1996 Venture TRW - First sleds (2) need help on front suspension and clutch

[UT_Grandpa]

I bought two 1996 Venture TRW (Vt480trw) sleds. The first sleds I have owned. I have cleaned them up, rebuilt one seat (Raccoons ate it), put new plugs in it, rebuilt one sled's carbs (one cylinder was dead), changed light bulbs, rear stoplight lens, replaced a missing exhaust manifold bolt, put new belts on them, fixed grip warmers (wire was not connected), drained the tank and replaced the fuel filters. These sleds have about 2700 miles on them.

I have two problems still to fix: The primary clutch does not engage until the engine is about 5400 RPM and then it goes almost all the way in (belt not on when doing this). The rollers move freely but might have worn out bushings, they spin but it seems like some slop on the bolts. I am having a terrible time finding the correct clutch puller for these sleds. Most pullers stop at 1995. Any idea what puller to buy?

The second problem is that only one bolt out of the 12 on the front suspension arms (between the ski and the top of the strut) will come out. The bolts seem seized to the bushings. I have sprayed them with penetrating oil and the bushings will twist with the bolt now but I can't drive the bolts out from the bushings on all but one joint. Any ideas how to get the bolts out so I can grease the bushings or should I just keep them lubed with penetrating oil?

Thanks for the patience with this newbee. The snow never came this winter but I want to get them ready for next winter should it return to a normal year. The grandkids love getting pulled up the sledding hill and it is tons easier than dragging them up the hill by hand.

 

[PZ 1]

Run them with the belt on and the track elevated. What you are seeing is probably normal operation without a belt.

With the bolts, as long as you have the time now, keep spraying them periodically and give it time. The oil may eventually soak in and free them up.

 

[YooperWoods]

You can use the water trick to get the primary off. Get a bolt that fits into the end of the clutch, I think it's M18 x 1.?. Wrap the threads in teflon tape, tip the seld on its right side, fill the center of the clutch with water and thread the bolt in. As you crank the bolt in it builds hydraulic pressure and will pop the clutch right off. It will freak you out the first time when it pops. It does work very well and I've pulled clutches like this that wouldn't budge with a standard puller. There's probably some youtube vids on it.

 

[Maim]

if it is the 485 twin venture, it is supposed to engage at 2900 rpm by spec from Yamaha and top out at 6800rpm on grass/snow. probably needs a new primary spring and all the shafts polished with a scotchbrite pad. the rollers should roll on the pins without wobbling or moving up and down.

 

[UT_Grandpa]

Thanks for the quick response to my questions. I plan to pull the clutches and clean and measure the dimensions on weights, rollers, bushings, etc. My thought is that something is gummed up that takes a lot of centrifugal force to get things moving. The good thing is I have 8 months to get them running. My thought on the stuck bolts on the arms is to keep soaking them with penetrating oil and then maybe getting a press to push them out. tapping on them certainly doesn't work and I don't want to hit them hard and mess up the rest of the suspension.