Rear differential failure Ingersoll Rand made UTVs (Club Car, Bobcat, Husqvarna, NH)

[Chris616]

While researching something else I came across a post on another board describing what someone called a "very common problem" - the failure of the rear locking differential in these IR made UTVs (side-by-sides). The input drive shaft from the transmission turns, but the output shafts to the wheels do not, requiring a not inexpensive replacement of the internals of the differential.
club car xrt 1550 rearend locker issues

I'd like to get some input from TBN members to gauge how common a problem this is (or is not). I'll guess that there are more owners of these machines on TBN than on that other board. I've searched TBN (using the better "Google Search" option) and couldn't find any mention of it. It could be that I just haven't searched the right words.

Have you got one of the following vehicles, which I believe all have the same running gear?
Have you had the rear differential problem?
What year is the vehicle and how many hours were on it when the diff failed, or if you haven't had the problem how many hours are on the machine now?

Club Car XRT 1550
Club Car Carryall 1500/1700
Bobcat 2200/2300
New Holland Rustler 120
Husqvarna HUV4421

We have a 2010 Club Car XRT 1550 with 250 hours on it. This machine does not have the rear diff problem. In fact, the only issue we've ever had with it has been needing to replace the battery. We have the snow blade, bucket and pallet forks as attachments and they have been invaluable to us.

Right now I'm just gauging whether this is a common problem or not. My real goal is to understand if there is something that I can do to prevent or delay the problem. I asked a few questions around that in this post on that other discussion group.
Club Car XRT 1550 rear differential failure

Chris

 

[timswi]

Honestly, I haven't heard of that being a "common" problem. Many times those failures are related to treatment/maintenance problems. I've never owned one though.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Could using a Light Utility vehicle as a tractor, have anything to do with it? Not being smart, but I think it's what people do. How much was the repair?

 

[Chris616]

The current online price for the replacement parts is ~US$1100. The repair looks doable by moderately handy DIYers.

It's difficult to use discussion forum messages to gauge how common an issue is. Just like online reviews, people are more likely to write something if they have had a problem than if they're pleased. So even though a dozen folks might chime in with "I've had that problem", theirs may still just be part of the tiny percent failure rate. I doubt that I'll get enough response to this thread to arrive at a statistically reliable conclusion about how common/uncommon a problem this is.

I agree that people might use an UTV/ATV for more than it is designed for, but I'm doubtful that would impact the rear differential. The load on it is limited by the output of the engine/transmission, so it's difficult for an operator to abuse it operationally.

Many people abuse vehicles, but often that is because it's difficult to know when they're exceeding the limits. I rented a U-Haul cube truck recently to haul away some heavy construction debris. I did some Internet research ahead of time and measured the oddball size of the debris pile and in the end the weigh scale at the disposal place confirmed that I was just under the load limit. It would have been a lot easier if there was a scale near one of the back wheels that indicated when the weight in the back had compressed the springs consistent with the max load capacity.

Chris

 

[Industrial Toys]

A friend is in the Small engines and Utility business, mostly for contractors and government. He is alway telling stories of utility vehicles coming in that were poorly selected for the task and equiped with all kinds of equipment. The damage, wear and COST is quite something. SALT alone does amazing things to equipment!

 

[Chris616]

One of the contributors on the other message board that I linked earlier has posted the image below. It shows that Club Car has doubled the specification for fluid volume in the rear differential for all model years, presumably in an attempt to reduce the failure rate. I have no idea if Bobcat, New Holland and Husqvarna have done the same.

Chris

 

[Bugtussleric]

One of the contributors on the other message board that I linked earlier has posted the image below. It shows that Club Car has doubled the specification for fluid volume in the rear differential for all model years, presumably in an attempt to reduce the failure rate. I have no idea if Bobcat, New Holland and Husqvarna have done the same.

Chris

View attachment 618469

I recently bought a 2016 Club Car Carryall 1500 with 870 hours that had it's rear differential replaced in 2017 with 470 hours on the cart. I am changing the differential fluid now and am unsure about how much fluid to add. I have a the 2016 owners manual and it says 20 oz. The bulletin you shared shows 40 oz. My manual is 2 years newer/current than that bulletin. I drained the old fluid out and it measured 48 oz.! Whoever filled it up last must have used the filler port as a level indicator which my manual specifically says not to do. Its says fill by volume=20oz. I wish I could get an official update on how much to add. Do you have any more info Chris? Thanks! Eric