Need help pulling rear axle

[smithbrl]

I have a D2350 with a leaking rear axle oil seal. I have the seal but am having trouble getting the cover off of the back side of the housing to access the nut and lock ring to remove the axle. It's pressed in with no lip to pry under for removal. I don't want to destroy it if I can help it.

Anybody done this before? It has the same setup as the S630 Bull, D2300 and the D2050 and maybe others. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

 

[284 International]

I had the top cover for the transmission get stuck that way on one of my Yanmars. It seems like the gaskets used 30 years ago, or the sealer, or something bonds the two parts together, surprisingly tight. Even though the top cover is only about 8 inches square, it literally took an engine hoist to pull enough to pop the thing off.

I would first try a rubber or plastic mallet, or a piece of board and regular hammer, and wallop the thing several times. Do you have a service manual? Are there dowel pins locating the cover? Are there bolt holes threaded into the cover you could use to attach a chain and bolt to? A 2x4 across a back tire should provide enough leverage. In the last resort, you could drill and tap a hole in some part of the cover, and run a bolt down the hole and use it to press the cover free.

Good luck, make sure you share how you get it off!

 

[smithbrl]

I have a service manual but the only help it gives is "remove the rubber cap". It also says to remove the rear axle housing which I don't have the equipment to do.

The plug is a little bigger than 3" in diameter and made of thin sheet metal. It seems to have an inner and outer cover as there is a small hole about 3/8" in the middle of the outer cover and there is another cover on the inside. I've sprayed some PB Blaster around the outer and maybe I can use the hole to pry the plug out. However the outer cover has a lot of rust due to the small hole and doesn't appear to be very rigid.

If that doesn't work I'll probably use your suggestion and drill a hole near the edge, insert a sheet metal screw and try to use that to pry the cover off. I'm trying to get this cover off without tearing it up too much but it's got to come off, destroyed or not.

Thanks, I'll update as I proceed.

 

[284 International]

Take some pictures if you are able, and post it here. The part I was thinking of isn't lightweight or thin. It may be that you can take off the larger cast cover and apply more force than you can to the thin cover. I'll go look at my D1800, but post some pictures of what you're talking about.

 

[smithbrl]

OK, I took some pictures but I'm not too good with this stuff. May take a few tries.

Thanks



These were taken lying on my back under the tractor so it's maybe a kinda screwy angle.

 

[skylarkguy]

Is that hole in the center supposed to be there? A trick that might work is to first find a round bar that fits that hole pretty close but still goes in easy, a ratchet extension might work. Then get your grease gun and fill the cavity under the cover full up with grease. Full, ... the more the better. Then take the round bar and place it in the hole that is now full of grease and whack it with a hammer. The pressure might force the cap off. Kind of messy though. This trick works on removing throwout bearings. It also assumes the space behind the cap is "fillable".

 

[smithbrl]

skylarkguy

The hole isn't supposed to be there. What you can see through the hole appears to be the back side of the cover-double wall. I'll keep the "grease" trick in mind for future use.

Thanks

 

[rrrkkk]

Is that hole in the center supposed to be there? A trick that might work is to first find a round bar that fits that hole pretty close but still goes in easy, a ratchet extension might work. Then get your grease gun and fill the cavity under the cover full up with grease. Full, ... the more the better. Then take the round bar and place it in the hole that is now full of grease and whack it with a hammer. The pressure might force the cap off. Kind of messy though. This trick works on removing throwout bearings. It also assumes the space behind the cap is "fillable".

I don't think you mean throwout bearing I have used it on pilot bushing in crankshafts

 

[284 International]

I am certain I don't know more than the service manual, but I am surprised there is a pressed in plug like that to access the axle nut. It looks a lot like a casting/freeze plug in an engine block. The other tractors I have seen go through this procedure the requirement is to pull off the top housing for the three point lift and access the mechanism from the top, or pull a plate off around the PTO output shaft and get to it from that direction. I don't see how a mechanic could have adequate access through that tiny plug to pull the axle nut or retaining clip.

This guy did a great writeup on a Yanmar YM2200, which is about the same vintage as your Mitsubishi, and may have similar designs. To do it, he just pulled the axle housing, then disassembled the axle from the inside. DOUG'S PLACE - YM2200 Axle Bearings

Make sure to take many pictures and to post them, so that another person comes along with the same problem they have at least some idea of how to do it.

 

[skylarkguy]

Yeah, I indeed mean pilot bearing...sometimes my thoughts and my typing don't match up

 

[smithbrl]

OK, I've been in the shop most of the day except when I went out to get an impact gun and sockets. I used a chisel to enlarge the hole in the cover a little. Then I stuck a pry bar in the hole and pried the cover off. Easy.



The cover only has the one side-I was mistaken about that-the metal on the other side turned out to be the axle. The pictures below show the axle and the nut with the nut keeper thingy and the bearing behind it. I tapped down the keeper tab to free the nut and used a punch on the corners of the nut and only mild taps were required to turn the nut loose a little.



Next I pulled the rear wheel



I took the nut off and removed the oil pan at the bottom of the axle housing. I put a 5 gal bucket with a 2x6 on top which worked out to be about 1 or 2 inches below the bottom of the bull gear.

Next I tapped on the wheel flange (where the rim bolts onto the axle) with a dead blow hammer and the axle let go and I pulled it out.



I cleaned up the housing a bit and called it a night. Tomorrow I need to see if I can get that other bearing off the shaft and bring them somewhere to see if they need replacing. I don't think they look too good but I really don't want to have to replace them as it'll be expensive.

I'll keep y'all posted.

Cecil

 

[skylarkguy]

nicely done! As an aside I find that bearing are often cheaper at a dedicated bearing supplier rather than a tractor supply house or Auto parts store (although not always) good luck!

 

[smithbrl]

Thanks. If I need new bearings I'll try Motion Industries or somebody like that.

 

[smithbrl]

To replace the seal, the bearing had to come off any way so I wound up getting both bearings. Earlier, when I tapped on the wheel hub to get the axle out, the bearing on the other side just fell out. It seems to be OK but being this far into the thing I decided to get a new bearing. I got a buddy to remove the pressed bearing and oil seal then press the new ones back on.

I also noticed that the seal "race" which is at the very outside of the axle housing is badly scored and grooved, which is what tore up the oil seal and caused the leaking. When I inspected the seal it was torn better than half way around. So now I'm waiting on the seal race.
You can see in the pictures how smooth the bearing cup is compared to the seal race.








So, for now, I'll be knocking the bearing cups out and installing the new ones while I wait for the seal race.

 

[smithbrl]

Knocked out the 2 bearing cups and the race seal today. Pulling the rear axle housing would've been a much better way to do it if I had a shop crane or some other means of lifting it.

I had to remove the 3 point hitch arms and links and the draw bar & attaching mounting plates.



I got a big hammer and a long punch and banged away. Because the inner bearing cup was easy to access from outside the tractor I was able to knock it out pretty quick. But for the outside bearing cup and the seal race, I had to lay on my back underneath the tractor to beat out.

I didn't have much room and the angles I had to work with placing the punch and then trying to hit it with the hammer were bad. After about a half hour I had made no progress so I got my propane torch and heated the axle housing and was able to drive both of them out.



The wheel hub with new bearing and seal


Close up of seal



The bull gear



The seal race



Hopefully tomorrow I can drive the new bearing cups in. Then I'll only have the seal race to install and then reassemble everything.

 

[284 International]

This is a great writeup, good job. Have you been able to match the bearings?

 

[smithbrl]

Thanks. Amazingly enough, in the "Removing the Wheel Shaft" section of the service manual there is a drawing showing the different parts and the bearing numbers are included. The parts book says "bearing". I ordered them day before yesterday and picked them up yesterday. They are different sizes.

 

[smithbrl]

Today I cleaned up the bore and installed both bearing cups. I received the seal race and plan on installing it tomorrow.

New cup installed for outside bearing



New cup installed for inside bearing



The service manual gives a procedure for preloading the bearings but it assumes that the rear axle housing has been removed from the tractor with the final drive shaft also removed, allowing the axle to be turned and preloaded. I haven't removed the housing and the bull gear, which is attached to the axle will be meshed with the final drive shaft, making it impossible to measure the preload torque specified. I'll have to figure this one out.

 

[smithbrl]

So, what I did was to install the wheel hub without the bull gear in place. I used my lathe and drill/mill to fabricate a wrench to fit the axle nut.



I tightened the nut according to the manual so that I had the specified preload on the bearings. I noted the torque value on the nut then I removed the wheel hub. I reinstalled it with the bull gear in place and torqued the axle nut to same value as before. Hopefully, that'll be good enough.

While I was taking the tractor apart the brake rod for the right side had to be removed. The adjusting nut was frozen solid. I wound up breaking off the threaded part of the shaft. I cut the shaft and welded a nut to the end of it. Then I screwed a piece of all thread of the right length into the nut and installed a locking nut. I also made a new part that the adjustment screw goes through and the spacer between it and the adjusting nuts.






I cut a piece of sheet metal and welded it to the axle nut cover. I cut a barbed wire staple in half and welded it to the cover so if I need to take it off again (I hope I don't) it may be easier. As you can see, I really need to work on my welding skills.




And here is the tractor.



I still have to put the 3ph on the rear and fill the housing with oil. I'll be running it this afternoon to see how it works. I hope everything is OK because I'm tired of crawling and working under there.

 

[smithbrl]

Ran the tractor a little bit yesterday and it seems OK. This morning I drove over to my neighbor's and hooked up to his box blade. Graded my driveway for an hour and returned the box blade. The tractor performed fine.

Overall the job wasn't too bad and I enjoyed doing the work and now I feel comfortable working on pretty much anything on it.

284 International and skylarkguy, thanks for your input on the project.

Cecil