4 wheel drive

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    • #50157
      dogdoc
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        I know this subject has been beat to death and I am guilty of it. I just cannot keep my 4 wheel working and without it my tractor is pretty useless. I replaced ball bearings with slugs made from hardened rod which helps a lttle, maybe. What is the root cause of failure. Is it the circlip failing allowing star washer and slugs to fall out? I think so. What if this is replaced by a sleeve over the shaft which butts against the star washer and holding things in place. Ideally one would hold this in place with a roll pin, but I do not think I could drill for this. Maybe drill and tap the sleeve and use one or 2 set screws over a flattened part of the drive shaft.
        Thoughts…

      • #50158
        Piper184
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          The only thing I have to go on is the pictures in the parts book as I have never had any issues and never had mine apart.

          Some questions:

          What make model and year of tractor are we talking about?

          You asked what is the root cause of the failure but what is failing?

          Are your circlips breaking or slipping out of place?

          Other than replacing the balls with slugs (I think this is a really bad idea), what other parts have you replaced?

          Did you use OEM parts, after market or something else?

          Is it always the same joint that gives you problems? Which one?

          Based on the drawings in the parts book for my 2006 Jinma 284  here are the possibilities that I see.

          Using the wrong clip would cause it to either break or not stay in place. These things are metric, and off the shelf imperial won’t fit properly.

          Groove that the clip seats into is worn or damaged. In that case even the proper new clip won’t help. The shaft has to be repaired or replaced.

          The splines that the balls engage against are worn. Using slugs (cylinders) instead of balls will cause damage to the splines as they don’t allow the full range of motion intended.

          The same thing applies to the splines inside the coupler, they could be worn too. It might be that the wear is evenly on the shaft and the coupler, but when added together the wear exceeds the service specs.

          This is a constant velocity joint, what type of lube are you using in it?

          When it is assembled there should be very little to no rotational free play (backlash) in the joint. If there is too much play, it is worn and can not be expected to perform properly.

          The spring may not be exerting enough force on the joints to keep them pushed together during use. Or too much force could cause the circlips to fail or slip out of the grooves.

          The fine tooth splines on the transfer case end of the shaft must slide freely in the coupler or it could cause binding that would put undue stresses on the shaft and joints.

          Without seeing the problem we can only guess at the cause. Please post some pictures, maybe we can figure it out.

        • #50159
          DavidPrivett
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            is the tube that holds the driveshaft straight? At one time I high centered the tractor and bent mine up pretty bad and I believe if left alone would have caused issues with the coupler and said balls.

          • #50177
            DemocracyNow
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              I made the ball to slug modification 1000 hours ago and have had zero problems.
              Absolutely easy shifting transition from one wheel to 4 wheel drive when engine torque is lessened/relieved on drive train. I did chamfer all slugs on both ends.
              I consider this an excellent modification and need to again thank the CTOA member whose tutorial I relied on.

              • #50303
                DemocracyNow
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                  <!–more–>I now have 1400 hours on my ball to slug driveshaft conversion and it continues to run/shift flawlessly.

                  My front wheel  drive rebuild also continues to work flawlessly.
                  That rebuild found that a brass Bellville washer behind a spider gear in the differential was completely destroyed  or most likely never installed from the factory and the excessive clearance reduced gear mesh eventually destroying those gears. The other Bellville brass washer in that assembly was pristine hence  my suspicion it was never installed during factory assembly.

              • #50299
                dogdoc
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                  Finally got around to 4 wheel job. My mod to help keep ball bearings in place was to add a 1 inch collar behind the circlip. Seems the circlip is the weak link when I open things up to repair. Not sure how it will hold up but had to try something.

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                • #50302
                  DavidPrivett
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                    hopefully I will never need it but I will keep your repair in mind. update after a while to let whos left here know how sucessful the repair it is.

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