[outerlimit]

I have an '04 camo Grizzly that has 27" Outlaw Radial tires on it. Yesterday I installed a Dalton oversized tire clutch kit on my Grizzly, and there are both good points and bad points to the Dalton clutch kit. The engine revs higher everywhere, whether it be in high range or low range, and the Grizzly now turns the big heavy Outlaws very very easily, and can spin all four tires aggressively enough (in low-lock) to bury itself to the floorboards in no time at all. I also no longer need low range, except for the most extreme of conditions when I want to go slower than I can in high range, but for any normal trail or normal hillclimb the Grizzly will cruise through in high range easily. That is the good part, ... but the bad part is that acceleration is slower with the lighter clutch weights and lower gearing, and now my wife's stock Grizzly runs away from my Grizzly like I am sitting still.

So ... I have some questions:

What does the new secondary spring do? Does it only provide greater clamping force on the belt, so belt slippage is less likely? Or does it also effect shiftout, backshifting, and engine braking? What effect would I get from going back to the stock secondary spring, and combining that with the Dalton clutch weights in the primary clutch?

What effect would I get from keeping the Dalton secondary spring and going back to the heavier stock clutch weights in the primary clutch?

Can I mix and match clutch weights, with four of the weights being the heavier stock clutch weights, and the other four weights being the lighter Dalton clutch weights? I would need to keep the weights evenly distributed of course. The Grizzly clutch has four groups of two clutch weights, so I could have one stock clutch weight and one Dalton clutch weight in each of the four groups of weights. This would give me back some of my lost acceleration, but keep some of my new found engine RPM, and ability to turn the big tires easily.

What do the EPI and Highlifter clutch kits have that the Dalton kit doesn't? What do these other clutch kits do that the Dalton kit doesn't? Maybe I shouldn't have got used to my Grizzly with the stock clutch and these big tires, because now my Grizzly feels like it is geared too low, even with heavy 27" tires on it. I feel like I should either tune this clutch more to my liking, or get 28" tires. Tuning the clutch would be cheaper.

Thanks,
Phil.

 

[xtremegrizz]

Wow thats alot Phil...lol. Wish I could help you but I have not got that deep into mine yet, sorry and good luck.

 

[robg]

Phil:

Welcome to the downside of big tires and clutch kits. I got the same result from my Grizzly after putting in the EPI clutch kit to help with my 27" Blackwater XTs (which have since been replaced by Bighorn Radials). Stock Grizzlies will run away from me too.

I don't know enough about the clutches yet to be of much help... in time I will,though, since I'm learning more about them from the various snowmobile forums that I visit.

Rob

 

[outerlimit]

Rob,
What parts came with your EPI clutch kit? The Dalton kit only included new primary clutch weights and a new secondary clutch spring.

Phil.

 

[robg]

Lessee if I can remember... - New roller weights - New BIG spring that goes in the secondary (that you need that clutch took to change) - New little springs that go inside the transmission, behind the Primary (messy and a pain to install, but worth it) Crap, that's all I can remember... I THINK that was it though... in fact, I have photos of the installation that you can see here. Rob

 

[outerlimit]

The Dalton kit does not include the little springs that go on the internal clutch parts. I wonder what changing the little springs adds to performance?

 

[outerlimit]

Just as an update, I have replaced half of the clutch weights with the stock weights again, so I have four stock weights and four Dalton clutch weights. The clutching feels perfect now, it turns the tires easier than stock, but does not rev as high as it did with all Dalton clutch weights.

 

[dukeboy]

I have the same dalton clutch kit, I thought the weights were heavier than stock to allow a quicker engagement. I did not weigh them personally, but I also did not notice a loss in acceleration from the kit.