RTV Front CV joint failure

[Rick_Taylor]

Last week my wife and I were crusing about the property. I stopped to examine something near a shallow smooth ditch, really just a depression about 6-8" deep. When I started up again I made a left turn into the ditch. When I got to the bottom the left front wheel made a rather loud noise and jammed full left into the rear of the wheelwell. I stopped and reversed out very slowly. Upon examination, the outboard boot was twisted but no other signs of damage. In the next few days it made occasional other noises so I decided to take it in. Pulling onto the trailer I noticed the boot was now torn. Dealer called a few days later, problem fixed by replacing left front outer CV joint. He said it had completely shattered. He also said that was the second RTV that week that had the same problem. My RTV has never been seriously off roading, just back and forth on gravel roads. Ya'll might keep an eye on yours.

 

[Dargo]

Yikes! Another first year gremlin? I saw in the manual where it tells you to avoid wheelies and jumps, but nothing about crossing a rut. By the way, how do you get your RTV to do a wheelie??? /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[flyingn]

were you in 4wd? Interesting..

Frank

 

[soarkrebel]

That sounds like they got some defective cv joints. I smell a recall!

I have two 4wd four wheelers and never had one go bad. i've torn some boots but i fix them QUICKLY!

Better it went bad now cause those things aren't cheap. i would drive the dog out of it and hope the other goes so they can fix it before the warranty goes out.

 

[Rick_Taylor]

Failure occured in two wheel drive, going about 1/2 mph. The weight of the RTV was on that left front wheel, going down and turning left at the same time. FWIW I have 26x12x12 Dayton MultiTracs. That may have been a contributing factor. I also have to commend Zimmerer Kubota. They're keeping an RTV just for parts in Fort Worth so I had a replacement in one day instead of having to wait for one to ship from the mother land. It's just a quick trip from Decatur to Fort Worth. Good dealership. They've sold a lot of RTV's and the Decatur store has at least a half dozen in stock.

 

[Ricochet]

Yeah, Zimmerer run nice dealerships and know their products.

 

[jinman]

Rick, how many hours do you have on your RTV? I've been meaning to stop by Zimmerer in Decatur and just look at tractors and the RTVs. I may have to try and do that this week.

I'm curious about what the 50hr or 1st service interval will cost on the RTV. On a Mule it's about $270-$300 in Decatur and in Wichita Falls.

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I'm curious about what the 50hr or 1st service interval will cost on the RTV. On a Mule it's about $270-$300 in Decatur and in Wichita Falls. )</font>

Wow, I'd like to be in the business of doing that job for that amount. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif When my brother first bought his Mule, he got both the operator's manual and the workshop manual, and left everything at my place for several months before he got his home built, so I did the first service by the book myself. I don't remember how long it took, but less than half a day just puttering around. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[jinman]

Bird, there are only three items on the list of 50 hr service points that are specified as "dealer only" items. One of them is a check and adjustment of the CVT transmission. Next is the valve check/adjustment, and the third is checking and adjusting the carb/emissions. I did all the fluid and filter changes myself and told the dealer to leave the carb just like it is because the darn thing ran so good. My charge was still $150 for the valve adjustment and the CVT check. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

You can bet that is the last time I will get any service done by that dealer. I don't mind paying a fair price, but 1/2 hour of labor should not cost $150. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif The only reason I did it was that I have warranty left. After that runs out, I'll take care of it as long as I can. Besides, while I am doing maintenance, I'm checking a lot of other things that I would never check otherwise like checking all the lower-side protection and panels. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Bird]

Yeah, Jim, it's been a few years and I forgot about that. My brother's Mule was running so good, I didn't do those adjustments.