conquest front shaft stripped

[rosed]

so this weekend the snow was gone, and i found it really hard to manouver the argo due to the supertracks on soggy ground, until finally while being stuburn trying to turn, i heard something grind, so I removed all the floor panels, everything looked fine, took it for a ride and found the front right shaft, all the teeth worn right off the sprocket! has anyone had this happen before?

Ed

[Rock Doctor]

Hi ed,

This is going to be hard to say, without implying that you (or possibly the previous owner) has been lax in the maintenance department. No insult intended, but with the limited info you have provided, it sounds like the sprocket was allowed to wear out to the point where the sprocket teeth became very worn on the leading faces. This causes the sprocket teeth to become weak, and also causes the chain to stretch/wear. Eventually this condition will cause the chain to ride up on the teeth when under heavy load. As the chain rides up on the weakened teeth the tips of the teeth can break off or roll over, allowing the chain to skip/grind over the sprocket.

It could also be possible that the original sprocket was replaced with an aftermarket sprocket. One that was possibly designed for less load than the original.
If you could provide pics of the failed sprocket, as well as the opposite side sprocket, maybe we can pin this down for you.

More info would be nice:
Yr of machine
Hrs on machine
Hrs on chains
Hrs on sprockets
Riding conditions (very dusty/gritty?)
Type of chain lube
Hrs between chain lube aplications
Type of chain

PS, even with Supertracks, you should not have to get too "Stuborn" with turning. You might want to look into getting your clutches serviced. Also, if you are going to be running Supertracks in anything other than snow, you might want to consider shimming the Primary clutch spring and tightening the Secondary clutch spring to increase Spring tensions. This will have a couple effects, 1st) it will hold your Primary back a little (Keeping you in a lower gear longer {slower upshift}) 2nd) it will help the clutches shift down into a lower ratio in a shorter distance/time {Faster downshift}

Hope this helps

RD

[nody]

Hey Rosed, sounds like Rock Doc really knows about argo.
I've seen this on an 87 my bro. has. The previous owner welded
the axel and sprocket together!!! I suspect seized bearings and
maybe a hardened bolt or something instead of a sheer pin.
Keep original parts and good alignment and you should be fine.
let us know what it was, its rare.

[rosed]

thanks for the reply guys,
and i don't take offense to being accused of lack of maintenance, because I know I should spend more time on it than i do.
I haven't taken it apart yet, just saw it under the battery box, but as far as info on the machine:

2005 conquest, bought it brand new, about 150 hrs on it, i do lube the chains whenever I feel they need it,but of course i neglect the ones i can't reach, like this particular one, and the idler chains because i don't want to get residue on the rotors so i guess i m now paying the price for being lazy.

Ed

[rosed]

that's a one piece sprocket and shaft. $130. ouch!:

[Roger S]

When I got my Response new, I saw what was under the floorboards, and it was dollar signs, in big denominations. I keep that stuff cleaned and lubed.

[rosed]

look, Mom, no teeth!

Changed the idler shaft yesterday, Wow! that was quite the job, here is a pic of the shaft, notice the double sproket on the left, no teeth left!

Keep those chains lubed kids!!

[Rock Doctor]

Glad to see it's working out for you.

How does the sprocket on the front axle shaft look?

[rosed]

the front Sproket looks fine, I was surprised to see that the damage was just on the shaft, I'm guessing it's because of it's one piece design, and the material is softer than the actual sprockets.