It is rare these days when a mfg will work with you on developing a new product for a specific custom task that you are trying to pull off.
Last season, when I wanted to run the 153" Power Claw 90 duro HCR track on my Dragon... I found that I had issues that I could not reconcile with what was then availble for drivers (see this thread for more details CLICK HERE)
I contacted Robbie, owner of Avid products, and had a good long chat with him about what I needed. He was game to work with me on some prototype drivers and make a set for my application...
What I didn't know when working with Robbie on the design was how much better they work/fit with ALL the different tracks and not only the Power Claws.
Well, as it turned out, the end product is overall better in design and use... for all pitch tracks.... Plus the 7 tooth (unique size avail from Avid) gave me the clearance I was looking for without the need to do a D&R.
They are available in 2.86" pitch 8-tooth, 3.0" pitch 7 & 8 tooth, and 2.52" pitch 8 & 9 tooth. Not listed on the website yet... you will have to call.
After we developed these... Brad Story has been using them in his turbo builds last season with great results.
Here are a Few pics of the new design avid drivers
The best thing about these drivers is that they turn more smoothly on the track than the standard Avid Combo Drivers do... 99% of the time only the track-belting and involute rubber nubs touching the drivers. the teeth only touch the clips when the track starts to ratchet... This is a big improvement IMO over the stock Polaris 3 driver arrangement, with that, when you do start to ratchet with a Stock Polaris driveshaft... you only have about 4 teeth of the center driver transferring all the power of the motor in the high load situation that caused the track to start to ratchet in the first place.. which is why you have to run the track super tight in some instances with the stock 3 driver setup.
Also, with these new AVID drivers... the drivers are not rotating on the clips...plastic to metal... with these they are plastic to rubber... just like the Arctic Cat M's and the Factory installed combo drivers on all the 2008+ IQ Race sleds. Much easier on the drivers when you have rubber on plastic! (This is why the factory M drivers turn more smoothly in the track.)
When running the previous style Avid Combo (or the Wahl "no-slip") drivers on any track... more vibration is felt compared to this new style... in my experience... especially magnified when the track is clipped every other window.
There is one more benefit to these drivers that I did not consider when first thinking about them...since this new design combo driver is not riding on top of the clips....which are approx 1/8" higher than the belting of the track... the involute teeth can seat more deeply between the involute nubs and have even less of a chance to slip/ratchet in the first place (just like a stock driver)... the extro teeth will be in contact with the clips less frequently... further reducing any vibration from the driveline.
IMO, if you are going to install Combo drivers... get this new style..they will turn more smoothly and give better performance.
Last season, when I wanted to run the 153" Power Claw 90 duro HCR track on my Dragon... I found that I had issues that I could not reconcile with what was then availble for drivers (see this thread for more details CLICK HERE)
I contacted Robbie, owner of Avid products, and had a good long chat with him about what I needed. He was game to work with me on some prototype drivers and make a set for my application...
What I didn't know when working with Robbie on the design was how much better they work/fit with ALL the different tracks and not only the Power Claws.
Well, as it turned out, the end product is overall better in design and use... for all pitch tracks.... Plus the 7 tooth (unique size avail from Avid) gave me the clearance I was looking for without the need to do a D&R.
They are available in 2.86" pitch 8-tooth, 3.0" pitch 7 & 8 tooth, and 2.52" pitch 8 & 9 tooth. Not listed on the website yet... you will have to call.
After we developed these... Brad Story has been using them in his turbo builds last season with great results.
Here are a Few pics of the new design avid drivers
The best thing about these drivers is that they turn more smoothly on the track than the standard Avid Combo Drivers do... 99% of the time only the track-belting and involute rubber nubs touching the drivers. the teeth only touch the clips when the track starts to ratchet... This is a big improvement IMO over the stock Polaris 3 driver arrangement, with that, when you do start to ratchet with a Stock Polaris driveshaft... you only have about 4 teeth of the center driver transferring all the power of the motor in the high load situation that caused the track to start to ratchet in the first place.. which is why you have to run the track super tight in some instances with the stock 3 driver setup.
Also, with these new AVID drivers... the drivers are not rotating on the clips...plastic to metal... with these they are plastic to rubber... just like the Arctic Cat M's and the Factory installed combo drivers on all the 2008+ IQ Race sleds. Much easier on the drivers when you have rubber on plastic! (This is why the factory M drivers turn more smoothly in the track.)
When running the previous style Avid Combo (or the Wahl "no-slip") drivers on any track... more vibration is felt compared to this new style... in my experience... especially magnified when the track is clipped every other window.
There is one more benefit to these drivers that I did not consider when first thinking about them...since this new design combo driver is not riding on top of the clips....which are approx 1/8" higher than the belting of the track... the involute teeth can seat more deeply between the involute nubs and have even less of a chance to slip/ratchet in the first place (just like a stock driver)... the extro teeth will be in contact with the clips less frequently... further reducing any vibration from the driveline.
IMO, if you are going to install Combo drivers... get this new style..they will turn more smoothly and give better performance.
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