When you replaced your angle drive, did you also replace the rear pulley and belt? After replacing my angle drive, keeping the original belt and rear pulley, every time I attempt to get the belt to track just inside the rear pulley flange, the belt moves almost all the way to the outside to the point that I get a whine on acceleration or constant speed. Don't want to replace the rear pulley and belt since that's money I could save for a quad kit if I can't get the darned belt to track where it should. I put over 60K miles on my Slingshot with the original angle drive and never once had to adjust the tracking. Any words of wisdom that will let me get the belt to track properly?
Question for folks who replaced their angle drive
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I would be willing to bet that by now you are becoming sorry that you even started messing with the angle drive and belt adjustment? I certainly was becoming frustrated after just playing with the belt adjustment and found myself cussing myself out for not leaving it well enough alone!
Right off the top, I really do not think that replacing the rear pulley and/or belt will be helpful. Can the angle drive be mounted "incorrectly", (crooked?), causing the belt not to track correctly?
Otherwise, just to mention again, after extended and tedious trial and error, on our SlingShot for initial tracking there is now no gap on the inside between the belt and the flange.After the fact, the thought being that as soon as power is applied the belt automatically moves away from the flange. And if there is any rubbing on the inside flange on deceleration, it appears not to be creating any issues. I also have come to the conclusion that a belt adjusted too loosely tends to wander across the rear pulley more to where I have found that keeping the belt near the Polaris spec of .63" cold has proven to work the best, (I actually used 0.70 inches so to make an easier reference.)
Again, I would still suggest patience, sooner or later you are going to stumble upon that "sweet spot" that works best with your SlingShot!
Bill
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Right off the top, I really do not think that replacing the rear pulley and/or belt will be helpful. Can the angle drive be mounted "incorrectly", (crooked?), causing the belt not to track correctly?
Otherwise, just to mention again, after extended and tedious trial and error, on our SlingShot for initial tracking there is now no gap on the inside between the belt and the flange.After the fact, the thought being that as soon as power is applied the belt automatically moves away from the flange. And if there is any rubbing on the inside flange on deceleration, it appears not to be creating any issues. I also have come to the conclusion that a belt adjusted too loosely tends to wander across the rear pulley more to where I have found that keeping the belt near the Polaris spec of .63" cold has proven to work the best, (I actually used 0.70 inches so to make an easier reference.)
Bill
It would take some fame damage to cause the angle drive to be off. The angle drive is bolted to a mount that is basically part of the frame, so I really don't think my problem lies there. The Service Manual states that when replacing a damaged belt, both pulleys should also be replaced. Since my belt wasn't damaged, I didn't think it would be necessary to replace both pulleys, too, but after 10+ alignment tries, I started wondering.
Since I was also concerned about bearing damage being associated with a too-tight belt and having seen where some owners have been running as loose as 1" tension, I set my tension a little looser than spec, around 3/4-7/8" instead of the .63" (just barely over 5/8") tension called for in the Service Manual. Now that you mentioned it, I seem to recall reading something about belt travel due to not enough belt tension,but I had hoped that my tension setting wasn't sever enough to cause problems. Another reason I was running a little looser tension was after installing the new angle drive, I couldn't seem to get my tension looser than about 1/2" and I was concerned about possible damage to the bearings. I finally reduced the tension by loosening the angle drive mounting bolts and using a strap around the front of the angle drive so I could physically shift the angle drive closer to the swing-arm before readjusting the tension and alignment. I guess I'll try resetting the tension closer to spec when I get up tomorrow. It sure would be nice to get this resolved. Hopefully, your post may help resolve my problem. Thanks.
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Oh, not to be too obnoxious about this point for I am sure you have already done this, but just to assure that a dirty belt is not your issue, make sure that you have scrubbed that belt down good assuring that it is clean.Looking back, I must have spent many an extra hour adjusting our belt when I am thinking a simple scrubbing is all that it really needed.
Bill
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No problem. Some folks posted about cleaning my belt, but I have never had any problem with belt noise before I replaced than angle drive. Each time I've realigned the belt to track closer to the inside, after each test ride the belt has moved almost all the way to the outside and the noise I hear only occurs under acceleration or at constant speed. The Service Manual states that noise under acceleration or when cruising is an indicator of the belt being too far outside.
Hopefully, resetting my belt tension to as close as I can get to spec will fix me right up. If it doesn't, I'll definitely try cleaning the pulleys and belt.
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the noise I hear only occurs under acceleration or at constant speed.
Drove me friggin'NUTS!!
Brought it back to the dealer a few times to address it while under warranty.
Finally, The Mother Ship authorized the dealer to install 2 new pulleys and belt.
Has not made a peep since.
Even after the angle drive replacement.
(I know this doesn't help, but I sincerely felt your frustration!!)
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My belt was way too tight from the factory. I have mine set at .70 in. cold and riding closer to the inside edge of the rear sprocket. Now I can carry on a normal conversation at all speeds and no longer feel the need make excuses about the noise to any passenger. So much better! My initial frustration went back to overtightening the pivot shaft nut when making the adjustment. It took a few rides to get it to settle but once set it has stayed true.
I tried standing in the passenger side and bouncing to allow swingarm movement and thought about somehow using a tie-down strap to allow movement for the belt to loosen If it could be accomplished without damage? I never needed to get to that point.
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Here is an alternate theory about adjusting the drive belt:
[QUOTE="Bill from Hahn RaceCraft, post: 924186, member: 1284"]
What's interesting about the alignment adjustment is that it is literally designed to flex the chassis to affect the position/angle of the angle drive. The chassis casting in that region is intended to allow this flex via its large openings.
Loosening the swingarm pivot nut allows one to turn the big 22mm Allen in (clockwise) which flexes the chassis on the right until the belt tracks to the left side of the pulley. Of course, the large swingarm pivot nut on the right side must be loosened first to afford this adjustment, then tightened afterwards to 190 foot lbs.
Sometimes a fair amount of force is required to get the angularity needed. This adjustment is best done with the rear wheel off the ground so one can spin the rear wheel and assess the adjustment and its resultant belt alignment.
Bear in mind that as you perform this adjustment, belt tension is also affected. The farther you turn the big Allen in, the tighter the belt will get. Are you familiar with the actual belt tension adjustment and how to perform it?
[/QUOTE]
Bill
