Clutch bolt rattles loose, and wobbles to death. Again!

[Rusty-Gunn]

Very frustrating. The secondary clutch center bolt rattled loose again, causing the clutch to wobble under pressure of driving, making the center hole bigger, which ruins the clutch because it no longer fits the input shaft tightly - it's become to loose.
I used a new bolt, a lot of high strength loktite, and a new lock washer. It was tightened very well.
Still, it came loose, causing the clutch to wobble, which ruinsvit. Its a dang new clutch a month ago!
I am absolutely convinced the input shaft is way too short. It needs to be some two to three inches longer, possibly with a steel sleeve to make the clutch fit tightly the whole length of the shaft. This would eliminate the wobble.
Until they make a longer input shaft, I'll bolt the clutch back on, use tons of loktite, a new lock washer, torque it on tight until it hates me, and go from there.
Gads, this is so frustrating. Same issue over and over.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Another question... Once the clutch is installed I noticed there is a large space between the end of the input shaft and the "mouth" of the clutch hole. Is there supposed to be a spacer block of some sort in there? Thanks.

[msafi65]

If you haven’t replaced the input shaft with the new clutch it won’t last. The shaft is worn dow or it wouldn’t come loose.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Thanks Mark. Yeah, that certainly might be the issue. The only place I noticed that sells new input shafts is from Dane Clark, but is sold out.

[jerseybigfoot]

Before you go and pull the shaft measure it first. I've had this issue with a new clutch. Measure the shaft as the clutch bore is likely to wear as opposed to the shaft which is hardened. i recently installed a new clutch and had .002 clearance from the on a standard size shaft and would wobble. I cured it with .001 stainless steel shim stock wrapped around the shaft. I made a rectangular hole for the key to keep the shim in place.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Thank you Jersy. I do remember, when we experienced this issue last year, Mark said to measure the shaft.
Yeah, as soon as I post this I'm ordering a micrometer since I never owned one before. I put it off long enough.

[Rusty-Gunn]

BTW when we put the new clutch on this spring I used a new stsimless bolt, 4 inches long. I don't know the recommended length this bolt is supposed to be, the original broke the year after be got the Max. The bolt I had been using previously I cut a bit shorter, maybe quarter-inch off.
Well, I decided to replace it, and use this new bolt full-length. Once tightened up it felt as though it might have bottomed out, but I wasn't convinced though. The clutch was on tight, and we went with that. I felt it was good.
So, once I removed this bolt, and thick washer, I saw a bit of wear, right around the edge of the thick washer, right where the mouth of the clutch hole is.
I'm thinking, because the bolt actually bottomed out, and wasn't as tight as I had thought, the clutch could slip (wobble) right at the mouth and cause it to wear away, like someone took a hand file to it.
Yeah, I think this is the cause of this. I put the previous bolt back one, used a lot of high-strength locktite, flipped the thick washer around, and used a new lock washer, and put it back on. We will give it a good ride today. I hope this takes care of it all.

Any more advise on this issue is welcome. Please teach me things. Thank you.

[msafi65]

Don I get back into AK in couple days. Send my your mailing address and I’ll send the proper bolt and heavy washer. Have to be very careful not to bottom out and leave loose. I suspect your shaft is bad.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Thank you Mark. Much appreciated.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Msafi65
PM sent. Thank you.