Alright I just installed my first shift assist kit and it went well. What is a shift assist kit? Basically it's a roller bearing that replaces a washer underneath your secondary spring, the whole idea is to enhance shiftability and reduce spring bind.

Things you'll need before getting started:

-propane torch
-9\16ths deep socket or regular socket with extension
-torque wrench
-torx head and ratchet adaptor
-a long threaded bolt (12" should suffice but longer can't hurt) with nut\wing nut and 2 large face washers for either end (it's going to be a homemade clutch compressor)
-the deflection adjuster adaptor from your toolkit in the sled (three pronged metal adaptor in the kit)
-some patience

Here's some pics of the kit itself:


The kit says that there is a "thicker" washer and the order matter, mine didn't appear to have any thickness variations as seen here:

Step 1: Removing the Secondary

First start by removing your belt, this is easily done with a belt wrench, I won't go into detail on this as it's a common practice most should be familiar with, if unsure consult the users manual to your sled or ask around. Once the belt is off you're ready to pull the plastic "plug" in the middle of the clutch, use the adaptor seen in the picture below and slowly turn the peice out.

*WARNING!!!* this part is plastic so it may break or strip if horsed on in the dead of winter, try heating it with a hair dryer to smooth it's removal. It is also a REVERSE THREADED PART. Which means you need to turn it CLOCKWISE to unscrew it.

Removing the plastic adjuster




Ensure you don't lose the washers or O-ring(s) attached to it. Set it aside for now.


Next up remove the bolt holding the secondary to the DD itself. It is 9\16ths in size and is regular threaded.

Removing the hold down bolt



The secondary should now pull right off the splines of the DD with relative ease.

Pulling the secondary

Step 2: Disassembly of the secondary

The easiest way to access the spring inside, and the washer to be removed, is to open the secondary via the rear (engine\DD) side. You'll note on the rear is 9 torx head screws, these will be the biggest challenge of this job.

Torx head screws:



You'll need the long threaded bolt now to act as a compressor, the secondary is under alot of force via the spring inside. Run the bolt through the secondary and tighten it snugly with a washer on either end as seen below:

Secondary with homemade clutch compressor




With the compressor holding the compression it's time to heat and slowly remove those torx screws. This can be a real pain in the ass as the torx screws are known to strip, bend, and even snap off. To me they appeared to be some kind of aluminum alloy (soft metal) so I can see why this happens, not to mention there is blue locktite on them internally. Start by heating the head of the screw with a propane torch, try and hold the secondary above the torch flame with the screw facing down at the torch, head rises so this will ensure good penetration. I counted approximately a 10 second count per screw before I tried twisting them, some may need more time to loosen the locktite.

Torching the screws



Here's the secret I used to pulling these SOB's. Once heated there is NO WAY you are twisting these out properly with a screwdriver type torx unit. You need a small ratcher with the adaptor to get the leverage needed, period. Press firmly into the torx head and ensure the bit is the EXACT size, twist in very slow very short turns and release. You need to give the screw time to "recover", if you just ball off and turn it a full half turn it'll probably snap off. Turn it maybe an eighth of a turn at a time, release the tension, then repeat. It's slow but it works, if you try and do "long" turns that torque builds up in the shank of the screw and BANG it snaps off, it also heats it up from friction which leads to more "flex". I loosened all the bolts a bit at a time, just enough to get the head off the sheave, then onto the next. Once they were all loosened I slowly removed them all.

HELP I...

1)Stripped a head.
->Carefully drill the head out just enough to pop the head right off but leave the shank of the screw in tact. Once the rest are out you can head the "stub" left over and twist it out with TIGHTLY clamped vise grips.

2)Broke a head right off
->Remove the rest of the screws, remove the sheave, then heat the stub with a torch and twist it out with visegrips carefully. If there is no stub left you may need to drill it out and re-tap the hole.

3)Bent a screw
->Carefully try and twist the rest out and replace the screw.

If you don't feel comfortable with any of those repair methods just bring it to a shop (or a machine shop) and have them do it.

Work them out a bit at a time, then move to the next to give it a rest.


I lucked out huge (unlike me) and didn't snap or strip a single one on removal.

Once they are all loosened take a sharpie permanent marker and mark the sheaves in relation to each other, the cup in relation to the rear sheave, the spring cup to the relation of the front sheave, etc:








Now that it's all marked for re-assembly remove the torx screws (note the locktite):




Once the screws are all out the rear will pull off evenly:




Now begin loosening the compressor. You'll notice the front spring cup will begin pulling away, the mounts where the torx went into will begin sinking through as well and the rollers will guide it:




Uh oh the marks we made don't line up near the rollers, this is because it's following the grooved path, loosen it till it's about to come off and put a second mark to make life easier if you have to so you know the starting point on re-assembly:




Once all the spring pre-load is off the whole works will come apart nicely. You'll have a few "floating" parts that readily fall apart. The black washer, spring, and a white bushing that rides on the middle rod.

Step 3: Install the SA Kit


You'll notice a black plastic washer on the spring bottom. Remove it as the SA kit will be replacing this.




The kit comes with some white lithium grease, throw the first was in with a face of grease on it, work some grease into the roller bearing itself and put it ontop of that washer, then finally put some grease on the face of the second washer (both of these are metal, the black washer is now garbage) that will face against the roller bearing and make a shift assist kit sandwhich.






Step 4: Re-assembly

Once all the parts are back inside line up the "second marks" we made on the spring housing near the rollers and begin SLOWLY compressing our compressor. You'll have some trouble getting it all lined up at first. Turn the nut\wingnut until you feel resistance, DON'T force it. Take at look at the "legs" of the spring housing, they should all come accross the rollers at the same time and allow the rollers to ride up into the grooves. If they don't it'll bind and snag up on the roller. I tightened mine, felt it bind, found the leg that was caught and just squeezed it together with my hands until I felt it "pop" into it's guide and tighened the compressor a bit more until all was koscher. You can tell from the backside if it's going in right because those "legs" should come up to the inner clutch face at the same time as seen below:




If you don't trust the torx screws that came out replace them. Blue locktite them (you don't want a clutch coming apart at 100mph lol) but only do part of the bottom shank, there's no need to coat the whole bolt and make it near impossible to remove again. I can't find the torque value in my manual so someone may want to chime this one in, the part is not listed in there but it may be 5.5 ft\lbs but please call a dealer or if someone knows post up to confirm this. Make sure all the screws go in evenly, put them all in up to the last bit then in a criss-cross fashion begin torquing them in, crossing back and forth from side to side will ensure the plate is drawn in evenly without bind.

Now re-install the clutch onto the DD, replace the hold down bolt in the center, again my manual doesn't list the torque spec, if I find it I'll post up, if you're worried about it put a drop of locktite blue on it and twist it in, just don't horse the hell out of it with a breaker bar. Next up is the REVERSE threaded plastic adjuster. Turn it in counter clockwise, I always put some blue locktite on it to keep it from backing out. It's torque spec is 14 ft\lbs as listed in my book.

Hopefully this write-up helps some folks, if I missed anything major let me know. Thanks to all who answered my Q's while I pondered doing this job, you're help is appreciated!

You have one of the different secondarys.

What size is it and what are the sheave angles?

Was the extra holes in the gold ring bearing retainer on the inner sheave or did you have to drill them? Make dam sure that ring gets put back in there.

Watch your white deflection ajuster for cupping. I use the F6 up-dated one and it has a vent in it to vent the DDrive. Much stronger.

Blow your mind with the M1000 orange secondary spring.

My kit didn't come with any lithium grease. I ordered it last year but didn't install it, yet.

I haven't read anything before about lithium grease. I would think the grease would splatter all over and collect
belt dust. Anyone have any input/experience with the shift assist and lithium grease?

Thanks!
Todd

I don't see how it would hurt, I mean grease or not the bearing would collect belt dust since it is a moving part with gaps in it. The amount of grease in the tube was so small that even when assembled grease didn't squeeze out above the washer(s) so I think it'd be fine.


EDIT: For those interested the cap machine screws (9 torx head screws) were updated, most likely due to the originals being very soft\breakable metal. The updated PN according to the parts lookup on ac.com for 2006 XF's is 1623-517. I replaced mine with the updated ones because I didn't want to risk problems down the road with removing them nor did I want to snap one off re-installing them.

uaually, even the smallest amount of grease near the clutches cakes up real quick. thats why you are suppost to run dry molly for lubbing clutches arent you? I havent with the mine though.

when i picked mine up from canadian bearing, the guy at the counter told me needle roller thrust bearings will not need to be grease in simple compression and slight torsion situation. Only if it is a high speed constant rotation application.

I havent pulled mine apart since using it last year, but havent put too many miles on it either. Maybe i'll open mine up and see whats going on in there. No problems with it that i know of not using grease though


EDIT: GFUN, aren't i'm pretty sure the middle on the helix is for a dowel. On my 05 helix, the center hole isnt threaded like the 2 adjacent holes. Did you tap that center to accept a screw or did your 06 come tapped?

Good to know on the grease, I'm not too worried about it, it's fairly well protected and even if it did get some crud in it it'll still twist better than a squished washer hehe. All the holes on mine came tapped and screwed, this walkthrough was done on a secondary from a 2006 crossfire 700 no clutch mods, late build.

Both of my kits didnt come with grease either

I checked the bearings , there fine after about 1,500 miles - But i also dont think a little grease would hurt

The 05s came with six torx screws on the helix - On my Crossfires they came with nine screws - When i switched to Cats 50-38 helix on my Crossfire it only came threaded for six screws
Yes there were nine hole there , but only six were threaded - I only used six screws - A little blue locktite and i switched over to button head type allen screws - Those factory torx screws sucked big time - Now i see/Or last year they superceded those part numbers on the torx screws - Hopefully a better quality metal , and six are fine

One more thing i noticed on the sheaves for balancing - Each sheave has a DD symbol like a diamond - Those are your alignment marks - Some sheaves will have a index mark right next to that symbol or diamond , some not - All my secondaries i have had apart , those diamond symbols line up sheave to sheave for balancing

Thanks alot GFTN for a great post!

Bee and GFTN,

i didnt know that the 06's came with 9 torx screws like that. I drilled my 05 gold helix retainer to accept a dowel to better align the helix to the sheaves every time i took it apart. I cant remember what size dowel i used off the top of my head, but its a nice seated fit. I am supprised cat didnt dowel the center hole to be honest. i guess the 3 screws per helix arm was just to deal with breaking/ shearing screws and cheaper than dowels. I never had this problem, myself but have read about it. I just like how central the helix is when tightening everything up when doweled.

By the way, nice write up GFTN, just like the other ones you have done.

Fast the very first clutch I seen of these had dowel pins in there. They were 8mm pins. This is the optimum centering set up. You will center the helix perfect with the bearings as well as never shear them off.

I truly thing these were rushed to the shop and there is a few different versions of secondary set ups. Helix angles and spring rates are all the same but how the secondary came machined is different. Different sheave angles primary and secondary as well as now going back to the three post primary on the F8's.

I realy think there is a really good reason for the slow pro sleds.

Good info, interesting the small differences found in sled parts as the build year goes on. I'm sure it'll line up nicely as long as I put all the screws back in and slowly criss-cross tighten them so the clutch seats properly, I temporarily re-assembled it in the garage but am waiting on the newer screws to come in before I both torquing and locktiting it back together. Glad you guys enjoyed the write-up, hopefully it gets stickied because it's always nice to have pics and info when tearing into something like this for the first time, I wish I had a write-up before I did mine, luckily though everything went smoothly

YOu will see the play that is in there.

you got your "shift assist" from a bearing store? if so what are the p/n's or specs i was thinking of doing the same

Very nice directions, I'm actually lookin at gettin one for my Firekitty

the only thing you forgot to mention which I think is important is to take a wire brush and clean the old loctite from the bolts and take a thread chaser or a tap and run it in and out to clean the threads in the helix and get all that old loctite out. just my thoughts.
pretty good write up.

Great post and thanks for the details!

I bought mine from http://www.2koolperformance.ca/sled_werx/index.htm#power for 19.95$. I think it may be hard to find a bearing with the exact thickness, circumference, etc by chance. I bet you could have one fabbed up but for 20$ for DD's it'd be crazy to do that.




Killerff-> yeah I forgot to mention that, scrub the screws (or replace em with the updated ones like I'm doing) and scrub the threads of the holes too. I like to heat the holes up (melts the locktite) then stick a small metal pipecleaner in there to scrub.

Thanks for the post. I am about to install an RKT Secondary and was nervous with his very limited instructions and it being my first attempt at clutching. This will remove a lot of the guesswork in removing the secondary.

Thanks,
G

yah, but at the time, a D&D shift assist was like $35 up here. I think i payed $11.50 for mine last year so its not a huge savings to get it yourself not they are $20, but i would have to check out the #'s again. I'm dont really want to step on toes around here since the guys you would have to buy it from are paying sponsors on the this site.

After everything I have read about the DD secondary...and after talking to D&D, Goodwins and a few other shops at the sled show last weekend...I have come to the unproven but hopefully uncontroversial opinion that the DD secondary (and probably the DD unit itself) SUCKS! What a disaster. The 'old-school' cat secondary works like a charm and is SO frickin' easy to work on...why did they get rid of it? I am really seriously looking at Supreme Tool's Tuner Secondary...I just can't hardly bear the thought of smoked clutches, belts and aggravation when I'm 10 miles into the swamps of the UP. I am used to putting 1,500 miles on a 900 with lots of powder riding and very little belt wear...but what I've seen on my X/F with 350 miles in terms of belt wear and dust is nothing short of ridiculous.

We shall see what the wallet says and what Supreme says they can do.

Great write up, makes me want to order one of those and put it my new sled.

Probably a dumb question but I have to ask as I haven't done much on clutch work, how do these help?

Keeps the secondary spring from binding ,and rubbing the helix ,like a ball point spring inside a pen,(it is a compression type of action ,rather than a torsional or twist movement like the older Cat drivens).In theory ,it would enhance the efficiancy of the unit. In the field ,for whatever reason,it seems to lower running rpm's by 100 or so. Cooler metal and belts are noticed , at least by me.
Seems to have a been a ideal band aid solution to a less than ideal engineering excercise.

Maybe some of these horror stories you have are from a badly setup secondary. My DD is perfect, the alignment was good, top end was good, low end was good, some binding on backshift but that's what the SA kit was for, and I put over 3000 miles (almost 4k if I remember right) on my sled, hard miles, trail breaking miles, speed run miles, double riding myself (285lbs) and my brother (255lbs) with a trailer (350lbs loaded) through fresh powder for 140km round trip, and only changed my belt once last year, and the belt was still fine, I just thought I'd change it out because of the beatings it took. <shrugs>

Awesome Post. What are the torque settings for the torx screws and 9/16 bolt? Did you find out? I got new screws from the dealer but forgot to ask the torque amounts. Looking at re-assembling tonight since we are going sledding this weekend in Golden, BC. Woo Hoo!!

In my manual it says "refer to the end of the chapter for torque specs" and the closest thing I can find to the torque specs is this:

Movable Sheave (ACT) ft-lb 5.5

5.5 ft\lbs sounds right for such a small screw and nothing else comes close to matching the name of those screws in the parts listing with the torque specs so I'm about 95% sure it's right, make sure to locktite them to be safe though.

As for the secondary I think I found it in the list as

Driven Pulley* (ACT) ft-lb 32

hth


Too bad my torque wrench only goes down to 25ft\lbs. Guess it's time to either eyeball it or buy another Twrench.

most torque wrenches wont go that low anyways... you would have to get one of those needle pointer ones

Get an inch/lbs ratchet, they come in 3/8 and 1/4 drive, just covert the foot lbs to inch and you're set.

There might be some out there that are 1/2 but in this case with such a small item you might just want to go with the 1/4 drive.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. I bought my 1\2" t-wrench years ago because I do mainly large work and automotive work where you rarely see any torque under 25ft\lbs. I guess it's time to buy a 1\4" in lbs one and do the conversion. There's always reasons to buy more tools lol.

Fellas, (and gals) I have an 06 CF7 std and I installed the shift assist. I did not remove the secondary. As one mentioned earlier, I think this DD secondary has come in a number of versions. I simiply removed plastic deflection adjuster (replaced with Fett Bros) and then the three outer plate screws which enclose the plastic spring adjuster. Then removed the spring adjuster, then the spring, the the black plastic washer. Then put in the Shift assist, (mine did not come with grease either - D&D I think) so I used Rem lube w/ teflon on it, just a shot, then wiped the excess off. Shift assist comes w. two metal washers sandwiching the bearing.

placed spring back in, rides on the metal washer. then reinstalled plastic spring tensioner. (tricky) have to compress onto spring and carfully thread and not cross thread. Finally line up holes and install three screw holding outer plate (blue loctite).

Took about 30 mins.

Again, when I remove the plastic deflection adjuster, the bolt holding on the secondary is inside. I left it alone.

my two cents, klr

sure, you can do that too, but i is a little easier to pull the clutch right out and disassemble the clutch from the back. Also, there is no risk of cross threading that plastic adjuster when reassembling it while trying to compress the spring and line the up the threads

Hmmmm, leave the clutch on and risk "maybe" cross threading the plastic adjuster. Or, pull clutch off, heat up all 9 torx screws, risk snapping them, total disassembly of clutch, need a clutch holder/retainer for disassembly/reassembly...?

I think I'll risk the plastic adjuster....

Just yank'in your chain a little...

you hurt my feeling HAHAHA I just prefer doing it from the back. i hated threading it, and compressing the spring. the adjuster is a little sloppy, at least on mine and i have always had a hard time getting it seated. I think i have also had mine apart 10 or so times testing and tuning and cleaning and i just find it easier the other way. To each their own

I posted in another thread when Guyfromthenorth was asking the same thing , front or rear - That didnt sound good , anyways

It might be attainable from the front using the stock factory green spring

But you start throwing these Goodwin springs or DD racing or even Cats orange secondary spring in there , spring rates and even the length are a huge difference

Take a looksy

I think at any rate, front or rear, you risk breaking parts, but won't break any if you take your time and do it carefully. I do however think it's actually MORE work trying to do it while it's still on the sled. I mean if you pulled the deflection adjuster anyways you're only 1 9\16ths bolt away from easily taking it off the DD itself and working on a bench on level ground face side up. It just seems to me it would be alot more of a challenge to try and do this while it's still on the sled considering even a 5yr old could undo the 1 bolt holding it on. <shrugs>

I INSTALLED A SHIFT ASSIST ON MY CF AND REPLACED MY BOLTS WITH STAINLES STEEL SOCKET HEAD CAP SCREWS.ALOT STRONGER AND EASIER TO GET IN AND OUT. THEY DO STICK OUT A LITTLE FURTHER, SO MY QUESTION IS, IF I ONLY LEAVE 1 .060 SHIM BEHIDE THE SECONDARY WILL THE BOLTS HIT THE DIAMOND DRIVE CASE?? ON A SIDE NOTE, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TO LOCTITE THE PLASTIC ADJUSTER WITH THE SHIFT ASSIST IMO, I HAVEN'T AND MINE DOESNT MOVE.

A side note to those installing the kit. I fired the sled up yesterday and took it for a rip, the shift assist definitelty improved the throttle response once rolling, there isn't this weird loading up lag before the rpms pick up anymore. However I noticed at idle that I now had a squeel. The squeel came from the primary rubbing on the belt, apparently the SA kit has altered the belt deflection causing the belt to pull against the primary making a squeel. To fix this you just need to pull a shim off the plastic adjuster to loosen the secondary bite allowing a bit more slack.

FYI just got my shift assist yesterday. It is now a one piece unit instead of a bearing/washer sandwich.

Thought I would add this pics.

Here is a new clutch with the factory Torx replaced with 10/24 x 1.25 hardened Allen head bolts. I have since these pics were taken, counter bored each hole down about 100thou to recess the head a bit to eliminate any chance of them hitting the DD case.

If some of you don't get over to the 07 F-series forum to read what happened to my secondary I will post a link. Hopefully it will keep someone else from having the same horrible luck as I did.
http://www.hardcoresledder.com/forums/inde...=286498&hl=

I will try and snap some photo's of the recessed bolts in the near future and add to this post.

F&F

Last night I pulled the secondary off and brought it in the house. I set it on a magizine I did not care about. Remove the 3 front screws, remove the white spring tensioner carefully, and pulled the spring out. Popped the plastic washer out and installed the shift assist. Put the stock green spring in place and carefully with my hands screwed the white plastic tensioner in place. Reinstalled the side cover, clutch, clutch cover, and side panel. Whole job took 15 mins, in my slippers. Thanks klr.

Key words in your post are "stock green spring" anyone running the orange spring will have a bitch of a time doing the Shift Assist install via your method.

F&F

i ordered the 9 updated screws for the secondary (from Arctic Cat) and they look like the same damn ones that were in there originally.
anybody else notice this, or are the screws actually harder metal than the last?

opinions....

I agree.

I ordered a shift assist as well GREAT POST GFTN pics are worth a thousand words good job. Did taking a shim off the white adjuster fix you belt squeel??? Would like to know if anyone else had to take a shim off ???

Fixed it in an instant. I think maybe my belt was just relaxed from sitting all summer too. It was the first time the belt was put on since last season. I took a shim out and the squeal was gone. About 500mi later I added the shim back in to see if everything "worked into place" and no squeal. <shrugs>


About removing the white tensioner and doing the job from the front. That -is- do-able of course but I just hate removing any plastic threaded part that goes under load. It's just asking to pull the threads off of it. Now in the city that may not be an issue, getting another one, but here the nearest dealer is 200mi away so I'd be SOL without a sled to ride for a week or so, since we ride everyday that IS a long time lol. Worst case from the rear is you snap a bolt or strip it. I have a whole shop here so removing that bolt wouldn't be that much of an issue, and worst case I can bring it to the wreckers in town and have them throw it on the machines to extract it for me, alot easier than ordering AC parts from shifty dealers.

I just did the update tonight and I put heat on the back screws and still broke two bolts. No big deal cause I got 9 new ones with the black diamond adapter kit. If anybody is that worried about the plastic adjuster why not spend the 16 bucks and buy the aluminum adjuster.

Does anybody have the Black Diamond deflection/belt removal tool?? I just got it and I am having a hell of a time trying to get the sheaves to open using the tool. I do have the cat orange spring so maybe thats why it is so damn hard to open. thanks GFTN for the write up.