180 drive issues

SO my 180 started to make a really bad squeal on the way home this morning. After I put everything away I took the end cap off the drive to find the plastic mushroomed and the rollers flat on one side.
My dealer is sending my photos to Hobie it is 3 years old but only used twice a month for little fishing trips.
IS there a newer plastic being used? it should not have done this .I washed it after every use. and lubed it once a month.

2017 outback.

Mark

Photos



Mark

180s are seeing a lot of wear and some is related to over tight chains. This flattens the bearings and then they skid instead of roll. This is a problem started in our production, so we are replacing a lot of spines for free or highly reduced costs. The warranty claim is the way to get started.

The glass-filled nylon of the sprockets chews up bearings, but higher glass fill to stop teeth from failing is worse. They are looking at the possibility of a higher glass fill and some delrin bushings that wold be bearing races... future improvement if it works.

The key though is chain tensions. Early drives did not wear like this after 100s of thousands of cycles and in silty water.

BTW... is your water silty? We have even seen stainless shafts wear in silty water use.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)