I keep blowing up clutch bell bearings

[emu67]

Hey, what gives?? I have a Mayhem and I've been blowing clutchbell bearings everytime I run it. So, I'll get about 7 tankfulls before the bearing is so gone that it starts to grab and will stall my car. Anybody else have this problem; what's the

 

[vbgagnon]

I would make sure your engine is exactly straight. I had that problem in my hyper. I would also take and blow out all the grease in the bearing. What happens most often is that the grease from the bearing gets onto the clutch shoes and causes it to slip. When this happens it creates heat and kills the bearings.

 

[bill61]

Maybe check your shimming also. If it is shimmed too tight then it will be putting a heavy load on the bearings and blowing them. In case you don't know put a piece of paper between the gears as you tighten down your motor and that should shim the gears perfect.

 

[Plaidfish]

when you mount it...can you spin it freely...like let it spin for a few seconds??
you need it to be that free....and straight like VB said....if it's angled at all you are creating a bind....that creates heat and you know th erest.....

CB bearings don't last very long to begin with....If I get 1/2 gallon on a set I'm happy...sometimes I get more sometimes less.....

 

[CorradoPsi]

i always clean the extra grease out of my bearings with an air compressor. when i setup a CB i shim it so it has about .010"-.015" of end play. make sure your motor is straight and your gear mesh is good. make sure your clutch doesn't slip under race conditions. what springs and shoes do you use? how old are they?

at this point id recommend a new CB because of how fast your going through bearings. sometimes when they get overheated they warp and can cause uneven stresses on the bearing. this wears out any bearing fast, no matter how well you set everything up.

 

[GGASMAN]

i have a mayhem to, but i took mine apart yesterday to clean it up and notice the CB had a little wobble in it. so i took it apart and the front bearing was held together by the washers, but the rear bearing was fine. i am going to change the bell and both bearings cause i have almost a gallon thru it.my motor was always straight and spun freely so i figure its just one of those things that wears out. my son races it so you have to expect some parts to wear out.

 

[emu67]

Hey thanks for the suggestions. I think I do need to change the clutch bell; it has gotten worn where the bearing fits in; the bearings are really loose in the recess in the CB. I'll check the gear mesh and the engine alignment too. Silly me....I should check on my clutch springs; didn't replace those for the last 2 gallons or so. Oops.

Thanks!

 

[Plaidfish]

yeah after 2 gallons and no maintenance just change the whole thing...CB springs shoes bearings......you got a lot of time from your setup w/o doing maintenance.....

 

[olds97_lss]

What size are your bearings? How many teeth does your bell have?

Some buggies run a small 5x8 flanged bearing whereas you can normally find a bell that will hold a 5x10 bearing. The 5x8 bearing will fry a lot quicker than the 5x10.

 

[emu67]

It uses the 5X10 bearing; 14 tooth