Moving on up

RockSmasher

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Gentlemen, I am moving from a 13 Summit XM 154" 800 with a DJI clutch kit and TKI belt drive to a 24 Expert Turbo. I'm wondering if anyone has tried a belt drive on these Gen 5s? The difference was night and day on my 13, so I have to assume it would be similar on these new animals. Or is a guy better off leaving it stock with the TKI driveshaft fix? Thanks in advance and I can't wait for next season.
 

greenthumb

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Well, be prepared for a big change going from an XM to G5T!
Personally, I'd wait until they come out to see what parts MY24 has and take it for a ride before worrying about it.
 
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Dawizman

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Ran a belt drive on my last cat. I think the difference was all mental. Shaved a bit of weight from the sled and my wallet, and left me changing many belts and getting towed down the trail once.

At this point in life it's (mostly) stock for me. And really the gen5 turbo doesn't need much of anything.
 

Mountainman52

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Gentlemen, I am moving from a 13 Summit XM 154" 800 with a DJI clutch kit and TKI belt drive to a 24 Expert Turbo. I'm wondering if anyone has tried a belt drive on these Gen 5s? The difference was night and day on my 13, so I have to assume it would be similar on these new animals. Or is a guy better off leaving it stock with the TKI driveshaft fix? Thanks in advance and I can't wait for next season.
I would install them in the new sled cause the Skidoo Chain cases explode.........
 

Caper11

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I would wait to see what changes to the 24 chaincase first. BRP has already said there will be changes. What they are is kinda unknown yet.


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tmo1620

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Ran a belt drive on my last cat. I think the difference was all mental. Shaved a bit of weight from the sled and my wallet, and left me changing many belts and getting towed down the trail once.

At this point in life it's (mostly) stock for me. And really the gen5 turbo doesn't need much of anything.

You must of either had improper tension or don’t let the belt get warmed up before you giver, I put over 3000 miles on my previous belt drive on an 18 mountain cat , and have a 1000 miles on current belt drive alpha turbo with 200 hp. Never blown a belt and barely even have seen any signs of wear. They definitely give more snap off the line, lose weight, nicer oil tank, and no oil changes or worry of smashing the drop and roll chain case.


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Dawizman

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You must of either had improper tension or don’t let the belt get warmed up before you giver, I put over 3000 miles on my previous belt drive on an 18 mountain cat , and have a 1000 miles on current belt drive alpha turbo with 200 hp. Never blown a belt and barely even have seen any signs of wear. They definitely give more snap off the line, lose weight, nicer oil tank, and no oil changes or worry of smashing the drop and roll chain case.


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Several of the belts were due to a jackshaft bearing according to the manufacturer. The last one had 600km on it after that repair with constant tension checks.

As for the more snap of the line. I think it's mostly in your head. Show me empirical evidence, and I might buy it. But losing a little bit of rotational mass from a system that's spinning a 50+lb track to push several hundred pounds of sled and rider, I just don't think it makes that much difference. I think it's the $1000 out of the wallet that makes a guy think it's gotta be better.
 

tmo1620

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Several of the belts were due to a jackshaft bearing according to the manufacturer. The last one had 600km on it after that repair with constant tension checks.

As for the more snap of the line. I think it's mostly in your head. Show me empirical evidence, and I might buy it. But losing a little bit of rotational mass from a system that's spinning a 50+lb track to push several hundred pounds of sled and rider, I just don't think it makes that much difference. I think it's the $1000 out of the wallet that makes a guy think it's gotta be better.

I could feel a difference in my 18 cat , mostly noticed it on harder pack type snow like trails and setup stuff.In deep powder there is no difference as far as I can tell due to the amount of spinning and digging already going on. As for price, what’s a $1000 these days , one day OT, cat chain case internals are suspect at best. By the time you upgrade gears and chain and take auto tensioner out to put manual one in and then swap to light oil tank that you can see in and not overflow oil daily on it’s not much extra. Belts can handle way more power than a chain and don’t destroy other things when they snap. To each their own though


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