most lower viscosity full-synthetic greases will work well.... I only have direct experience with the CV-2 mentioned in the first post and Mobile-1 synthetic... with the nod going to the CV-2 as being a bit less thick.
GREASING THE PRO RMK... DO IT OFTEN AND USE EXCELLENT QUALITY GREASE
- Thread starter mountainhorse
- Start date
A
ak49er
Well-known member
Great post, I will reinforce what MH said about suspension performance. On my old REV, sometimes the suspension would go flat, as In I would stop, and the whole rear skid was flat to the ground. I would lift the rear and it would stay compressed, like the torsion springs gave up the ghost. Then after taking off agin, it would spring back. It would be fine while riding, but any time I stopped it would stiffen up and and not move 'till a few bumps later.
I checked it out in my warm garage, no problems, plenty of spring, and the shocks had plenty of Comp./Reb.
I then sent my shocks off to get rebuilt and while under the skid greased it. And thats when I saw all the water come out fo the shaft bores.
The skid was merely freezing at whatever point of compression I happened to be at.
Lesson Learned.
Re: Sealed Bearings,
Perhaps Polaris puts some thought into this, but SKF and all the other major bearing brands do not. These OEMS will ship a sealed bearing to Prudhoe Bay as quick as Saudi Arabia, the grease that is shipped with it is not good for any environment but a wharehouse shelf.
It's always good practice to re-pack new sealed bearings for your application.
Here's the formula-
G = 0.0005 DB
where
•G is the quantity of grease in grams
•D is the diameter of bearing
•B is the total breadth width of the bearing
I checked it out in my warm garage, no problems, plenty of spring, and the shocks had plenty of Comp./Reb.
I then sent my shocks off to get rebuilt and while under the skid greased it. And thats when I saw all the water come out fo the shaft bores.
The skid was merely freezing at whatever point of compression I happened to be at.
Lesson Learned.
Re: Sealed Bearings,
Perhaps Polaris puts some thought into this, but SKF and all the other major bearing brands do not. These OEMS will ship a sealed bearing to Prudhoe Bay as quick as Saudi Arabia, the grease that is shipped with it is not good for any environment but a wharehouse shelf.
It's always good practice to re-pack new sealed bearings for your application.
Here's the formula-
G = 0.0005 DB
where
•G is the quantity of grease in grams
•D is the diameter of bearing
•B is the total breadth width of the bearing
just picked up some redline cv 2 as suggested (thanks for the help MH)
heads up not all napa's have redline i ended up finding it at Baxter auto parts
(third stop)
heads up not all napa's have redline i ended up finding it at Baxter auto parts
(third stop)
^^^^
I dont see why you cant.
Maybe not all at first, but lube it a few times over the season and itll clear out eventually.
Went to lube mine last weekend and noticed all my lube was gone
Ill try the CV-2 for ****s and giggles this time, though, I was always using low temp stuff (non synthetic i think tho)
I dont see why you cant.
Maybe not all at first, but lube it a few times over the season and itll clear out eventually.
Went to lube mine last weekend and noticed all my lube was gone
Ill try the CV-2 for ****s and giggles this time, though, I was always using low temp stuff (non synthetic i think tho)
This recent post brought this thread back to mind.
In the stock PRO-RMK/RMK suspension there are NO bushings in the stock front or rear swing arms/scissor...other than the ones in the shock eyes.
There are just bare aluminum cross-shafts in the bare steel tubes of the scissors. With just grease to lubricate them.
As you use the sled...the grease gets pushed around in the tube and you loose a lot of the all important lubrication... and get metal to metal grinding.
This happens really quick, and you need to keep up the maintenance in this important area.
I've seen some of those shafts go less than a season before being worn out... and others... with greasing every 2-3 rides last since they got their 2011 PRO RMK.
Also... a worn shaft will "bell mouth" the end of the tube it slides in if let go too far... It will also not allow the suspension to work as it should
The owners manual says to do this every 500 miles... BUT... If you want your sled to last, I recommend that you do it MUCH more often than that... say every 3 rides or so... and hit every grease fitting on it.
One other thing that makes greasing easier...
Keep a dedicated grease gun with the grease just for this purpose... Besides a pneumatic comercial or cordless battery-powered grease gun... I'm a big fan of the quality/price of the Lincoln PISTOL GRIP grease guns... This allows you to hold the chuck onto the zerk-fitting and use the other hand to pump the grease.
Also useful... after pumping grease into all of the fittings... cycle the rear suspension up and down a few times and grease it again...then wipe off any of the squeeze out.
http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Lubrication-1134-Pistol-Grease/dp/B0002NYDZ8
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Line-80402-Synthetic-Grease/dp/B000CPAEJA
Also, on the 2011 & 2012 PRO RMK's and the 2011 - 2015 standard RMK's (those with a chaincase as opposed to a quick drive)... Although the drive shaft on the PTO side has a zerk lube fitting on it... it does no good to use it as the bearing is a sealed unit with no way for the grease to get in....this is different than in previous years where there was a small hole for the grease to get in.
If you have a few seasons or more than 2000 miles on ANY year PRO Chassis sled... I highly recommend that you replace all of the sealed driveline bearings... This means all four bearings on the Quick drive equipped 2013-2015 PRO RMK's and the two sealed bearings on the PTO side jackshaft/driveshaft for the chaincase equipped sleds.... This is just good maint and keeps you riding rather than wrenching.
FROM THE FIRST POST IN THIS THREAD... FOR EASY VIEWING.
HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF A 2013 PTO-SIDE DRIVESHAFT/BEARING THAT HAS TAKEN A DIVE..
.
REAR SUSPENSION (AKA "SKID") MAINTENANCE.
In the stock PRO-RMK/RMK suspension there are NO bushings in the stock front or rear swing arms/scissor...other than the ones in the shock eyes.
There are just bare aluminum cross-shafts in the bare steel tubes of the scissors. With just grease to lubricate them.
As you use the sled...the grease gets pushed around in the tube and you loose a lot of the all important lubrication... and get metal to metal grinding.
This happens really quick, and you need to keep up the maintenance in this important area.
I've seen some of those shafts go less than a season before being worn out... and others... with greasing every 2-3 rides last since they got their 2011 PRO RMK.
Also... a worn shaft will "bell mouth" the end of the tube it slides in if let go too far... It will also not allow the suspension to work as it should
The owners manual says to do this every 500 miles... BUT... If you want your sled to last, I recommend that you do it MUCH more often than that... say every 3 rides or so... and hit every grease fitting on it.
One other thing that makes greasing easier...
Keep a dedicated grease gun with the grease just for this purpose... Besides a pneumatic comercial or cordless battery-powered grease gun... I'm a big fan of the quality/price of the Lincoln PISTOL GRIP grease guns... This allows you to hold the chuck onto the zerk-fitting and use the other hand to pump the grease.
Also useful... after pumping grease into all of the fittings... cycle the rear suspension up and down a few times and grease it again...then wipe off any of the squeeze out.
http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Lubrication-1134-Pistol-Grease/dp/B0002NYDZ8
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Line-80402-Synthetic-Grease/dp/B000CPAEJA
Also, on the 2011 & 2012 PRO RMK's and the 2011 - 2015 standard RMK's (those with a chaincase as opposed to a quick drive)... Although the drive shaft on the PTO side has a zerk lube fitting on it... it does no good to use it as the bearing is a sealed unit with no way for the grease to get in....this is different than in previous years where there was a small hole for the grease to get in.
If you have a few seasons or more than 2000 miles on ANY year PRO Chassis sled... I highly recommend that you replace all of the sealed driveline bearings... This means all four bearings on the Quick drive equipped 2013-2015 PRO RMK's and the two sealed bearings on the PTO side jackshaft/driveshaft for the chaincase equipped sleds.... This is just good maint and keeps you riding rather than wrenching.
FROM THE FIRST POST IN THIS THREAD... FOR EASY VIEWING.
mountainhorse:
If you want your PRO RMK to work smoothly, function reliably.. and not cost you big money to replace parts that wore out prematurely... Grease the sled and do it often..
Greasing also pushes out old worn out grease, moisture and debris caused by wear.
DO NOT use normal axle greases... especially not the blue " Waterproof Boat Trailer grease".. that stuff gets way to thick at lower temps that typical mountain sleds see.... this will cause the suspension to perform poorly.
The stock suspension on the PRO RMK is great, but it does NOT have any bushings in it...so normal use moves the grease around in the suspension and you have direct steel-on-aluminum contact... frequent greasing will keep the sled working smoothly and keep it from wearing out too soon.
You would not believe the difference in the "seat of the pants feel" of the sled between a poorly lubed one and one that is lubed and set up properly. HUGE!!
Sure it will "work" if you neglect it... but it won't work well/smoothly... Proper transfer and bump absorption of the suspension relies on the suspension moving freely with no "tight" spots.
Get a good DEDICATED grease gun and keep only high quality, synthetic grease in there for this purpose... a Pistol grip, rather than a pump-arm type of gun works better (pneumatic or cordless is best/easiest)... with a long hose and a quality grease gun chuck at the end work best... the pistol grip allows you to hold the hose end on the fitting with one hand and pump the grease with the other.
I use RedLine CV-2 EXCLUSIVELY on my sleds for grease...It is priced well, you can get it from NAPA, Summit Racing, or other Redline dealers.
Other acceptable grease is Mobile 1 synthetic and the low temp greases that the sled mfgs offer specifically for these applications.
Grease the suspension often...every few rides... if you want the sled to work well.
End of the season or 1500 miles, whichever comes first... pull the rear suspension out of the sled... remove all of the cross shafts, clean out the bores of the tubes in the suspension arms... check the shafts for wear, replace if necessary and re-grease using this grease.
YES... PULL IT OUT OF THE SLED... It's easier than you think!
This is definitely worth the effort!
In addition, pull the ski off... grease the sleeve-bushing and bolt into the spindle. Some people even put in a grease fitting on the spindle.
Other points are the drive shaft bearing on the PTO side, I like to grease the A-arm pivots too to keep it smooth and low-wear.
On the pro.. to keep the sled working well... pull the steering post and drag link bushings... lube them with the CV-2 (or similar) and you will see smoother steering action... especially when you have to use a lot of effort.
.
HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF A 2013 PTO-SIDE DRIVESHAFT/BEARING THAT HAS TAKEN A DIVE..
.
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V
volcano buster
Well-known member
I pulled the skid out of my '10 IQ prior to last season to do a once over. MH is correct that the aluminum cross bars take a beating if they don't see regular grease. I also popped the side covers on all bogey/idler wheels and cleaned and regreased these bearings. Pretty surprising how nasty they look and feel in a short time. Hard to imagine how these little bearings feel when spinning at 60 mph.
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S
SU27
Well-known member
Today I have disassembled the skid for powder coating, and bought 2 new NTN 6205 bearings for upper wheels, and 4 NTN 6004 bearings for rear and side wheels. Then, using brake cleaner, I washed out all the grease from these new bearings, and replaced with most expensive, rated to -40 Celsius Castrol grease. I used your formula, man.
All together: 36 dollars for bearings, 15 dollars for grease. 1 hr of cleaning wife`s electronic food scale - priceless.
BUMP for Chris and Dave.
Lube em up!!
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Lube em up!!
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I just pulled and serviced a rear skid of a 2014 PRO for a riding buddy last night.
Wish I had a camera.
The two upper shafts were worn out and all the shafts were all mucked up with old grease and aluminum oxide (abrasive as heck) dust. This sled is is trailered in an enclosed trailer and only has 1500 miles on it.
IMO, STRONGLY... If you have a sled that has a season of use on it or more... PULL THE SKID!
Take it apart... Clean it REALLY well...Replace shafts that are worn... assemble with liberal SYNTHETIC GREASE and re-grease on the sled...
PUMP IT TILL GREASE COMES OUT BOTH ENDS (LOTS OF IT) ... WIPE IT UP...BOUNCE ON THE SLED A BIT... THEN PUMP/WIPE AGAIN OR MORE ....DONE.
Grease the rear suspension multiple times during the season, let the grease flow liberally, and you'll be happier with the performance of your sled.
.
Wish I had a camera.
The two upper shafts were worn out and all the shafts were all mucked up with old grease and aluminum oxide (abrasive as heck) dust. This sled is is trailered in an enclosed trailer and only has 1500 miles on it.
IMO, STRONGLY... If you have a sled that has a season of use on it or more... PULL THE SKID!
Take it apart... Clean it REALLY well...Replace shafts that are worn... assemble with liberal SYNTHETIC GREASE and re-grease on the sled...
PUMP IT TILL GREASE COMES OUT BOTH ENDS (LOTS OF IT) ... WIPE IT UP...BOUNCE ON THE SLED A BIT... THEN PUMP/WIPE AGAIN OR MORE ....DONE.
Grease the rear suspension multiple times during the season, let the grease flow liberally, and you'll be happier with the performance of your sled.
.
If you have the blue stuff in there... I Really recommend that you pull the skid and clean it... it's difficult to get it all out by pumping it up.. plus you'll still have a lot of aluminum gunk left in there. The blue stuff is designed to be 'gummy'.
Pulling a skid is easy... and If you have a season on your pro... great time to send in the shocks for service (Specify synthetic shock oil and not the factory walker mineral oil)....
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Haven't removed a skid in years but taking it out was fairly easy, putting back in was a bit tougher though. Used a strap to help me align bolt holes. Anyway the shafts looked ok, front upper shaft had some wear on it and weird black on it that would not come off. Threw some redline grease on both and pumped more grease in after putting them back in and pretty smooth. I don't recommend doing this in the back of your truck lol I have no where else to do it unfortunately.
i've never pulled a skid out of a sled before. are there any writeups, tips/tricks to doing it?
Nothing special...
Suspend the rear of the sled off the floor, loosen the rear idler wheel axle all the way.
Remove the bolts on the tunnel and drop brackets that hold in the suspension and slide the skid out.
Great time to replace hifaxes as well.
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Suspend the rear of the sled off the floor, loosen the rear idler wheel axle all the way.
Remove the bolts on the tunnel and drop brackets that hold in the suspension and slide the skid out.
Great time to replace hifaxes as well.
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Not in my experience... not possible to pump it all out...Plus the thick "muck" that is formed by the abrasive aluminum-oxide etc really doesn't want to move when pumping in new grease.
Best to pull it all apart as part of your pre-season.
Our sleds are more of a high-strung race machine than your daily driver Chevy Truck or Honda Civic... and you need to look at maintenance in that way if you want it to give you the performance you expect from a high performance machine.
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