New RTV-X1100C clunking wheel noises.

[PapaPerk]

These units are not taken on the road? My Ranger 570 goes on the road regularly, and at rather high speeds at that!

They only run around 25 mph. Not fast enough to cause much fuss.

Yes your 50 mph ranger would have stability issues.

 

[rapracing]

Well I got the machine back yesterday.

The dealer said they "did not" do anything in the front. I thought he had told me on the phone they put shims in to keep it from moving front to rear but I guess not. He said the rep did not want to do anything that is the way the want it. I took it for a ride last evening on a bit of a rough road. Traveling 5-8MPH and it thumps just like it did before. I am 99% sure that is in the front end.

They did however put shims in the rear where the pins go through the hub. He said that took all the movement out of the rear wheel (will jack it up a little later today and check that). He said it was "nylon" bushings in the hub. Not sure if I read on hear or the other forum but supposedly they are rubber? I don't know if they changed them to nylon or what happened there.

I guess I am still not sure what I should do. The old machine shows some signs of wear and tear but less that 400 hours. I guess I could but a little money in it and have a good machine for a whole lot less money.

 

[hurliman]

Well I posted an earlier thread on my new RTV-X1100c and plow setup and have used it about 10 hours or so. I started noticing a clunking noise in the front end making sharp turns...Didnt matter which way I turned and it didnt matter if it was in 2 or 4 wheel drive.
I hadnt had a chance to look much into it until one of my dealers techs came out and we jacked it up to take a look. He grabbed the passenger front wheel and looked at me and said "wow thats bad".....There is literally 3/8 of inch of play in both front wheels and you can see the control arm sliding back and forth on the bolts. Its so bad it looks like there are no bushings installed at all. The bushings are there but they dont seem to be sized right or something.
Well then we moved onto the back just for the sake of it and its even worse..... but this time its the aluminum hub bearing assembly moving back and forth in the A arm assembly. This is very dangerous and very weak and I have no idea how this even made it out the door like this. My dealer is calling Kubota in the A.M. to see if they have a fix. He did say they had a 900 with a rear problem already but hadn't heard anything on the front at all.
Needless to say I am very disappointed in Kubota...I know they all have issues at first but I really dont know how you dont catch something this bad right away.
I told my dealer if Kubota didnt have a quick fix I wanted him to take the machine back as I am not waiting a year and fighting with Kubota. He seemed to understand and said they would do everything to make it right.

I'm bummed but we will see what happens.

Well you just got your first lesson on buying by name only.

 

[hurliman]

I have seen this SO many times. People get hung up on a name only and don't consider any other brand. Kubota is at the bottom of the list if you take a critical look at the other brands. I was a Kubota dealer for 23 years. I had a customers L4200 break in half at the clutch housing at 60 hours. Kubota didn't offer any help at all, they blamed it on the front loader, as it wasn't their brand. I fixed the tractor and really gave the guy a break. How did he repay my kindness, he picked up his tractor and went to the nearest John Deere dealer and traded. I sold Kioti at the time also, and I ask him if he remembered my saying that the Kioti was a much tougher tractor than Kubota. He just gave me a dirty look and left. Some day I will write a book on what the public pulled on me in my 34 years of doing business.

 

[PapaPerk]

I have seen this SO many times. People get hung up on a name only and don't consider any other brand. Kubota is at the bottom of the list if you take a critical look at the other brands. I was a Kubota dealer for 23 years. I had a customers L4200 break in half at the clutch housing at 60 hours. Kubota didn't offer any help at all, they blamed it on the front loader, as it wasn't their brand. I fixed the tractor and really gave the guy a break. How did he repay my kindness, he picked up his tractor and went to the nearest John Deere dealer and traded. I sold Kioti at the time also, and I ask him if he remembered my saying that the Kioti was a much tougher tractor than Kubota. He just gave me a dirty look and left. Some day I will write a book on what the public pulled on me in my 34 years of doing business.

Bottom of the list?! So who's at the top?

 

[Boris1]

I have seen this SO many times. People get hung up on a name only and don't consider any other brand. Kubota is at the bottom of the list if you take a critical look at the other brands. I was a Kubota dealer for 23 years. I had a customers L4200 break in half at the clutch housing at 60 hours. Kubota didn't offer any help at all, they blamed it on the front loader, as it wasn't their brand. I fixed the tractor and really gave the guy a break. How did he repay my kindness, he picked up his tractor and went to the nearest John Deere dealer and traded. I sold Kioti at the time also, and I ask him if he remembered my saying that the Kioti was a much tougher tractor than Kubota. He just gave me a dirty look and left. Some day I will write a book on what the public pulled on me in my 34 years of doing business.

I have purchased to kubota tractors and still own one. I have owned one other brand and used a couple others and believe it has been my experience with all of them that would make me buy another, not name or color.

 

[Ntb]

I have seen this SO many times. People get hung up on a name only and don't consider any other brand. Kubota is at the bottom of the list if you take a critical look at the other brands. I was a Kubota dealer for 23 years. I had a customers L4200 break in half at the clutch housing at 60 hours. Kubota didn't offer any help at all, they blamed it on the front loader, as it wasn't their brand. I fixed the tractor and really gave the guy a break. How did he repay my kindness, he picked up his tractor and went to the nearest John Deere dealer and traded. I sold Kioti at the time also, and I ask him if he remembered my saying that the Kioti was a much tougher tractor than Kubota. He just gave me a dirty look and left. Some day I will write a book on what the public pulled on me in my 34 years of doing business.

My experience is opposite of yours, I'm not a dealer but a business customer. I've owned dozens and dozens of every major manufacturer's UTV's over the last 34+ years. I've found the Kubota to be, by far the most reliable UTV. The issue with some of the current RTV X's was brought up about 3 weeks ago. I see no reason that Kubota won't address the issue once they sort it out. Between this website and the other one, there is around 4 people with the problem, and numerous non-owners threatening not to buy.

I have no issues with my RTV 900 or my RTV X1100, I wish that I could same the same for our polaris, honda and gator units.

 

[Boris1]

The john deere dealer close to me said he would not want to sell me and does not recommend buying the 550 gator to customers, so every brand has its issues somewhere along the line.

 

[the old grind]

Well, I read ten pages so far. Seems Kubota has a problem with customer satisfaction that could have been prevented, and that has no place on a $20k vehicle.

As much as this should be dealt with by Kubota .. and the dealer .. and all those factory folks .. no one has offered a fix that seems to me an obvious one. Shim out the play and share the experience. Be done with it in a matter of hours vs waiting for a 'system' to fix everyone else's.

Yeah, for that kind of $$ something shouldn't have to be tweaked but we have to tighten bolts and pull maintenance with any vehicle, including replacing bearings, bushings, or seals that wear over time. (how long does nylon last there, anyway?) IMO this could be a one-shot deal and an afternoon spent making a good machine better.

Has anyone put principle aside and just gone to action on their own? Indignation accomplishes nothing. Please enlighten me as to what the company or dealer would do better than the owner that 'can do' and would rather get back to work than wait on a committee that sees no issue in the first place .. just askin'. :2cents:

 

[PapaPerk]

Well, I read ten pages so far. Seems Kubota has a problem with customer satisfaction that could have been prevented, and that has no place on a $20k vehicle.

As much as this should be dealt with by Kubota .. and the dealer .. and all those factory folks .. no one has offered a fix that seems to me an obvious one. Shim out the play and share the experience. Be done with it in a matter of hours vs waiting for a 'system' to fix everyone else's.

Yeah, for that kind of $$ something shouldn't have to be tweaked but we have to tighten bolts and pull maintenance with any vehicle, including replacing bearings, bushings, or seals that wear over time. (how long does nylon last there, anyway?) IMO this could be a one-shot deal and an afternoon spent making a good machine better.

Has anyone put principle aside and just gone to action on their own? Indignation accomplishes nothing. Please enlighten me as to what the company or dealer would do better than the owner that 'can do' and would rather get back to work than wait on a committee that sees no issue in the first place .. just askin'. :2cents:

Nylon lasts well. That's what bushings are made of on most similar vehicles (Polaris, etc).

So you can turn down on a lathe 8 new nylon a-arm bushings in a couple hours and rebuild a RTV rear suspension? Impressive.

If you buy a machine that's under warranty you have a right to have a functioning machine that last more than 10 hours. Money is hard to come by. So give the guys a break. They deserve to have a machine that is not wobbling down the road in the first day of use!