2000 Arctic Cat Thundercat Clutch

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fastmax05

New member
Want to know how hard is it to go thru the primary clutch and replace the parts - I have never done this type of work and am curious to know if there are any nuances one needs to know about before starting the job. The issue I am having is that the RPM's this past season have jumped up to almost 4000 before the clutch actually engages and at times I get a slight clunk at engagement - not bad but noticeable and therefore I want to clean it up before season comes. Please all honest replies are greatly appreciated and I want to do this right - The secondary was replaced about 2000miles ago but the primary has never been touched - machine has just shy of 4000miles.
Help if you can - Thanks all
Joe
 
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G

Guest
If you want to do it right you should take the spider off so you can replace the bushings. You need a special grunt tool to do this. There is no other way. The weights and rollers are a breeze but if you have slop you need to do the bushings also. If you take it to a shop they will charge you a fair amount just to remove and install the spider. You may be better off just buying a totally new clutch and put in the right weights. After all the thing is now 10 years old.
 
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fastmax05

New member
Yea I was thinking of going with new but is it stock or just throw a comet clutch on the thing? My gut tells me that mine has out lived it's time so I can't complain.....Thanks Grub
 
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Falcon20

New member
X3 on new. It sounds like you're past a simple maintenance procedure. You're going to find that the cam arm weights have gone off center (bad bushings) and have eaten into the spider badly along with the arms themselves flat spotted on the spider rollers which will be shot also. Check the tower cover bushing which you'll more than likely find is bad also. Can't remember if that bushing is consumer changeable. For all those parts cost you may as well buy new.
 
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fastmax05

New member
Snowfish - I checked out the website above - 249.99 for uncalibrated new - I am all over it and wanted to thank you - just need to get the springs etc should have answer on Monday for eta - I cannot wait - 10years on original clutch never touched it guess I can't complain I am guessing the machine will sing once this is put on.
 
snowfish

snowfish

Member
You're welcome Fast.

Word of warning though...............you'll probably buy two if you have another machine! LOL! I'll be getting one for our ZR500 too. Not that it's bad but it makes them feel like a new machine. (The 500 is probably getting close with 4000 miles on it anyway.)

Cheers!
 
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jim_golding

New member
I would get a new one as that design of Cat clutch will fail (spider) around 3000-4000 miles. My older son has a ZR500 which had the clutch go out at 3000 miles (spider). Looking into it a few years ago, it appears that a lot will go out around that mileage. You will notice that Cat has now changed the design (number of towers) on their new replacement clutches. I can't remember which one is newer the 6 tower or the 9 tower clutch.
 
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