Damn Head slap moment. Broken Driveshaft pully bolt.

[The Bob]

Broke lower pulley bolt 2 days after ARP bolts showed up from being on back-order (procrastinating installing them). Short trail ride around home to try some changes in tuning. Luckily no major damage except a TKI belt that i had to feed back on the hard way, as I dorked it and left the tunnel pack with tools back at home. Limped it back to the main road and waited for a ride. Kicking myself for something that would of taken me a minute to change turns into the cost of a belt and a lot more time to remove the drive shaft and broken bolt.

PS Ended up getting a lot further from home as I was have a good time, haha.

 

[Outback Sam]

What to do about a broken lower bolt

I broke the lower bolt on my 15 PRO as well to remove the broken bolt without removing the drive shaft if you know someone with a lathe you can make a drill guide which makes the process very simple to do in the sled .
As mentioned in the bolt recall thread
http://www.snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=409338 the problem is caused by the poor fit of the lower drive shaft splines the replacement shaft for my sled fit just as poorly if not worse than the original one .

 

[The Bob]

Thanks. I was able to get it out by tipping the sled on its side removing most the rivets from the fender and pulling it down so I had a straightline at the shaft. Luckily just drilled a hole center enough and used a easy out.

I have researched what causes this like you said. I have reinstalled the pulley with Permatex sleeve retainer for the moment as it was all I had. I have also ordered Loctite 660 which has a better gap fill size. Even though I already have ARP bolts here, I ordered some more that are both 5mm and 10mm longer to get more thread holding. Wanna thank Tethair for responding to my PM's and writing some good posts on idea's of what causes this and fixes.

 

[mountainhorse]

Bob,

Good job on the drill-out!

Are you planning on running a 10mm thicker washer?

.

 

[The Bob]

I plan on doing thicker, 10mm thicker? I found a stock Polaris washer I think came off my 2015 RMK. It is a flat, I have a ton of the spring washer's around but think that is a bit of a issue. One other issue I noticed is that the ARP bolts I have here are the 663-1001's and are only 20mm long. Seem pretty short for the amount of gap and threads available, specially with a much thicker washer. I have ordered 25 and 30mm long and they are on the way. The bolt I had in their looks to have been a 25 mm not positive if it was stock or came with the TKI belt drive I purchased, and I noticed someone else was getting 25mm 12.9's from Fasten.

Am going out in a bit as the snowmobile club I am a member of is having a who ha in the area and my trail sled is down. Going to yank the "liberally" blue loctite coated ARP bolt out and install the flat thick Polaris washer I found after installing with a different washer combo. Will install with longer ARP bolts when they show up mid-week, along with the Loctite 660 (in the mail also) on the splines if the Permatex Sleeve/Bearing Retainer isn't holding.

Plan is to keep a eye out for an extra driveshaft and possibly do a larger stud install like Teth-Air did. This driveline is becoming a PITA, haha. I also have issues with the top bearing jackshaft (bearing spinning/heat) and had pretty much just figured that out.

 

[Sage Crusher]

Keep us posted- cause I am right along side you in the same boat.. but with a 14 Pro and a 16 Axys running a 14 drive shaft/8"drivers.

The 660 is gonna be a pain if we have to pull that bottom gear off again..
Am willing to share the cost on some bolts as I don't ( shouldn't need) a full pack of the ARP'S
Thinking 45mm also-10.9 and 12.9

S/C