Important comments on belt tension and alignment from lessons learned

    Sorry for the fast talking (got me out of breath :) ) but I wanted to keep the video as short and sweet as possible.


    Even though this is not a detailed how to video it will give you a very good perspective on the procedures for tension and alignment of the belt and my lessons learned.


    I cannot stress enough how important it is to get a hold of the manual for your own DIY maintenance on the SS. You can buy it direct from Polaris for about $200. That said, I will easily earn that cost back within a couple of years. I suspect at least an hour of labor costs when going to a polaris dealership for this full procedure. The nice thing about the manual is it removes all mysteries with regards to how the machine is built/intended to work (increasing your confidence as you work on it) and also there is some interesting commentary from the mechanics viewpoint relating to customers and how they report problems.


    I am pleased to report after finally getting this process nailed that my belt is whisper quiet now during all types of driving.


    Note: .4 inches is what I mean when I am saying ".4" in the video


    https://youtu.be/mtQoTK7vkoQ

    Quote from Bigdog

    That was a very nice informational video..


    I like things that tell you how and why you should or should not do certain things....and the results of said actions...

    Yeah, probably the biggest step that I did not know about until I got the manual was after loosening all the required bolts to slack the belt you then re-torque the big 30mm bolt to max torque then immediately loosen it again. This is a positional reset of the swing-arm shaft and if you miss this step then chances are the belt will not be aligned correctly after you finally torque the bolts to check the belt tension and you get to do the whole 25 step process all over again as per the manual notes. This is why you need the manual.

    neostar can you repost your video above please. The youtube says it is not available anymore. Thank you!

    We’ll get there when we get there and not a minute before. 😎

    I'm not a mechanical engineer but I've never been a fan of single sided swingarms. It seems almost impossible to distribute the stresses equally, especially with that much torque placed on rear wheel. The fore/aft, side to side stresses placed on the belt must always be changing placing the "sweet" spot for desirable level of operation in a very narrow range. When I first purchased my slingshot it was very noisy, but after the 5,000 break in it quieted down dramatically. Luckily for mine it's at a acceptable level that it's really not noticeable 98% of the time.

    The belt lubrication that I ordered will be here on Friday. Perhaps it’s one of those fixtures where you just turn up the radio and ignore the noise under the hood. Everything seems to work just fine and there is no belt damage or wear on either side of the belt so before I grab the wrenches or my wallet I’m going to try and squirt and see what happens.🙂

    We’ll get there when we get there and not a minute before. 😎