Problem with 5/8 in. shaft in this years kit

[Vince]

Originally Posted by echos

For for those of you that have started building a drive system you may have noticed that the 5/8 in. shaft doesn't fit the 5/8 in. bore in the gears for the gearbox and the bearings very well. I had grabed some other 5/8 in. shaft we had around the shop and tried it with the componets and had a much better fit. Which leaves me to beleave that shaft included in the KOP is not really a shaft at all but a 5/8 in. axel with a key cut through it. For those of you that are lost a 5/8 in. axel when measured is 5/8 in. while a 5/8 in. shaft when measured is slightly less than 5/8 in.

I'm not shure if it was like this in any other of the KOP but it would be intresting to find out. I would like to find out who screwed that one up. For the sake of knowing the shaft is made of a polished steel that has resembling look to chrome. If you take any of the 5/8 in. bearings or gears and have a hard time putting them on the shaft, then I suggest that you go and purchase a real 5/8 in. shaft. The componets should slide on much easier without the need for a hammer.

I found that you really have to file down any burs on the supplied shaft edges to make them fit in the bearings. Just running a file around the edges helps the fit quite a bit.