2320 drivetrain/u joint woes

[spelunkersorta]

I have a 2320 with 420 hours on it. It has been serviced regularly per the guidelines/reccomendations in the manual. I was experiencing a vibration that got worse when I throttled up. Upon referencing my manual I replaced the fuel filter and outer air element to fix "rough running". After replacing those two items the engine ran a little smoother, but the vibration was still there. I drove it aproximately 100 feet @ varying throttle positions and heard a loud clunk below me. The engine was still running and was incredibly smooth, but I had no hydraulics at all. I had no leaks, no front wheel assist, nothing would move. I pushed/pulled it into my yard, manually removed my loader (not easy) and pulled it over my mmm. After having a 15 minute in depth conversation with my dealer rep/technician they had no ideas, but would be glad to come get it and look at it, but it "didn't sound good." I called a farmer buddy of mine and after 2 minutes said "sounds like a drivetrain issue." Started poking around and sure enough front u joint = lunch. It has a zerk on it and I do remember servicing it, but will admit that it is in a bad spot and might not have received the attention that more accesible zerks did. Now to the questions, anyone experience similar issues? Anyone else think a u joint should last longer? Any recourse to challenging John Deere on this issue? I am thinking about taking it to a drive train specialty shop (have done a good job in the past for me) rather than pay John Deere prices for a *new* one. Should I have them put in greaseable zerks or the sealed ones. Are there any other concerns regarding my drivetrain? The splines look good coming out of motor and the transmission. Thanks for reading.

 

[nmu98]

A broken front u joint should not cripple your hydraulics. Seems more is wrong that just that by the way you explain it.

 

[VABlue]

U-joints have been in use for decades, we've all replaced them on some car we've had... I don't see anything different with the tractor flavor (other than heavy duty) so the drive train shop should be able to do a credible job. But I suggest getting quotes from both the JD shop and the other guy for comparison. He may need to get the part from JD, and the labor/time costs may be quite similar. If that were the case I'd let JD do the work because they work tractors for a living.

Good luck...

 

[thatguy]

there was a post on another tractor forum about some of the zerks on the 2320 drive line.. Bottom line from the dealer/mfg was that yes there were a few zerks on driveline that are very hard to get to, but they didnt need to be greased (sealed at the factory) because they were NOT running at an angle..

Brian

 

[Runner]

The front U-joint on my 2520 does not have a zerk. Since I run 4WD most of the time, I'll be interested to see how lond it lasts.

 

[kennyd]

This post may help: JD 2210 Tractor Vibration - TractorByNet.com starting around post # 10.

 

[diesel466]

Hi I do not think you can just get the u-joint from john deere, looks like they sell you the the whole driveshaft. If that is the case I would try a driveline shop. And since your hyd. pump runs of the tranny it would kill all of the hydraulics. Good luck.

 

[kuboman]

By front u-joint are you referring to the front wheels? Or the front u-joint from the engine to tranny?

 

[Rob-D]

My 2006 2320 blew the drive shaft. I left it in the road after plowing a neighbor. I took out the shaft for the blower too. No zerks on the drive shaft joints. The updated shaft I got from Deere was thicker about an inch compared to the original which was about 3/4" thick.

Your shaft may be bent, remember it turns regardless whether the tractor is in 2WD or 4WD but you must be moving for the shaft to turn.

Lift the front end and have someone turn one wheel while the other is held stationary, this will turn the shaft and you can look under the tractor to see if it's straight.

Hope this helps,
Rob

 

[glc24]

By front u-joint are you referring to the front wheels? Or the front u-joint from the engine to tranny?

By the explanation in the first post,it would be the latter,and make perfect sense why nothing works.........no pump,no hydraulics.

Greg

 

[spelunkersorta]

Quick update... checked with 2 driveline shops, who checked their catalogs (Weasler; Meritor; Spicer; Dana) no luck. Apparently the yoke is a John Deere specific part. Had the driveline shops been able to order it they would have been able to fix my driveshaft for $225. Deere won't sell just the yoke and u-joint, you have to buy the entire front shaft for $560. (If I lived anywhere near GA, I would bribe a worker to bring me one home in their lunchbox). I realize a $3.84 tube of grease and some diligence on my part would have possibly prevented this... HOWEVER... the manual does NOT show these zerks. Furthermore, after looking at my front wheel assist driveshaft it has no grease zerks on either end, while the hidden main driveshaft does. It doesn't take a member of MENSA to realize that could be problematic. For me to service my main driveshaft I will have to drop my mower, reach my hand/grease tube through an opening 1.5 x 6 inches and then bump my motor until the zerk appears. Which after this incident I will be glad :thumbsup: to do. P.S. Kenny D thank you for the link it did help (had I been able to save my yokes) I think I could have got the u-joints through a Kubota dealer. In the true Firefighter spirit, when I break s**t, I break it good!