The marks on the new shaft are wrong. Before pressing off drivers, scribe lines at the edge of the drivers. Then you can compare with the new shaft and adjust accordingly.
Double bearing upgrade tools?
- Thread starter Motogeek33
- Start date
Same here, marks are off for sure.
M5
M5
A
adamd1979
Active member
I just checked mine after reading this(now that it's all together and on the bike)...and yup, 1/8th of an inch on both sides. Not sure how much damage it would cause if run this way, which was what would have happened to me if not mentioned here. It would be helpful if Timbersled would shoot out an e-mail to all who ordered an upgrade kit to inform before possible damage occurs. I was able to center it without tearing the whole thing apart, so that's good.
Guys, I apologize I should have said something sooner, thanks PalousePoo for speaking up! I just really thought I was crazy! Like I said I called and they said no way, so I did not want to start a panic or anything if I was the one missing something. My head is still spinning! I had to take mine back apart because my track was not perfectly centered in the tunnel even though I noticed the problem and got the drivers spaced right and fitting the track the first time. on mine I had to move the drivers on the shaft a touch for the track to be centered in the tunnel. The track was favoring the drive side a little. Anyway, I was able to have the shaft out and back in in under 1 hour. Once you know what you are doing it is not bad.
At this point, I am glad I procrastinated. Would you guys be kind enough to list the proper measurements? Perhaps the measurements from each end of the shaft to the outer (and maybe inner) edges of the drivers?
It shouldn't matter but, I am assuming that old style (2.52") drivers will be in the same position on the shaft as the new (2.86") drivers? Right?
It shouldn't matter but, I am assuming that old style (2.52") drivers will be in the same position on the shaft as the new (2.86") drivers? Right?
Just do as I stated earlier. Scribe a line at edge of drivers on old shaft before removing drivers. Then transfer this same line to new shaft. Once done pressing drivers on new shaft you can compare to the old shaft to make sure you are right. Put new shaft and drivers inside track to make sure there is play back and forth with no binding.
Mine is just about done. I just scribed the position of the drivers on the old drive shaft before removing the drivers and laid the old driveshaft against the new driveshaft and transcribed the marks over to the new shaft.
The most trouble I had was with pulling the sprockets off the counter shaft and I upgraded to the new flex-shaft front suspension arm. Of course it came with no instructions. After putting it together and pulling it apart several time, I hope I have it right.
The hardest part for me is getting the new front flexible suspension arm to line up with the existing holes in the tunnel sides. I am starting to wonder if maybe it's slightly longer...
The most trouble I had was with pulling the sprockets off the counter shaft and I upgraded to the new flex-shaft front suspension arm. Of course it came with no instructions. After putting it together and pulling it apart several time, I hope I have it right.
The hardest part for me is getting the new front flexible suspension arm to line up with the existing holes in the tunnel sides. I am starting to wonder if maybe it's slightly longer...
I did the same upgrade (double-bearing kit + flex arm) and didn't have any trouble that I wasn't able to overcome. I have a 2012 ST, if that makes a difference. I remember having some trouble getting the limiter strap fed through the middle of where the shock mounts, but I got'er done.
Bearing axel shaft problem
Anyone else notice any side to side flex in the side panels? I installed the new bearing kit and ran it elevated in the shop to check it out before I hit the snow. Had LOTS of side to side flex and the chain went from way loose to to tight every rev. Measured (with dial indicator) shaft run out of .012" at the drive side end and side plate flex over .040"...turned out that the new shaft for the double bearings was bent...badly bent as supplied by TS. TS swapped it out for me no questions asked and I got the feeling they know this issue. IF I hadn't noticed it in the shop the bearings would have been ruined pretty quick. Glad I saw it before I had to deal with it out in the hills! I recommend actually checking yours to see what they supplied you!
Anyone else notice any side to side flex in the side panels? I installed the new bearing kit and ran it elevated in the shop to check it out before I hit the snow. Had LOTS of side to side flex and the chain went from way loose to to tight every rev. Measured (with dial indicator) shaft run out of .012" at the drive side end and side plate flex over .040"...turned out that the new shaft for the double bearings was bent...badly bent as supplied by TS. TS swapped it out for me no questions asked and I got the feeling they know this issue. IF I hadn't noticed it in the shop the bearings would have been ruined pretty quick. Glad I saw it before I had to deal with it out in the hills! I recommend actually checking yours to see what they supplied you!
Bent shaft
Frostbite, yes the 1" drive shaft that the drivers get pressed onto was bent. There's no way that it could bend when I had it in the press, I think it's the way they grab the shaft in the lathe chuck rather than machine it between centers so that both ends are true. If the shafts don"t run true then expect bearing failures, bolts coming loose and chain issues....like I hear of way to often! The replacement shaft ALSO had some runout but I decided that it wasn't bad enough to tear down again. Glad I live in Sandpoint so the exchange was easy and they swapped no problem but I wonder how many more are out there.
Frostbite, yes the 1" drive shaft that the drivers get pressed onto was bent. There's no way that it could bend when I had it in the press, I think it's the way they grab the shaft in the lathe chuck rather than machine it between centers so that both ends are true. If the shafts don"t run true then expect bearing failures, bolts coming loose and chain issues....like I hear of way to often! The replacement shaft ALSO had some runout but I decided that it wasn't bad enough to tear down again. Glad I live in Sandpoint so the exchange was easy and they swapped no problem but I wonder how many more are out there.
so you say .012 runout? to me that's not bent that's just a very sloppy tolerance, about what you would expect from some steel hex shaft off the shelf. I agree that is terrible but probly about par for the course. Combine that with a couple sliding fit bearings and sprockets and the stuff is all out of wack! again I agree with you but I bet almost all the shafts have that kind of runout. did u check it with a straightedge and feeler gauge, how bent was it in that respect? reason I ask is I fell all kinds of vibs when riding, sometimes I'm thinking "dang that driveshaft must be bent" and I have not hit anything its been that way since day 1. it has upgrade kit installed.
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After I got the bent shaft out I set it on a flat surface and had maybe 1/16"+ bend, I didn't measure with feeler gauges because it was so bent I could see it. There's no reason for them to supply bent shafts if they would change the way they machine the hex bar stock imo. I hear lots of issues with bearing failures so I admit I was looking for a reason and this just jumped out at me...
I haven't installed mine yet (was going to wait til summer) so will unbox and take a look. Thanks, zippy, for the heads up. Will be interesting to do the same to the original driveshaft once it is out.
Will also be interesting for others to post up there findings with both original and "upgrade kit" driveshafts to help determine if this is a fluke impacting only a few or only the new ones. Or if it is inherent to all shafts including originals. Then, on top of that, dtermine at what amount it would be an issue.
Will also be interesting for others to post up there findings with both original and "upgrade kit" driveshafts to help determine if this is a fluke impacting only a few or only the new ones. Or if it is inherent to all shafts including originals. Then, on top of that, dtermine at what amount it would be an issue.
more accuracy
In an effort to reduce the inaccuracy of the supplied drilling template I decided to make a few mods. The first upgrade kit I did I just used the template as supplied and did as the instructions said with a hand drill. that 3/16 aluminum is pretty beefy, making the drill wander and template move all over. also the template and side plate holes are a bit sloppy so I did not feel great about the end result. for this one I wanted to get more accurate and use a drill press to do the drilling. I pulled both side plates and bolted them together. In order to get them exactly perfectly aligned I turned a "centering mandrel" out of aluminum starting with 2.25 stock, I turned it down to 2.030 to fit the large hole in the side plates where the end of shaft bolt goes. I then center drilled my new mandrel. next I installed the drilling template onto the side panel, and installed the mandrel extending thru BOTH sideplates, this is the key, and then used its hole to center drill the template. Next I tapped the centering mandrel for a 3/8 bolt and bolted it to the drilling template. I wrapped a little tape around the template bolts as they are a loose fit in the sideplate to snug them up. voila! a much better and exact result! what a pain! I'm sure you guys are lost by now check the pics!
In an effort to reduce the inaccuracy of the supplied drilling template I decided to make a few mods. The first upgrade kit I did I just used the template as supplied and did as the instructions said with a hand drill. that 3/16 aluminum is pretty beefy, making the drill wander and template move all over. also the template and side plate holes are a bit sloppy so I did not feel great about the end result. for this one I wanted to get more accurate and use a drill press to do the drilling. I pulled both side plates and bolted them together. In order to get them exactly perfectly aligned I turned a "centering mandrel" out of aluminum starting with 2.25 stock, I turned it down to 2.030 to fit the large hole in the side plates where the end of shaft bolt goes. I then center drilled my new mandrel. next I installed the drilling template onto the side panel, and installed the mandrel extending thru BOTH sideplates, this is the key, and then used its hole to center drill the template. Next I tapped the centering mandrel for a 3/8 bolt and bolted it to the drilling template. I wrapped a little tape around the template bolts as they are a loose fit in the sideplate to snug them up. voila! a much better and exact result! what a pain! I'm sure you guys are lost by now check the pics!
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Nice.
I'm a machinist by trade and didn't give it much consideration when I did the first upgrade kit. Noticed the slop in the template, tried to center it up but still ended up with the bearing not centered! I'll definitally be doing something different on the next ones!
