Glad I have Quick Drive...

[klpilot]

Just got back from a long snowmobile vacation far from home... My riding buddy lost his chain/chain case... Only got one day of riding in. Then a nasty day of getting back to camp.

The one time I changed my quick drive belt it took 5 min. and off I went. (not this trip) but changed my tune about the belt drive. I think they will refine the durability too... I expect to hear more about that soon... Replaced one under warranty about 600 miles

Chain cases will fail... belt drives will fail... Much easier to replace the belt. Not fun getting a broken chain case sled off the mountain... or repair on the mountain, or maintain, or carry spare parts... Belt carries easy and weighs very little.

Not happy with the problems, but I feel much better about my choice now.

 

[die hard poo]

Plus it makes the 13s absolutely rip! I am blown away how much better the 13s are compared the previous pros I have owned.... I am looking forward to see what Polaris offers Monday for the 14's... I am going to get one!

 

[mike_s]

In 20 years of riding i have had exactly 1 chain/chaincase failure. Most chain/chaincase failures are caused by lack of maintainence. Most quickdrive failures are caused by piss poor engineering.

 

[klpilot]

blah blah internet hero... what ever makes you feel better. We've had lots of chain failures over the years. And if you've had one you know how fun they are to fix on the mountain or get out...

I think it's piss poor manufacturing tolerances and an excellent idea.

 

[mike_s]

blah blah internet hero... what ever makes you feel better. We've had lots of chain failures over the years. And if you've had one you know how fun they are to fix on the mountain or get out...

I think it's piss poor manufacturing tolerances and an excellent idea.

I wont dissagree that a belt drive has some serious performance advantages. However, there are some serious oversights and design flaws that polaris needs to rethink. For one, when a belt breaks (not if but when) you now do not have brakes. When a chain breaks, it gennerally will lock up the trackshaft so at least you wont have to bail and watch your $13K investment search and destroy a grove of trees.

Second, if you do some research on these types of power transmission drives, you will find that the cardinal rule is to never run the belt without some type of tensioning system. Adjustable center to center, or idler tensioner, neither of which does the quick drive have. Look at any other brand of cog belt drive, be it a snowmobile drive or a supercharger drive system, low and behold, they ALL have a tensioner of some sort.

One more flaw inherent to The quick drive is the little fact that these belts, once loaded and stressed, will not handle stress and/or load in the oposite direction. Ever had a timing belt off of an engine then accidently reinstalled it back on the wrong way? They gennerally break within 75 miles. Well, having the brake on the jackshaft continually loads the belt (shock loads no less) the oposite direction to what it has been broken in on. This equates to shorter belt life.

Ill leave you with one more thought to ponder: polaris did not put the quick drive on the assault. The sled designed to be rode a little rough, maybe aired out and smack landed a few times. Yeah, this sled comes with a chaincase. What does that indicate about polaris' confidence in the strength of the quickdrive system?

 

[revrider07]

I like the belt drive and boards on the pro 1500 to 2000 upgrade free from Polaris that's why I put my money on one. No problems yet. The failure rate must be going done less problems being reported and lots of miles being put on.

 

[pura vida]

valid points above but i think one of the main reasons the assault has a chain case is so the racers can change gearing and they can still run in the stock class.

pv

 

[m8magicandmystery]

In 20 years of riding i have had exactly 1 chain/chaincase failure. Most chain/chaincase failures are caused by lack of maintainence. Most quickdrive failures are caused by piss poor engineering.

i have had lots of chain case failures in "well" maintained machines...
nonetheless i found the fixing of the sleds not an issue in the backcountry when we traveled in groups..always spare chain/gears and with the sled on its side no loss of oil and a magnet for the carnage and it was all good to get out...

Im just still sad that what really happened/changed between the prototypes which appear to have been much tougher then the production units happened without more consideration..

 

[cateye5312]

valid points above but i think one of the main reasons the assault has a chain case is so the racers can change gearing and they can still run in the stock class.

pv

I have a pro racing buddy that says that is exactly the reason. He rides a Pro RMK with the QD belt as his personal sled and races the assault.

Hmm, I should ask him what he thinks the performance difference is since he spends plenty of time on both.

 

[dietryin]

I should of bought an assault, the pro apparently is only designed to ride grandpa style ! 2 drive belts in 650 miles and thats with a 200 mile break in on each one ! what a freakin joke !!!!

 

[mike_s]

i have had lots of chain case failures in "well" maintained machines...
nonetheless i found the fixing of the sleds not an issue in the backcountry when we traveled in groups..always spare chain/gears and with the sled on its side no loss of oil and a magnet for the carnage and it was all good to get out...

Im just still sad that what really happened/changed between the prototypes which appear to have been much tougher then the production units happened without more consideration..

There will be failures in any mass produced mechanical item, but the failure rate of HYVO chain driven sleds as compared to the quick drive system....I bet there are more failed quick drives this year than all of the big manufacturers chain/chaincase failures combined.

compare that to the failure rate of the CMX drive system, or the C3 Powersports failure rate. Heck, C3 has already made a fix that I feel would cure the issue with the quick drive, and its a simple bolt on. just sad that you have to spend money on aftermarket items to make a $13K sled work as it was intended to work from the assembly line.

 

[klpilot]

No doubt Polaris has some work to do... Not happy with the failures. But in the end I personally feel a belt is the future and it sure is a lot more fun riding than dealing with broken chain/chain case on this particular trip far away from home and parts. Still it's total BS that they are this weak. Hopefully tomorrow we'll get the good news of improvements. I've heard rumors that the manufacturing tolerances have a lot to do with it. My dealer went through my drive train and trued shafts and pulleys. I guess we'll see? I absolutely love this sled. Been pulling lines every ride that put a big smile on my face. Switched from ski-doo after 4 years. Originally rode Polaris/mod sleds for years before that... I demand a lot from my machines and every one has broke. Bottom line I'm very impressed with this sled and it's the first "stock" sled I've riden this long. I like it so much I may even leave it this way.

I guess with all the negativity out there I found a reason why I like it more than a chain. I look forward to future refinement of the system.

 

[mike_s]

No doubt Polaris has some work to do... Not happy with the failures. But in the end I personally feel a belt is the future and it sure is a lot more fun riding than dealing with broken chain/chain case on this particular trip far away from home and parts. Still it's total BS that they are this weak. Hopefully tomorrow we'll get the good news of improvements. I've heard rumors that the manufacturing tolerances have a lot to do with it. My dealer went through my drive train and trued shafts and pulleys. I guess we'll see? I absolutely love this sled. Been pulling lines every ride that put a big smile on my face. Switched from ski-doo after 4 years. Originally rode Polaris/mod sleds for years before that... I demand a lot from my machines and every one has broke. Bottom line I'm very impressed with this sled and it's the first "stock" sled I've riden this long. I like it so much I may even leave it this way.

I guess with all the negativity out there I found a reason why I like it more than a chain. I look forward to future refinement of the system.

I agree, we will be seeing a lot more belt drives in the future, they are considerably more efficient, among other little perks. Polaris was just the lucky one to deal with all of the "factory installed" growing pains, so to speak, and I still feel could have done a little better R&D before they released the system.

 

[Leaf27]

No doubt Polaris has some work to do... Not happy with the failures. But in the end I personally feel a belt is the future

Ya your right but the future is with the C3 or CMX system not the Qdrive.

Qdrive < hyvo < C3 < CMX.

 

[mountainhorse]

Most are thrilled ... some are not.

IMO...The majority of the people with the QuickDrive™ system on the 2013 PRO RMK's are not having problems...But there are a Significant number of people that are.

I've heard that there were some blown QD belts on 2014 PRO's at snow-shoot in W. Yellowstone last week... doing pow carving, not jumping or hitting "land mines".

I sincerely like to see threads like this that look for the silver lining.

All this being said... History has shown the HYVO chaincases to be more reliable than the QD system... at least in it's first year. Time will tell in years to come.

I'm not yet convinced that the QD system is compatible with production manufacturing variances, inherent in making these many sleds, that seem to have troubled the first year of the QD's release... again, time will tell in 2014.

Great engineering, and... from the track record this year... not enough consistency in quality-control or production management.

Again...is it most people with 13 PRO-RMK's QD's having a problem.... NO... but a significant number... IMO.

Is the QD system as reliable as the chaincase system... Simple answer, not yet... we'll see around February 2014.

If I go the route of a 2014... It will probably be with a Standard RMK-155 (too bad it is not avail in 163) and I'll upgrade the shocks. The bulkhead cooler saves it's own weight in built up ice/snow... Bogies account for half of the weight diff. to the PRO-RMK.

I've never ever had a Polaris HYVO chain fail since they came out... but I keep them clean, use high quality oil, and always adjust it properly. I have helped 3 people locally change their 2013 QD belt on the mountian... and glad I had the tools in my bag. (thanks Happy Face) I have helped a few others in the last 10+ years that had busted HYVO chains, but you could tell right away that they did not maintain their drive system.

My 2 cents.


.

 

[geo]

IMO the addition of the cover required on a chaincased Pro adds a huge increase in structure between the two shafts there.

The back QD plate is not very rigid on it's own. Remove the jackshft and give it a push pull. Almost no help for the jackshaft there.