2009-2011 Diamond Drive Bearing Failure

[Johnmaster]

No way brother, I love the DD. Its superior in nearly every way. Until someone comes out with a chaincase that is a MAJOR improvement over whats on the market right now, I'll keep my Diamond Drives. Breaking chains on the hill sucks.

When they make a chaincase that allows you to change a track in 45 minutes without getting your hands dirty I might reconsider owning one, til then I would way rather have a diamond drive hands down!

Sorry for the multiple posts, I just realized this thread is 9 pages long and I'm looking back at all the helpful info everyone has contributed. We have over 20 crossfire/m series in the group I ride with and this thread will definitely save one or more of their vacations before all is said and done.

 

[Stack]

There is another option on this that I am working on.

You can also get an Angular Contact bearing that is a 7203B-2RS which would certainly be an upgrade from what is in there currently. It is a single row, but still much better on taking the side loads, and overall a higher quality bearing. This should be a direct fit without any issues on the 2010.

I also have the 4203, which is an upgrade, but I wish it was a true angular contact bearing.

Update:

I can get the 7203 Angular contact bearing which is the same dimensions as the stock 6203 bearing on the 2010 M8. These are imported from Germany and unfortunatly the price will reflect that. I will have 1 extra available and will sell at my cost + shipping. Please PM me if you are interested.

I also have 1 of the Consolidated Bearing 4203's left and a high quality 5203 SKF

Thanks,

John

 

[Stack]

http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PROD/Kit9704 I just ordered mine, these are Nachi Fujikoshi Japan as opposed to Nachi Taiwan. Not sure what the difference is but mine went 4200mi without kersploding, so either way these should be at least as good if not better. These are the same part number as what's in there.

For 3.40 ea I will just change it since the inconvenience is getting at it, not the cost of the new part.

Nachi is a good company, Definitly an upgrade from what is in there.
John

 

[VmaX 600]

My Dad noticed a puddle under my 2009 M1000 looks like gear lube and looks to be coming from the DD area what is you guys thoughts?

 

[troyburt]

hard to find

i know you guys said the 4203 bearing was hard to find but it is really hard to find! can't get one anywhere! 5203 is also hard to find. looks like i'm going with a 6203 high quality bearing in place of it. i'll just check it very very often!

 

[Firetrail]

bearing

Hello:

While you have it apart replace it with something better than the junk that is in there. The 5203 is your best bet for a "good" fix. Call BD eXtreme and they will send you the bearing. They also have DD case gaskets in case you ruin yours. A nice thing to have around in any case. The 5203 bearing is really not a rare dog at all. It is used paricularly on electric motor output shafts that have pulley side loads. Any good bearing or electric motor repair shop should have one or can order you one. Places like NAPA etc that are auto repair parts places and you will probably not have a lot of luck.

 

[CO 2.0]

I bought a bunch of the 4203 RS bearings on ebay. Came from the UK.

Trout, I took the 2nd 4203 RS bearing out after a couple hundred miles and same thing. You could feel the thing was not as smooth as a new bearing, and spun with less power by hand. I did not put the grease as you described into either of these first two bearings though. I mean they weren't even close to the point of failure, but you could definitely tell they weren't "smooth" anymore.

Just pulled the seals on a new 4203 RS and packed with moly grease. Seems like it should last longer that way.

troyburt, do you have an '09 or a '10?

 

[troyburt]

i have an 09 M8

 

[troyburt]

well i found a 5203 bearing! should get it in a couple weeks. if i have to machine i will and if i don't i won't. excellent topic here, saved me alot of money!!

 

[bigcat_ak]

I went to my Consolidated Bearing dealer and they called them and ordered it no problem.

 

[Stack]

I just installed the 4203 on my 2010 M8 this past week, not a complicated job, but I found I can use a couple more tools in our garage! I first tried the 5203 as I was able to get it flush to the end of the shaft......no such luck on install as the cases would not close. Next I pulled that off an installed the 4203, fit like a dream.

I will say the bearing I took off my sled had only 600 miles on it, it rolled smooth and sounded pretty good. The OEM 6203 bearing on my sled was also sealed a little different. My stock bearing was made by PEER and had black seals not orange. MFG was in China. I believe that PEER is the bearing MFG used by BDX as well.

Overall:
I look forward to using the 4203, I think the double row bearing should be a nice improvement over the stock 6203. I also think the 7203 bearings on the market would be a very nice improvement as they are single row angular contact and would fit without any issues using the stock spacer on the shaft. Also I needed to replace the gasket on the case, thankfully my dealer had one in stock

I will note that I had one whole on the inner side of the case closest to the tunnel that I ate up some threads on. Not sure how it happened exactly but even after cleaning it up with a tap I could not get enough torque on it. I ended up drilling it out and putting in an insert which worked perfect. The insert I used was a 6mm x 1 x 1.5 for the Torx head screws. I actually wish CAT used some insets on these, although more expensive, it is always little risky fastening steel into an aluminum case For me Anyways

 

[Stack]

For anyone dealing with stripped out holes after trying to reinstall the torx head fasteners into the case. If your like me you want to keep all the fasteners the way they were, and this will allow you to use the same Torx head screws.

Note 1:


Recoil makes a very high quality Stainless steel insert which will allow you to use the same torx head fasteners.

The recoil 35060 kit is what you need, it is available through Grainger and other online businesses for $30-45.00 I used one on my case and found it worked very well.

http://www.drillspot.com/products/49847/Recoil_35060_Helical_Thread_Repair_Kit?s=1


Note 2:

Reseaching these Torx screws on our Diamond Drive's a bit more I believe they are a tri-lobular (Self Tapping), and after these have formed their threads they can be still be reused

Info I grabbed off of www.eng-tips.com:

If your tapped threads are in the aluminum, then you might want to look at thread formers such as the Taptite or PT or other tri-lobular shank fasteners. These thread-formers produce much stronger threads than a cut thread. I did this with a major automotive manufacturer on their transmission housings, went from from a drilled and tapped hole to a "as-cast" hole with the proper taper for the depth needed. You can then adjust your per cent thread engagement slightly to allow for frictional factors encountered. However, as others have cautioned you, you must use some sort of a barrier to prevent galvanic corrosion between the steel and the aluminum.

Another great website for fasteners:

http://www.boltscience.com/

 

[TalkAK]

4203 vs 5203

I ran a 4203 (2010 M8) for a few hundred miles this past winter, it sounded different and after a while I pulled it and it felt rough, it did not self destruct like the original but it was not smooth. I went back to a high end 6203 single roller for the remainder of the year. Am getting ready to install a 5203 angular contact bearing right now, with the required modification. The 4203's that I have found are not "angular contact" bearings, they are "deep groove". Most of this has been said before but this was my experience. I still have a 4203 on the shelf, they also came out of the UK.

 

[Stack]

The 4203's out of the UK that people are buying on Ebay really have no "trail" where you can follow back to the MFG in China. I spent plenty of time talking to my rep from Motion Industries and then the engineers over at consolidated. I believe the 4203's from consolidated are high quality, and went into detail about the company they are using in China for these. These may not be Angular contact, but are certainly an improvement over what is in there stock. All bearings are not MFG the same, that is why I went with a company that has a good reputation in the industry.

For the 5203 to work on mine it was suggested from BDX to loosen the track shaft so I had enough clearance to close the cases, then tighten everything back together. I have heard negatives on this and I am not sold that is the answer. If you put any additional stress on those torx screws when tightening the case halves together you are asking for trouble as they will strip out faster than you can blink.

Really the easiest thing to do would be to run the single row 7203 Angular contact bearing which would fit perfectly using the shaft spacer. Also, Single row bearings are naturally more forgiving when a situation of misalignment comes into play; combine that with an Angular contact bearing and you can provide a nice bandaid for all the poor ACAT engineering.

 

[bgreen776]

For the 5203 to work on mine it was suggested from BDX to loosen the track shaft so I had enough clearance to close the cases, then tighten everything back together. I have heard negatives on this and I am not sold that is the answer.

Can someone please explain to me how that could possibly help this situation?

 

[VmaX 600]

Well guys I took my DD apart and looked at the bearing. Everything was still in great shape only 650 miles on the sled. Figured I would replace it with the 5203 since I have it apart.

 

[MUZBOMB]

i have a 09 HCR with 800 miles on it, so i am going to drain the oil and check the bearing out. I have never been in a DD before so any tip and what is the best way of going about it with out F***ing stuff up worse?? Thanks guys

 

[silverram323]

MOZBOMB, Refer to post How to take apart and repair

 

[MUZBOMB]

Thanks, i got it all apart no problems. The bearing is good the oil was very dark black though, but i am going to replace the bearing for sure anyways though. Can a guy spray brake clean in the DD to clean it up abit, just to get all the dark dirty oil out???

 

[bgreen776]

I wouldn't. It could harm the lip seals, and you should probably take the thing apart and give it a good inspection anyway. Look at all the little bronze shims, clean out all the little planetary gears and their axles. Dig the junk out behind all the lip seals, etc, etc, etc.