Trying to Fully Understand why a Belt Drive.

[j.janke]

Hi All,

I am just trying to fully wrap my head around all of the benefits of switching to a belt drive from a chain. I know one main one is the weight loss, about 12 lbs if you keep an oil tank. But what other main benefits are there that make it worth the 1500 CAD$ to do? Seems like a ton of people are doing it and ive been meaning to ask this for a while now. Also, what are your opinions over which kit is better? TKI or C3? Any information you guys have is greatly appreciated!!

 

[bgraff1]

-lose weight
-if you gernade a chain your probably going to be buying a new chain, sprockets and both chaincase halves plus be out a weekend of riding (worse if you just travelled 8hrs for it)
-gernade a belt, just install a new on-simple
-less rotating mass = more power to the ground
-dont have to worry about the ****ty cat auto tensioner piling up
-looks aweseom?!

as far as which on is better i cant comment, i only have experience with the C3. ive seen them on stock, turbo 950's, 300hp 1100T's and no issues at all. my buddy was part of the testing for them so ive seen them from prototype to finished product

 

[Brutus]

C3 belt drive on my 925rkt. Oil delete also. Saved huge weight much less maintenance. Performance??? Well.... I didn't go backwards. Also never have to worry now about an oil pump failure or forgetting to reconnect the pump arm etc.... Heard good things about tki also. If you can swing the $$ I'd recommend doing both belt drive and oil delete. Good luck

Bru

 

[bgraff1]

agree on oil delete. its super cheap and easy way of losing more weight. been deleted on mine since pretty much new. as brutus stated there are much less things to worry about. plus the sled runs better (i found) having a consistant oil mix, i dont think the oil inj is that accurate on the sleds

 

[jbusch]

I have the tki and the oil delete. My sled is a lot lighter and much snappier. The tki was easy to install. I did the oil delete almost right away as well. Such a better way to go. I have had pistons go south because of the injector so I will always run a delete on a cat

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

 

[j.janke]

C3 belt drive on my 925rkt. Oil delete also. Saved huge weight much less maintenance. Performance??? Well.... I didn't go backwards. Also never have to worry now about an oil pump failure or forgetting to reconnect the pump arm etc.... Heard good things about tki also. If you can swing the $$ I'd recommend doing both belt drive and oil delete. Good luck

Bru

Thanks alot for the knowledge. What does deleting the oil entail? Other than mixing oil with fuel each tank?

 

[j.janke]

agree on oil delete. its super cheap and easy way of losing more weight. been deleted on mine since pretty much new. as brutus stated there are much less things to worry about. plus the sled runs better (i found) having a consistant oil mix, i dont think the oil inj is that accurate on the sleds

I cant fully explain except the oil delete kinda makes me worry. I know a ton of you are doing it i just dont fully feel good doing that. Seems like you all think its the way to go though.

 

[Brutus]

J,

Here's a link to some old threads lots of info on this if you run a search. I have a tapped zerk so the water pump is lubricated thru a tube that extends up and out for easy access. I hit it twice a year with grease to ensure those parts remain lubricated. I've heard others not doing that step at all.

http://www.snowest.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-239416.html

Bru

 

[Rinker]

I'm sure i will get flamed by some on here but this is my take on your question. Just my opinion.

I have done the oil delete on my 12 and thought mixing oil was a major pain in the ***. For me those days were over after i got rid of my 80 Ski-Doo 5500 Blizzard. I couldn't tell much for performance gain- if any. You do lose some weight by not carrying around the oil in the tank. The actual cat oil tank is really not that heavy, so you aren't saving much weight there.

I also did the belt drive on my 14 cat. I kept the oil tank because i didn't want to mix oil. I really couldn't tell a lot for performance gain due to the belt drive. Again, the cat chain case, gears, and oil tank don't weigh as much as people claim. Sure there is weight savings there, but I would rather spend my money on other things like hood, can, seat, etc. that can drop some weight for less money.

That being said, i am keeping the stock chaincase and oil tank on the new 16. BDX hood and HPS can are on the way, so i still have extra cash for other goodies- compared to buying a belt drive for $900-1100 (depending on the brand).

I have been riding for around 30 years and have broken one chain in my life. It didn't grenade the chaincase or ruin the gears- just had to replace my chain. Again, i am sure there are others that had worse case scenarios, but this was my situation.

 

[WyoBoy1000]

Belt drive with oil tank full is 7lbs weight loss.

Benefit s
Drop weight
Less rotating mass
Most need regeared anyway

 

[summ8rmk]

They are cool! To be cool, u must have one!
I have seen 3 broken chains, all ended up jammed up under the bottom gear locking up the track.
Put on a new chain with some new oil and ride . No broken cases. All sleds had more than 2,000 miles on the chains.

 

[0neoldfart]

Depends on your mods...

For me, the belt drive adds piece of mind that I won't be stranded in the backcountry. On my turbo M1100, the OEM chain was junk in 500 miles. Although I lost reverse going to the belt drive, I wouldn't go back to a chain unless it was a hyvo setup - the C3 belt drive on the 1100T has been bulletproof for the past two seasons, certainly stronger then the OEM junk. If your sled is bone stock, you likely don't need it. Personally I liked the design and having the ability to gear up or down, so all three sleds have a C3 drive now (285hp M1100T, 925 M800, and wife's ProRMK with a 660 kit). All of them have been rock solid over the past two seasons, and I feel that they spool quicker (might be a placebo effect)... Although I carry a spare belt with them, I've never used one yet - most belt drive failures are caused by improper tensioning of the belt.

 

[Mt Valley Machine]

Belt Drive

As stated above...Full of fluids our system sheds 12 lbs. Weight loss is a small part of the equation though. The performance gain is almost unbelievable. They say for each pound of rotating mass that you you lose it is like gaining 2 horsepower. This is a super smooth utilization on power. With power gains through out the whole power band. I have spent 5 hrs in the backcountry waiting for buddies to go out and get me a new chain!! With our system you can change a belt in less than 10 minutes and no more broken cases!! We have a sled with 2000 miles on it with our system with no issues.
http://mountainvalleymachine.com/lightweight-drive-system/
http://www.snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=397228

 

[CO 2.0]

They are cool! To be cool, u must have one!
I have seen 3 broken chains, all ended up jammed up under the bottom gear locking up the track.
Put on a new chain with some new oil and ride . No broken cases. All sleds had more than 2,000 miles on the chains.

Were these silent chains/gears or hyvo?

 

[summ8rmk]

Sorry for any confusion, my previous post was not about proclimbs but factory chains in general.
I have not experienced broken chains on proclimbs.

 

[Frostbite]

Wait a minute....did I hear oneoldfart say you lose reverse when you put on a belt drive system? That's the first I had heard of that!

That may be a game changer for me! I typically back my sled out of the shop and carry my sled in the bed of my truck when I ride with my buddies and use reverse to take it out. The last sled I had to drag out of the truck was my RX-1M and I must say, it was no fun. I don't intend to go back to that again!

If that's the case, I may be shifting gears a bit (no pun intended) and maybe get a lightweight chain case cover and smaller plastic oil reservoir to save a few pounds. I may have to lose those pounds via a Mountain Fix hood and intake?

Is there a belt drive system that allows a sled to keep reverse?

 

[kiliki]

on the m8 you will still have rev as it is the engine doing this. on the 1100 it takes place in the gears so they loose it.

 

[ReaperMotorsports]

1100 motors do not turn backwards for reverse there for that why they lose reverse. 800s still retain the reverse

 

[arctic2009]

Wait a minute....did I hear oneoldfart say you lose reverse when you put on a belt drive system? That's the first I had heard of that!

That may be a game changer for me! I typically back my sled out of the shop and carry my sled in the bed of my truck when I ride with my buddies and use reverse to take it out. The last sled I had to drag out of the truck was my RX-1M and I must say, it was no fun. I don't intend to go back to that again!

If that's the case, I may be shifting gears a bit (no pun intended) and maybe get a lightweight chain case cover and smaller plastic oil reservoir to save a few pounds. I may have to lose those pounds via a Mountain Fix hood and intake?

Is there a belt drive system that allows a sled to keep reverse?

your sled has engine reverse... a belt drive won't effect that... its 4 stroke sleds that use a reverse chain case...........

 

[Frostbite]

Good to hear! OK, I'm climbing out of the tree now and a belt drive is back on the consideration list.