mclarenaml
New member
I've just been through the exercise that many have mentioned here previously, with failed driveshaft universals. Mine lasted over 1400 hours, probably with no lubrication in that time, which was quite an achievement. There is lots of varying advice on how best to resolve this, and it was all very much appreciated. Here is my experience and suggestions.
- As others have found, there is definitely no issue splitting the driveshaft at the rear universal, and getting it out without moving either the engine or transmission.
- JD do have replacement universals, but here (NZ) they are something like NZD 140 each - that's around USD 100. Ouch! If could get them at a reasonable price that is the direction I would go.
- I tried the Kubota parts that have been mentioned a couple of times here (37410-13722). These are under half the price of the JD parts, but they are an internal clip universal, rather than the the external clip type used by JD. The cup with the grease nipple is also taller than the other 3. With internal clips, this is not a problem, but to make these work in the JD yokes, the cup needs its top skimmed to be consistent with the others. You really need a lathe to skim these accurately. However, even once this is done, once mounted in the JD yokes, there was still around 1mm side play in each joint. The tractor ran, but was not very smooth, because it still allowed quite a bit of driveshaft movement. I did look at shimming under the cup retaining circlips to remove this play, but...
- The universals are a standard 20x55mm (20mm cup diameter, 55mm from cup to cup - distance between the opposing circlip seats) with external circlips. I obtained a couple of GUMZ2 universals from driveshaftparts.com for something like USD 5.40 each. Dirt cheap, but also needed some modifications to allow them to fit. The boss on the cross under where the cups seat was too large to allow these to be assembled. I needed to reduce the diameter of this boss (another lathe job) to get enough clearance to be able to get both arms of the cross inside the yoke. A bit of a pain, especially if you don't have a lathe. Other than that, they fit perfectly, and tractor is very smooth.
- Another issue with the GUMZ2 universals I have is that the grease nipple is in the centre of the cross, and totally impossible to get to once the driveshaft is straight (ie. once it is installed). If you are going the route of a generic 20x55 universal, definitely look for ones with the nipple at the end of one of the bearing cups.
- Also be careful with the GUMZ2 code - I've seen some advertised with 22mm cup size?
- There were other comments regarding the roll pins that anchor the drive shaft to the back of the motor. These are a pair of roll or tension pins, one inside the other. They drift out fairly easily, but are a bit of a pain to replace. People here was suggested simply replacing these with a 6mm bolt and nut. The advice I have from a friend (deals a lot with agricultural machinery), is not to do this. The concentric roll pins lock the driveshaft onto the motor very tightly as they expand from the inside out - a bolt cannot do this. He also suggested replacing the pins every time they come out, as they lose tension.
So that's my 2c worth. 2210 is again running beautifully.
Andrew
- As others have found, there is definitely no issue splitting the driveshaft at the rear universal, and getting it out without moving either the engine or transmission.
- JD do have replacement universals, but here (NZ) they are something like NZD 140 each - that's around USD 100. Ouch! If could get them at a reasonable price that is the direction I would go.
- I tried the Kubota parts that have been mentioned a couple of times here (37410-13722). These are under half the price of the JD parts, but they are an internal clip universal, rather than the the external clip type used by JD. The cup with the grease nipple is also taller than the other 3. With internal clips, this is not a problem, but to make these work in the JD yokes, the cup needs its top skimmed to be consistent with the others. You really need a lathe to skim these accurately. However, even once this is done, once mounted in the JD yokes, there was still around 1mm side play in each joint. The tractor ran, but was not very smooth, because it still allowed quite a bit of driveshaft movement. I did look at shimming under the cup retaining circlips to remove this play, but...
- The universals are a standard 20x55mm (20mm cup diameter, 55mm from cup to cup - distance between the opposing circlip seats) with external circlips. I obtained a couple of GUMZ2 universals from driveshaftparts.com for something like USD 5.40 each. Dirt cheap, but also needed some modifications to allow them to fit. The boss on the cross under where the cups seat was too large to allow these to be assembled. I needed to reduce the diameter of this boss (another lathe job) to get enough clearance to be able to get both arms of the cross inside the yoke. A bit of a pain, especially if you don't have a lathe. Other than that, they fit perfectly, and tractor is very smooth.
- Another issue with the GUMZ2 universals I have is that the grease nipple is in the centre of the cross, and totally impossible to get to once the driveshaft is straight (ie. once it is installed). If you are going the route of a generic 20x55 universal, definitely look for ones with the nipple at the end of one of the bearing cups.
- Also be careful with the GUMZ2 code - I've seen some advertised with 22mm cup size?
- There were other comments regarding the roll pins that anchor the drive shaft to the back of the motor. These are a pair of roll or tension pins, one inside the other. They drift out fairly easily, but are a bit of a pain to replace. People here was suggested simply replacing these with a 6mm bolt and nut. The advice I have from a friend (deals a lot with agricultural machinery), is not to do this. The concentric roll pins lock the driveshaft onto the motor very tightly as they expand from the inside out - a bolt cannot do this. He also suggested replacing the pins every time they come out, as they lose tension.
So that's my 2c worth. 2210 is again running beautifully.
Andrew
