New on the Scene

[kg885]

Hello All, I have been hiding out on this site for a while now. I finally pulled the trigger on a cart. Being a Yamaha faithful, it was an easy choice!

My first post addresses the most beaten-into-the-ground topic: the torque spring. I will primarily be using this thing to get down to the lake and back. We usually have some coolers, and gas, nothing too crazy. I have seen a lot of good feed back from guys using the CPP spring and spacer. On the other hand, it's been nothing but good reviews on the Plowman's kit. I have yet to see a comparison or breakdown on if it's worth the extra $120 for the Plowman's kit with the new secondary sheave. Has anyone ever seen a side-by-side on the two solutions?

Is it worth it, or just get the spring and call it a day?

The cart is a 99 G16 with 10x22s and lift kit. The rest is pretty much stock.

Thanks for your input
Kevin

[DOOmsman]

Does your cart have a lot of wear, are the clutches in better than fair shape?
If worn, the package deal is the best.

[kg885]

Good point. I am not opposed to having a spare belt, for that matter. What should I look for? Would the surfaces feel worn, or what?

[sho305]

The aluminum sheaves will get dished out in the center from belt wear, eventually they will wear holes through and cut the belt up....after getting a nasty vibration. If you look at the steel half it will be nice and straight down to the center like half a perfect V. The alum side will look just a little like a U instead, a little- you may have to use a straight edge to see it. Anyway that screws up how it shifts too when it gets worn.

I put a cut sheave on a stock cart, stock spring, it seems to have a lower gear to it. But now we put a 16hp in that cart and its near unstoppable on take off, yet it does not take off hard with the stock clutch. But you can stop on a hill and it just goes like nothing. With my stock cart I stretched the spring some and ground the ramps at the end, this let it rev more at low speed. I could pull my boat out of the lake then. It pulled hard long as it was moving, but stopped it could still bog. 22 tires, G9.

[dyork8]

Glad you opened up this topic today. I'm new as well. I have a 99 G16 that we pulled apart this summer, painted, lifted, and put tires/wheels and a back seat on (I'll try to get some pics posted soon.) I too use it to run up and down a pretty good hill to our dock on the lake. All summer I've had to park it sideways on the hill as it won't get started headed straight up the hill. Once I get it going it will go on up it.

I ordered a new spring and belt which I plan on installing this weekend. I've read and reviewed the pics in the sticky which were very helpful but I have one lingering question: what's keeping the outer sheave from flying off in my face when I'm trying to get the old spring out? Is the old spring not nearly as stiff as the new one? Given that I'll need a rachet strap to compress the new spring so that i can start the nut on the outer sheave, I'm curious about getting the old one off.

[sho305]

The old spring is easy, just leave the nut on part way and pop it loose. You can let it fly off it does not go that far. You can put them on by hand. The power springs are maybe twice as strong or more, you can't put them on by hand, they will fly across the room. They are actually comet primary springs and not made for secondaries. That is why the snap ring will break, the nuts can strip, they are so hard to put together. But they work, I just choose not to use one and mod the system other ways. The real solution is a primary with a spring in it. However, if you spring primary up it can jerk on takeoff and still can burn the belt. CVT are not good at initial takeoffs, though at this power level its not that big a deal, and really it is because you can't adjust it. It is a good idea to run a cut secondary sheave, the lower gear helps to get it 'in gear' faster. You also need to get the belt as low in the primary as you can without it dragging, to get low gears on takeoff. This is an issue with yamaha clutches that don't open at rest. Mine will when I lube it, after a while it drags on the belt and I lube it again.

People really need to realize other issues here too; a lot of carts been run a long time with no care. You need to clean and lube both clutches and make sure they are in good condition and the belt properly adjusted and not worn out, engine mounts are good, tension cable is right if it has one, etc, and they work pretty good. I think a lot of people's problems are because they were never serviced, but I have no idea I just know mine works much better when I clean and lube it. Another issue is if the engine gets weak, that changes everything the clutches will not shift the same with less power.

A really cheezy thing I thought of doing was putting a widow washer tank in there out of a car, point the nozzle at the primary belt. LOL, hey it takes off great after I wash the engine and get water on the clutch. But my engine is tired and I will be replacing it soon. When I got the cart I set the clutch up and it had great pulling power, now it does not, it is slower. Dropped a 16hp in anther G9 sister to mine and it is not stoppable. Given its twice the power, but the rpm go right up a lot faster than with the stock engine, its because the power pulls them up. With two people on it sitting on a steep hill, it just bolts up the hill with good rpm. Mine used to do that but took a couple seconds to get enough rpm, now it has a hard time doing it because its weak and you can't adjust the clutch really.

[kg885]

Great info, thanks! It sounds to me like the one from CPP is a replacement to a worn sheave. I can't tell if the Plowman's is one is cut, or just an OEM-type replacement. I guess it all comes down to the condition of my existing sheave. If it looks okay, I'll probably just do the spring and spacer route and see what happens.

[Mike Mac]

Good lookin car, and welcome to the sight!!
I got a new belt just to have a new one on, because I didn't know how old the existing one was, and I didn't want to be stranded out somewhere with a broken belt. I strapped the old one on the car for a back-up. You can see it in this picture.Replaced the starter belt also.