I see lots of talk out there about clutch balancing ( and lots of different prices )
Let me first say this - I don't think there is anything I do that I enjoy less then balancing drive clutches................( why ???? )
I have heard prices for $30 all the way up to what-ever ??????
What-ever --- Being my price .... $125.00 Been told a lot that I am just to high.
lets break down this process a little.................
Ok lets say 6 clutches get sent in for balancing, and lets say I charges $30.00 each. ( and there all 800 Polaris clutches )
#1 - brand new with no weights or spring in it
#2 - brand new with weights and spring in it.
#3 - used 1000 miles and very clean
#4 - used 2000 miles and a little dirty
#5 - used with 5000 miles and very dirty
#6 - used with 7500 miles and Behold dirty & completely worn out
Now if I am going to charge $30.00 each ( right.......... )
Ok clutch #1 - has no weights or spring......... ( ok how can i check the belt shimming if it doesn't have weights in it ) You can't !!!! so weights must be installed - Then after shimming is complete they need to be removed.
Ok clutch #2 - has weights and spring..........( ok in order to balance it they must be removed ) Because chances are they are NOT balanced ( and even if they are the balance is not equal thru out the weights length. )
Ok clutch #3 - almost like #2 but has a little sheave wear in the engagement area.............
Ok clutch #4 - needs to be cleaned and has a little sheave wear in the engagement area.
Ok clutch #5 - Needs to be cleaned and has a lot of sheave wear and both the cover bushing and the movable sheave bushings are worn out.
Ok clutch #6 - all bushings are worn out and all the rollers and worn out and the weights are all worn out.
Now lets just say this.............Ok in my head I say to myself, I only charge $30.00 each so that means with unpackaging and writing it up and actually balancing it and then repacking it and calling for payment then shipping it.............assuming this could ALL be done in 15 minutes each.
thats $120.00 per hour for 4 clutches..........right ????
and the only thing you would have time for in this 15 minutes would be a balance them as they came type balance...........right ???
grab them and throw them on the balancer - drill a few holes and slam them in the box............right ???
Tell me this...............what type of quality balance do you feel these different clutches would receive ???? from clutch #1 to clutch #6 ????
ok, to keep this short I will give you an example of clutch #1 & #6 the two extreme sides of the spectrum..............
clutch #1 - First of all 99.9% of all new Polaris drive clutches come with 1 .020 thousands shim under the spider..............And once you install weights in the clutch and check the belt to sheave clearance you will find .020 to .050 thou clearance..............I like to see zero to .010 thou MAX to a brand new belt..................what does this mean ???? it means you have to machine the spider ???? Because the clutch has to have a shim and they don't make them any thinner then .020 ( average ) your not suppose to run them without a shim. Ok - now that the clutch is completely torn down we balance the back sheave by itself - why..........Because if the customer ever slits the clutch apart and reassembles it, It will be as close to imbalance as it can get without re-balancing it. Then the clutch is assembled, final shimmed to the best belt clearance you can get with the time allotted. Then the weights must be removed ( remember this clutch didn't come with weights ) Now that's its fully assembled it gets balanced again.
Now all that being said............How well do you see 15 minutes fitting into, The clutch arriving and being entered in to the computer then doing the work above, Then reboxing it, & then shipping it..............And this was clutch #1 - Brand new ( Clean clutch )
Now lets move on to clutch #5 - ( #6 is a throw away )
Time for clutch number #5.......................average 1 -1/2 hours labor.
I don't see where $30.00 fits into doing the job corectly.............
As a matter of fact clutch #5 is the reason I almost always tell them to buy a new clutch and start fresh. #5 is rarely worth the time spent.
Clutches can't all be treated the same.................And chances are in this world.................You get what you pay for.
If you have had a drive clutch serviced and balance and you couldn't tell the difference.............But you just felt better simply because you had it done.............Then you didn't get much for your money.
I'm not saying it can't be made better for $30.00, But its a slim chance unless it was a new clutch to start with.
after I get done with a $125.00 balance job to a 5000 mile clutch I feel
like I didn't make a bit of profit and the customer got the deal of a life time.
Tip - If your drive clutch is machined and shimmed and balanced properly, all the other little separate weight balancing done is great but to needed.
I have seen 800 motors go 15,000 miles plus with good cases, that had drive clutch weights that were over a full gram out of balance.
balancing a Polaris clutch without machining the spider is almost impossible.
Let me first say this - I don't think there is anything I do that I enjoy less then balancing drive clutches................( why ???? )
I have heard prices for $30 all the way up to what-ever ??????
What-ever --- Being my price .... $125.00 Been told a lot that I am just to high.
lets break down this process a little.................
Ok lets say 6 clutches get sent in for balancing, and lets say I charges $30.00 each. ( and there all 800 Polaris clutches )
#1 - brand new with no weights or spring in it
#2 - brand new with weights and spring in it.
#3 - used 1000 miles and very clean
#4 - used 2000 miles and a little dirty
#5 - used with 5000 miles and very dirty
#6 - used with 7500 miles and Behold dirty & completely worn out
Now if I am going to charge $30.00 each ( right.......... )
Ok clutch #1 - has no weights or spring......... ( ok how can i check the belt shimming if it doesn't have weights in it ) You can't !!!! so weights must be installed - Then after shimming is complete they need to be removed.
Ok clutch #2 - has weights and spring..........( ok in order to balance it they must be removed ) Because chances are they are NOT balanced ( and even if they are the balance is not equal thru out the weights length. )
Ok clutch #3 - almost like #2 but has a little sheave wear in the engagement area.............
Ok clutch #4 - needs to be cleaned and has a little sheave wear in the engagement area.
Ok clutch #5 - Needs to be cleaned and has a lot of sheave wear and both the cover bushing and the movable sheave bushings are worn out.
Ok clutch #6 - all bushings are worn out and all the rollers and worn out and the weights are all worn out.
Now lets just say this.............Ok in my head I say to myself, I only charge $30.00 each so that means with unpackaging and writing it up and actually balancing it and then repacking it and calling for payment then shipping it.............assuming this could ALL be done in 15 minutes each.
thats $120.00 per hour for 4 clutches..........right ????
and the only thing you would have time for in this 15 minutes would be a balance them as they came type balance...........right ???
grab them and throw them on the balancer - drill a few holes and slam them in the box............right ???
Tell me this...............what type of quality balance do you feel these different clutches would receive ???? from clutch #1 to clutch #6 ????
ok, to keep this short I will give you an example of clutch #1 & #6 the two extreme sides of the spectrum..............
clutch #1 - First of all 99.9% of all new Polaris drive clutches come with 1 .020 thousands shim under the spider..............And once you install weights in the clutch and check the belt to sheave clearance you will find .020 to .050 thou clearance..............I like to see zero to .010 thou MAX to a brand new belt..................what does this mean ???? it means you have to machine the spider ???? Because the clutch has to have a shim and they don't make them any thinner then .020 ( average ) your not suppose to run them without a shim. Ok - now that the clutch is completely torn down we balance the back sheave by itself - why..........Because if the customer ever slits the clutch apart and reassembles it, It will be as close to imbalance as it can get without re-balancing it. Then the clutch is assembled, final shimmed to the best belt clearance you can get with the time allotted. Then the weights must be removed ( remember this clutch didn't come with weights ) Now that's its fully assembled it gets balanced again.
Now all that being said............How well do you see 15 minutes fitting into, The clutch arriving and being entered in to the computer then doing the work above, Then reboxing it, & then shipping it..............And this was clutch #1 - Brand new ( Clean clutch )
Now lets move on to clutch #5 - ( #6 is a throw away )
- Completely disassemble
- Spray with a degreasing agent ( allow to soak at least 15 minutes )
- Clutch goes into a $6500.00 jet spray hot tank for 15 minutes.
- Both the inner & outer sheaves are machined ( because there is a groove worn into the sheaves ) from repeated engagements and belt slippage over the years and miles. Machining the "hump" out of the stationary...Something we have been doing for years..this also lowers clutch temps and gives overall better performance
- Then the cover bushing and movable sheave bushings are replaced
- New weights are installed
- Belt to sheave clearance is checked
- Spider is then machined to get proper clearance.
- Then the stationary sheave is balanced
- Then clutch is completely assembled
- Weights removed again, then final balanced
- Then weights are reinstalled,
- Then it boxed, customers is called for payment, then shipping info is loaded into computer and then shipped.
Time for clutch number #5.......................average 1 -1/2 hours labor.
I don't see where $30.00 fits into doing the job corectly.............
As a matter of fact clutch #5 is the reason I almost always tell them to buy a new clutch and start fresh. #5 is rarely worth the time spent.
Clutches can't all be treated the same.................And chances are in this world.................You get what you pay for.
If you have had a drive clutch serviced and balance and you couldn't tell the difference.............But you just felt better simply because you had it done.............Then you didn't get much for your money.
I'm not saying it can't be made better for $30.00, But its a slim chance unless it was a new clutch to start with.
after I get done with a $125.00 balance job to a 5000 mile clutch I feel
like I didn't make a bit of profit and the customer got the deal of a life time.
Tip - If your drive clutch is machined and shimmed and balanced properly, all the other little separate weight balancing done is great but to needed.
I have seen 800 motors go 15,000 miles plus with good cases, that had drive clutch weights that were over a full gram out of balance.
balancing a Polaris clutch without machining the spider is almost impossible.
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I had the $30 balance job. Works great. Watched him do it, took a whole 5 minutes.
