Drive belt wear and other tidbits about the belt

It's from the belt being too loose. Just noticed it on mine a couple of weeks ago and tightened it

Till it felt tighter. No real measurement. My ass end was sitting at 7" and the front was 5. I adjusted the shock down to lower the rear to 5.5. I checked the belt and it was tighter and not rubbing anymore. One day soon I'll do it the right way with a 10lb weight.

It was duly noted. Sometimes, it’s almost just TOO easy & you let it go...

Mine is doing the same thing. My belt is within specs. My thought is that when I changed to aftermarket shocks it allowed the swingarm to drop lower when the vehicle "unloads" going over a bump. The wear on mine is being caused by a weld on the underside of the belt.

The weld is where mine rubbed also

Quote from KayTwo

I will have to go check that out today when I adjust the belt tension. Where is this weld?

A large bump

The belt should track hard to the left on both sprockets as viewed from the rear (toward the inside). There should be no contact anywhere on the right side of the belt.

I agree with @Street Doc , tighter is the right idea. Doesn't have to be perfect.

Unless something catastrophic, like a failed angle drive which took my belt out with it, the belt should last the life of the rig. Belts are a mature technology, and dead nuts reliable.

Quote from ethermion

The belt should track hard to the left on both sprockets as viewed from the rear (toward the inside). There should be no contact anywhere on the right side of the belt.

I agree with @Street Doc , tighter is the right idea. Doesn't have to be perfect.

Unless something catastrophic, like a failed angle drive which took my belt out with it, the belt should last the life of the rig. Belts are a mature technology, and dead nuts reliable.

Not quite hard left. I believe the manual states there should be a very slight gap between the belt and left side

Quote from KayTwo

@Street Doc, other than the jack, what tools did you need for belt adjustment?

Just my spanner wrenches for the QA1s. I'm on the back half of a double and won't have access to my manual until tomorrow, but there is a link to a video on how to do it, somewhere in this forum. You'll need a rather large socket, don't recall the size, but bigger than most tool kits have, and a breaker bar.

Quote from Street Doc

Not quite hard left. I believe the manual states there should be a very slight gap between the belt and left side

You are 100% correct. Sorry if I was not as precise as I could have been. My awesome dealer, and Polaris would completely agree with you.

Sam Owens drive belt videos:

https://youtu.be/6thLoVlkwkQ

Part 2:

https://youtu.be/6D6gf5OLDVk

“Tighter” is not correct. The Polaris spec of 0.63” cold is just too tight; also, the belt gets even tighter as it heats up. This puts undue strain on the cheesy rear axle needle bearing. Too loose is not good either - can jump a tooth under hard acceleration (& boy, you’ll know it if THAT happens!). I run mine at 1” cold & have had zero issues. JMHO...

Quote from Tripod

“Tighter” is not correct. The Polaris spec of 0.63” cold is just too tight; also, the belt gets even tighter as it heats up. This puts undue strain on the cheesy rear axle needle bearing. Too loose is not good either - can jump a tooth under hard acceleration (& boy, you’ll know it if THAT happens!). I run mine at 1” cold & have had zero issues. JMHO...

I have never even checked mine, cleaned it 3 times that is all. Maybe I need to see how much slack is in it since the swing arm change