RX1 Clutch Alignment....Fixed or Floating????
Think about your secondary clutch and how it aligns with your primary.
Traditionally, Yamaha has installed there secondary to be "self aligning". While
it makes sense, does it actually work? hmmmm.
The engine in the RX-1 is a solid mounted engine, meaning it cant move laterally
towards the secondary drive shaft under acceleration loads. The idea of a
"floating secondary" is that the driven clutch will move inwards or outwards on
the drive shaft to compensate when the PTO side of the engine moves rearward
under acceleration loads. That’s a mouthful. However, think about that a minute.
If your engine doesn’t move, why on god’s earth do you need slop in your
secondary? To allow for larger tolerances at assembly time? To make it less
labor intensive for the dealer? My guess is both. Ski-Doo, Cat, and now Polaris
all use "Locked" secondary and they have engines that do move because of the
rubber in the motor mounts. With the installation of a good engine tensioner,
you can run a locked secondary on any sled. Racers have been doing if for years,
and now it’s trickling into the manufacturers. The Key is to make sure your
alignment is absolutely perfect. Ill cover that in a bit. This has been bugging
me for sometime, so I researched it further. I talked to many racers, dealers,
and manufacturers and wrote a letter to Snow Tech and got a response from "Dear
Ralph" in their first issue of 03/04. He agreed with this theory and mentioned
there’s a reason certain manufacturers and now running "Locked Secondary".
For those of you completely lost, go lift the hood of your sled, put both hands
on the secondary clutch and push in, now pull out. Notice it Moves? That’s
"Float".
Yamaha uses a splined jackshaft and the inside of the secondary is also a
splined. The fit is excellent, however in theory, it would be impossible for a
clutch to "self align" under hard acceleration and hard brake loads. There is
too much side pressure on the jackshaft to allow the secondary to move. So why
do you need it? And why is Yamaha the only company to still "float" there
secondary? hmmmmmm, Now on to the steps to properly align your clutches and to
insure better belt life and better performance.
The Correct way:
1. Remove the Drive belt and Secondary
2. Add appx 2-40 thous thick shims to the Jackshaft. Reinstall Secondary making
sure youve tightened the 14 MM bolt.
3. Using an offset tool check to make sure the offset is 15MM from the back of
the secondary to the back of the primary. If not, remove secondary and add or
subtract shims until the offset is perfect.
4. Reinstall secondary and belt and your done. This will lock your secondary
into place and will not allow it to move on the shaft.
Alternate way:
1. Remove the Drive belt
2. Get a 18" piece of steel straight edge (or mechanics ruler), make sure its
straight.
3. Open up the sheaves on the secondary and slide the straight edge all the way
down to the bottom of the sheaves.
4. Let the secondary close so it pinches the straight edge making sure the other
end is resting on the center primary bushing.
5. Take a look at where the straight edge comes to rest in the primary.
6. You want it perfectly centered on the shiny part (where the belt rubs)
7. To move the straight edge outwards, Take the secondary off and add shims
until you get the straight edge to come to rest perfectly centered in the
primary. Usually about .040 to .080 are how far they are off.
In conclusion, you can do whatever you wish with your clutches. But if you want
longer lasting belts, cooler running clutches, and better performing sleds, you
may want to try this.
BlueByYou2000
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