2015 QuickDrive Failure

[Mike]

Sheared two quickdrive bolts on the lower gear on two separate pro RMKs today. One sled with 1,200 miles on the trail on the way up to the mountains. The second with 900 miles on a short climb. Curious to see if anyone else has had any issues or if this is just bad luck? The outfit we rented from said this makes it their fourth sheared bolt for 2015.

 

[bkpa]

So these are on rentals?

 

[dexter]

Ya mine went at 200miles. I know of 4. Seems much worst on the 15s

 

[Pro-8250]

800 Pro RMK.

We have a 2013 with 2400 miles and a 2014 with 700 miles. No issues here.
The 2013 has been very well tested to say the least.

 

[AdrenalineAddict]

They all break. Take it out before it breaks replace with a grade 8 metric and you're good to go.

 

[winter brew]

Why is there even any stress on this bolt, the splines should take the load, the bolt itself should be doing almost nothing but keep the sprocket from walking.

 

[retiredpop]

See this thread. http://www.snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=389180

 

[Drifter]

My Buddy's 2015 with 250 is miles sheared the bottom out. Pulled him out with my 15 I guess I will have to look into a different bolt.

 

[nosman4]

Mountainhorse has the right idea, been using arp bolts for the quickdrive bolts for the last 2 years. No Problems. ARP makes top of the line, great hardware.

 

[fullboredragon]

not to be a dick, but glad i a have a chain case!

 

[CO Powder]

not to be a dick, but glad i a have a chain case!

Because changing a bolt is too difficult or because you like more weight and friction with, slower response and acceleration?

 

[TheBreeze]

Welcome to the party. I sheared mine, and know of two others locally.

 

[Reg2view]

Because changing a bolt is too difficult or because you like more weight and friction with, slower response and acceleration?

He did say he wasn't intending to be a dick.

Good for poo to mass produce a belt drive, I'm all for new tech, but +90% of riders would never really be able to tell the difference in the snow between a quickdrive and a case if the panel was locked. Good for you if you're one of the BSD's that can tell the difference. Or is it the aluminum driveshaft that is providing the rocket response? The rest of us want to know.

Poo's mass produced belt drive was thrust on the unpaid R&D team, and is still being worked out. Typical OEM BS mainly to sell more sleds. Like the aluminum driveshaft, bonded a-arms. No ability to change gearing. Another belt to sell to us instead of chaincase lube, more bolts to sell, more guards, more tools. It will get refined and become a standard, but it wasn't ready for primetime. Some people let others drink the koolaid and see if they live, and are really happy with boring old water.

 

[jsledder]

I'm on my 2nd weekend with mine, my confidence level was high and I felt good knowing I had a reliable machine that I would not have to pull out of the trailer and do a bunch of upgrades to before the next ride. But, it seems as though this might be one worth doing to prevent a long day of dragging it out of the tree's somewhere.

 

[geo]

Why is there even any stress on this bolt, the splines should take the load, the bolt itself should be doing almost nothing but keep the sprocket from walking.

Brew. You're a test guy for this kind of stuff. It's been seen before and questioned. Good thing is higher grade bolt seems to eliminate the failure.

How's this for a scenario?
Torque spec'd is at the extreme end for grade of bolt. Maybe compounded by poor torque reading from hard locktite on threads of factory bolt.
Belt is much more rigid compared to chain. Pulley is bolted solid with tight tolerances on splines. Stock belt tension is set tight without tensioner. Slight misalignments (between pulleys) on multiple planes every revolution cause stresses to bolt, with leverage through the head, until simple fracture failure.

 

[d8grandpa]

Why is there even any stress on this bolt, the splines should take the load, the bolt itself should be doing almost nothing but keep the sprocket from walking.

When you check torque specs for bolts the one supplied is only rated for 34ft.lb, yet they recommend you torque the bolt to 40ft.lb. I think this is where the stress on the bolt comes from and why they are shearing off.
go to higher grade bolts that have torque spec of 48ft.lb as stated by others, problem should be solved.

Geo I was late getting my post up and didn't see yours, good comments

 

[AKrider]

Because changing a bolt is too difficult or because you like more weight and friction with, slower response and acceleration?

Kinda funny how you read post after post about belt drive problems and upgrades since they came out but you don't see the same thing with the old and proven chaincase.

I'll stick with my chaincase and have the ability to easily and cheaply change my gearing. If belt drive was such a great idea and huge improvement, you'd see the other OEM's using it by now.

I'd love to see a test of two identical sleds, one with belt drive and the other without and see if there was any performance difference between the two. I rode my buddy's Pro 800 and it wasn't like, "Wow! I can totally feel the belt drive. What a night and day difference!"

 

[rugbynitro]

I have both, a 13 Pro 163 and a 15 RMK LE 163 both with e-start and there is virtually no difference in the way they feel when riding. The only real difference
is how the belt drive sounds versus the chaincase.

The clicker shocks on the RMK are far too stiff for my kind of riding but disconnecting the sway bar and turning the clickers to the softest setting corrected the problem.

The huge positive, is how cool the RMK runs on the trail to the mountains with the front cooler.

Believe the hype if you want, but I see no need to "upgrade" to a Pro until the belt drive becomes much stronger and more reliable.

 

[winter brew]

So is this bolt not breaking when a tensioner is used and the belt run looser?

 

[CO Powder]

I'll stick with the Pro. My '13 was awesome, my '14 has been just a little better so far. I don't feel the need to change the gearing and the failures are pretty rare considering how many of these sleds are on the snow now.

I have ridden my buddies brand new '14 Assault back to back with my new '14 Pro and I like the feel of the Pro much better. It is probably because I rode the same thing last year but I think they flat work, right out of the box.