Hey all, I was able to finally get up to Mancelona and do some riding on the VMax this weekend. Sled ran and handled extremely well all day long until later in the evening. After we ate dinner we hopped back on the trails and I started to hear a really loud howling sound that was consistent with the track rotating.
That would be the best way to describe the sound, it sounds like a really Really Loud track howling sound, but I feel that the noise is coming more from the driveshaft area/jack shaft area.
It's Loud and it howls louder then the Motor!! That's what alerted me to the issue. I thought that it was related to the terrain but in packed/groomed snow or deep powder and everything I between, there was no difference. Figured the track was loose, but it was fine and I did actually loosen it up a little bit because lots of the guys in our sled group just felt and said my track was too tight. So I loosened it up a tad with no difference in results. I inspected the entire skid (sc4) and everything looked fine.
Odd thing is that the sled still rode excellent. Wasn't slowing down like something dragging or anything when I let off the throttle, no resistance in the throttle on takeoff either. Sled runs and rides Great, but now it's just freaking me out because I just worry about breaking down trails ode somewhere 300 miles from home.....
Anybody ever expierience this? Do you thing that a bad driveshaft or jack shaft bearings could the culprit and causing the noise? Chaincase maybe? I have no idea..... I've gotta tear it apart and figure it out, I was hoping that maybe someone could describe what the symptoms of a bad jack shaft/ drive clog bearing is like. Or maybe someone has encountered this before and it turned out to be something else?
Any input is appreciated, I will report back with my findings when I actually tear it down and start poking around. Was thinking someone could help and point me in the right direction. Like I said, I suspect a driveshaft bearing or something in that area, because when it was howling, I leaned forward to see if the noise was louder up front and it seemed like it was louder up front...
I just gotta tear it down and see what I find. Any input is appreciated.
Thanks.
That would be the best way to describe the sound, it sounds like a really Really Loud track howling sound, but I feel that the noise is coming more from the driveshaft area/jack shaft area.
It's Loud and it howls louder then the Motor!! That's what alerted me to the issue. I thought that it was related to the terrain but in packed/groomed snow or deep powder and everything I between, there was no difference. Figured the track was loose, but it was fine and I did actually loosen it up a little bit because lots of the guys in our sled group just felt and said my track was too tight. So I loosened it up a tad with no difference in results. I inspected the entire skid (sc4) and everything looked fine.
Odd thing is that the sled still rode excellent. Wasn't slowing down like something dragging or anything when I let off the throttle, no resistance in the throttle on takeoff either. Sled runs and rides Great, but now it's just freaking me out because I just worry about breaking down trails ode somewhere 300 miles from home.....
Anybody ever expierience this? Do you thing that a bad driveshaft or jack shaft bearings could the culprit and causing the noise? Chaincase maybe? I have no idea..... I've gotta tear it apart and figure it out, I was hoping that maybe someone could describe what the symptoms of a bad jack shaft/ drive clog bearing is like. Or maybe someone has encountered this before and it turned out to be something else?
Any input is appreciated, I will report back with my findings when I actually tear it down and start poking around. Was thinking someone could help and point me in the right direction. Like I said, I suspect a driveshaft bearing or something in that area, because when it was howling, I leaned forward to see if the noise was louder up front and it seemed like it was louder up front...
I just gotta tear it down and see what I find. Any input is appreciated.
Thanks.
Throttle Junkie35
New member
Bad bearing or ice build up in the tunnel. Sounds like an ice issue to me though.
Last edited:
roudyroy1
Active member
check that axle shaft bearing under the secondary. every year mine is full of water so i repack it, seen a few fail and it gets loud and you can feel it in your left foot.
A couple of bucks
VIP Member
Throw a 60 watt trouble light up in the tunnel tonight. Let it melt everything off. Make your decision after everything is melted away.
I finally got the motivation and tore it all apart. I figured that it would be good preventative maintainence to go ahead and replace all the bearings in the drive train and it's inexpensive to do. Anyways, I got it all torn down, chain case removed, left side driveshaft and jack shaft bearings removed. I inspected them and the strange thing is that they all seem to be in really good shape... No dead spots or grinding. They all roll very smooth and don't have any lateral movement.. So I'm stumped as to what the howling sound is. While I got it all apart, I'm also gonna inspect the driveshaft and the track and look for any signs of rubbing or anything out of the ordinary. But I just wanted to report back and say that so far, the bearings all seem fine but I think I should replace them anyway since I've got it all torn apart. Thanks for all the suggestions at to what could be the issue. I'll keep you posted as to what I find after I look over everything really well.
I guess a question that I have is, should I remove the long tunnel protectors that run beneath the seat? Are they really necessary or just make more potential for ice/snow buildup and make the track rub if oversized?
I guess a question that I have is, should I remove the long tunnel protectors that run beneath the seat? Are they really necessary or just make more potential for ice/snow buildup and make the track rub if oversized?