S
I have a 2003 polaris 800 and was wondering how many miles you can put on a chain until you should put a new one on, and how do you tell if its bad or good.
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How many miles on a chain.
- Thread starter snow addict
- Start date
that would depend on what kind of riding you do
S
Ah climbing, boondockin, and a little bit of trails to get to the riding area.
My back up sled is a 2003 Vertical Escape, it has almost 5000 miles on it and it has the same chain. Very little trail riding but I did change the lube at the end of every season and once during. I also only used Polaris synthetic chain case oil.
A
If those chains are properly maintained they'll go nearly forever. I have a UBR900 with a 30HP nitrous shot that has seen nothing but mountain climbing since 2004. I have 10,500 miles on the original chain. It may not be real wise to let one go that far, but it gives you an idea how long they will run.
J
I use a chain a year on my 1200wc on my old 800 it was 2 years do to stretch in it. chain $70 vs loose a sled in a Climb = ouch
W
If your worried about the chain you should truely consider the oil pump drive belt which i belive has a service life of about 3000 mile between full replacement.
The chains are pretty durable...
IF
You change the Oil regularly
You keep the tension correct.
Also.. the smaller top spockets, with only around 9 or 10 teeth taking the full load of the power... those wear out and can damage the chain... the top sprockets need more attention, IMO than the chain does.
Also... You need to consider your chain as a safety item... If it breaks, you have no Brakes to stop... If it breaks on a hard climb... you will probably loose control... If it breaks often it will take out the chaincase and lock everything up... causing major problems... and maybe costing you getting stranded in the backcountry.
When a chain breaks... you have major problems usually.
I'm a big fan of pulling the chaincase cover when changing the oil... allows you to do a visual check that everthing is ok... and clean any debris really well.
IMO.. if everything is maintained/adjusted correctly... 2500 miles is a good estimate.
For a turbo sled, hard climbing... I'd do it every season for good measure... more than double the intended HP!!
IF
You change the Oil regularly
You keep the tension correct.
Also.. the smaller top spockets, with only around 9 or 10 teeth taking the full load of the power... those wear out and can damage the chain... the top sprockets need more attention, IMO than the chain does.
Also... You need to consider your chain as a safety item... If it breaks, you have no Brakes to stop... If it breaks on a hard climb... you will probably loose control... If it breaks often it will take out the chaincase and lock everything up... causing major problems... and maybe costing you getting stranded in the backcountry.
When a chain breaks... you have major problems usually.
I'm a big fan of pulling the chaincase cover when changing the oil... allows you to do a visual check that everthing is ok... and clean any debris really well.
IMO.. if everything is maintained/adjusted correctly... 2500 miles is a good estimate.
For a turbo sled, hard climbing... I'd do it every season for good measure... more than double the intended HP!!
A
I change mine every season, along with clutch springs.
