- if you look
at the clutch on your Arctic Cat, have you noticed how the cover
bushing barely captures the end of the main shaft of the primary
clutch? The bolt that holds the primary clutch to the
crankshaft is recessed
down into the primary - we assume this is for clearance on the new
sleds with their tight body panels. But this leaves the clutch
cover and its bushing with very little contact and support on the
main shaft!!!
The bushing isn't very tall inside the clutch cover.
Now consider that there is a full 0.40" of bushing that is unsupported
(that's almost a half inch!) and you start to realize where we're going
with this. There's only about 0.10" of bushing support to begin
with!
It is right at engagement with the belt that the
cover needs the most support to keep it from cocking and binding.
Sure, there is another bushing down at the bottom in the movable sheave,
but that's at the bottom. The top is left with little support.
This might work fine with a new bushing, but as it wears the support is
going to do nothing but head south. Maybe this explains why it is
so common to find worn bushings on the rollers and flyweights?
Now when we add big power engines, things like
150-160 HP 800 twins, 1000 cc twin's, and 1100cc Turbo-charged
four-strokes the need for as much support and alignment becomes even
more critical. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to realize the
benefit from adding support to this area.
That's where Thunder Products comes in. They
have developed a knack over the years for identifying bolt-on solutions
to fix or improve upon mass-produced parts on our snowmobiles.
Like we stated above, it is most likely this way from the factory
because of how tight the "skinny mini" Firecat was in this area, and the
new sleds continue to be really tight for clearance here.
Here's the fix; the ABC kit (Additional Bearing
Contact). It consists of a "bearing extension" insert (that
extends the primary main shaft to fully support the cover bushing), a
longer clutch bolt, and while we're at it you get a threaded sheave
adjuster on the end of the extension so you can set the movable sheave
position (and drive belt side clearance) without having to take apart
the clutch! Even if you discount the bushing support argument, you
know full well how much you need an external side clearance adjuster!
Installation is stupid easy. Remove the stock
clutch bolt. Install the ABC shaft extension. Install and
torque the new clutch bolt. If equipped, loosen the locking set
screw on the adjuster, set the adjuster for the proper belt side
clearance, tighten the locking set screw, go ride.
Every Arctic Cat Mountain sled needs this, period.
Every 800, 1000, 1100 needs this, period. All Arctic Cats will
experience longer clutch component life through better movable to fixed
sheave alignment and smoother shifting. You will get more life out
of your drive belts. Instead of having to take apart the clutch
and deal with spacing shims (and run the risk of wrecking the clutch
during disassembly due to all of the Red Loctite in there) you can
adjust the sheaves with the external adjuster. If you ride an
Arctic Cat, you know why you should have this on your sled.

The quality of the kit's components are well
designed, no cheap parts here. The longer clutch bolt is
high-grade alloy steel. The bearing extension is melonited for
lubricity and hardness. The whole kit adds only 0.30" to the
overall clutch width, as most of it fits down inside the cover bushing.
The ABC Kit with the external adjuster sells for $99
or $120 depending on your model.
Contact Thunder Products at 320-597-2700 or
www.thunderproducts.com to
get yours today.