Patent ID: 7694768

Claim:
A snowmobile, comprising a frame, slide rails coupled to the frame by front and rear linkages, the front linkage being pivotal about the frame along a pivot axis, endless track wrapped around the slide rails, an engine mounted to the frame and operatively coupled to the endless track, and a drive shaft comprising drive sprockets coupled to the endless track and being driven about an axis coincident with the pivot axis, at least a portion of the drive shaft and the drive sprockets being removable from the frame in a direction transverse to the pivot axis, two front linkages, each front linkage connects one slide rail to the frame, and the front linkages are positioned inside of the frame, each linkage includes a bearing adjacent its end, and the drive shaft extends through the bearings and has sprockets attached thereto, the driveshaft is held on one side of the frame by a bracket mounted on the outside thereof, and on the opposite side by a chain drive mounted on the outside of the frame, each linkage includes a bearing adjacent its end, and the drive shaft is comprised of a hollow shaft and an internal shaft and the hollow shaft connects the linkages to the frame, and the internal shaft extends through the hollow shaft; the hollow shaft having drive sprockets attached thereto, and said hollow shaft being torsionally coupled to the internal shaft.