planetary drive?, what makes it stronger then the dd? I changed my gearing last week and noticed a small piece of aluminum in my case so i'm thinking theres going to be problems real soon. I took it to my dealer they didnt know what it was from so i guess i'll find out