DavidPrivett

makes you wonder why they did that once in place where is it gonna go? just need enough tension to make the bearing spin in place.

you might want to put wedges between the axle housing and the rear end , the more slender the better and tap them as you are using the slide hammer be careful not to mar the mating surfaces to much, file flat if you distort where the gasket goes.

good to hear you got the problem figured out , hope the new fix is better than the screen that was from the factory. A lot of people have had issues with them.

I know I would not have made it like that,, but I have two Chinese tractors each with about 1000 hrs. on  them and I have not had those issues with the drive. All I can say is to look at it and make a judgement on what can be done to make it better , so let me ask this was that your binding issue, I assume it was. And try to remember not to run in 4 wheel drive on pavement, I think it makes it a design problem worse  . later on

I think I would disconnect the drive  shaft, that will separate the trans from the front end , no sense opening the wrong thing, also people have had issues with the drive shaft ends( they are not u-joints) , yes their balls fell out. some people redesigned the joint using what I do not remember to provide better engagement so it would not be a ongoing problem. I believe the joint is the weak point vs. they gearing ,but anything can break. let us know what you find.