Gearing, tires ... belt & Variator ...
So, finally gave the old girl her first extended ride session today. about an hour of pretty steady "mixed bag" running. There isn't really anything i can do with the gearing on it because of the size limits of the differential housing. While I'm happy with the low end the engine produces and what seems to be it's top speed, i think the 31 T sprocket with the Rubicon 22 inch tall tires are putting too much strain on the belt when starting off or going up steep or really rough terrain. I don't want to drop back to a shorter tire, because there isn't much clearance for the diff housing.
After one "vigorous" pass through the little gulley that saw the buggy stopped and revving/spinning the rear tires to force the front end up a really steep face on a diagonal, the CVT belt completely disintegrated about 30 seconds later while running at full speed on the flats.
Thankfully, my house is right across the street, so i pushed it into the shade and installed a new belt.
The 4 little air intake holes were pretty well dusted shut, but i don't think the lack of airflow was the only reason the belt went. The belt was brand new but for the test runs i've done, the biggest piece left of it was maybe 3 inches long and the cording was completely wrapped around the clutch. Hardest part of a "field replacement" was the fact that the variator spacer was hot and on the shaft pretty tightly. Tapped it from behind and gently pressure walked it off the shaft from the rear with a couple open end wrenches.
Presently it has 14 g rollers and what is likely the stock clutch setup. Any recommendations on the easiest way to take some of the strain off the belt in low speed situations? Not looking for more top end speed or to even really make it quicker off the line (real easy to catch a tree in my latest ride area--it's that tight) though the latter is what it kind of needs to resolve the issue.
All along I've also been thinking about running an extension off the intake neck up to about shoulder level on the rear frame with a shop vac accessory end on it (the thin, wide floor sweeper fitting). Just wondering if there would be enough pull off the variator fan to make it work.
TIA for any suggestions.
After work i may be able to put up a quickie vid of the gulley followed by the belt going. vid file's been converting for the past hour or so ....
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