Kubota RTV 900 Rear Axle install

N

NTKimi

New member
The rear axles only want to go halfway back into the transmission. It must be some alignment issue. I am stumped.

I have taken my sweet time putting this machine back together so maybe I am forgetting something.

I have the new axles all ready to go inside the bumper housing and getting it into place is quite difficult in itself. I even tried the old axle and it won't go in either.

i need a beer.
 
if it is out of kilter ( the plates inside the transmission , it will act like that. It is sort of like a combination on a safe. in neutral, turn the new axle slowly back and forth as you push the axle into the transmission. it will go in a tad , move back and forth and push again and again. It will gradually get in . Just take your time.. did you mark the spline when you took it out? My mark came off and I did this procedure and all turned out ok .. collie
 
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collie

have you done the rear axles on your current RTV yet? I am curious as to the differences between your old unit and the one you have now?
 
bordercollie said:
if it is out of kilter ( the plates inside the transmission , it will act like that. It is sort of like a combination on a safe. in neutral, turn the new axle slowly back and forth as you push the axle into the transmission. it will go in a tad , move back and forth and push again and again. It will gradually get in . Just take your time.. did you mark the spline when you took it out? My mark came off and I did this procedure and all turned out ok .. collie
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This info could darn well come in handy down the road, thanks.
Harry
 
Thank you Orange Buggy. The first time this same thing happened to me, I got a big lump in my throat and said a prayer :) It was answered too when that idea of pushing and turning popped in my head. :)
Aurthuritis, I haven't done the 2011 RTV 900 xt yet.. The parts haven't come in and our big bull sale is this Saturday at our barn. I can't start on it till after that anyways. Also need to go to Ark and work on the place. . I need 2 of me right now-maybe 3 naaaw .. they would kill each other and then me . ;) collie
 
Thanks for the advice. After a 15 minute break I went and dipped the rear axles in the super UDT fluid(not sure if this actually helped) and was able to "jiggle" them into place into the transmission.

The "it's like a safe" analogy was spot on.

Now my problem has changed. One axle goes in perfect...the other seems to be too big. It goes in till just before the bearing. It's not out of line like before...Its actually too big. I gave it a tap and a hit with the hammer and had to stop. Barely got it back out. Had to whack it hard to remove it from trans.

I bought bran new rear axles from super atv for 199 each. (My others were beyone repair from one end to the next). Now I am concerned I have ruined an axle and needing to get another. Thats money down the drain.

Maybe I should try to file it down...I don't know. I guess if super atv won't take it back I will have to try to salvage it.

What I should have asked yesterday is this: When reinstalling the rear axles. Do I put the inner and outers back together(Outers in the bumper housing) first. Or do I put the inners back in the transmission first...then slider the outers on while they are in the bumper housing. I hope this makes sense.
 
I mounted my inners to the transmission first. (I used the RTV sealant between them and the transmission) This getting them together is what takes the time especially if you are doing it alone.look inside the outer part and line up the splines and be ready to improvise so you can get one started and the other. I used all sorts of stuff to help me. my knees, 2x4s as props etc.. but I got it by myself except for help from Above.
If you don't have the inner sealant applied on the inner that fits, yet, can you get it out and compare the 2? or try it on the other problem side? Just a thought. Good Luck, collie
 
On mine it took equally tightening up the bolts to draw it in.They are a tight fit and it should slip in while tightening the bolts.You may be a bit nervious doing things now and i cant blame ya.If worse comes to worse remove the 1 you have installed already and swap them around and see what happens.THe ones on the trans should go in forst before the outer axel.This way its easier to line things back up and not mess up any of the teeth.Im not sure if your new axles came asselbled as in boots strapped on or not.If so that is a goofy design as you really have to seperate them to install the rear bumper.You can also call the parts place and ask them.A dumb question is always better than a dumb mistake IMO.
 
Thanks for the advice. The one axle that is good will fit in either side of the trans. The bad axle wont go slide all the way in both sides....about an inch short. i dont think the bolts will reach but will try that tomorrow.

I am going to practice patience on this one.

No way i could have done this without all the help on this board. I am sooooo close now.
 
When you have the new axles side by side .. are you saying one is shorter than the other? I would tell the seller what the deal is, you want one to match the "good" one and have them send you a replacement of the right length... How does the new replacement compare to the old ones in length? I'm thinking that you were shipped 2 different model fits.. Good Luck, I think they will do the right thing and get this straight... but stay after them.
I'd hesitate with tightening those bolts since the length is wrong.. If it were me,, I'd measure the old shaft that originally came out of the RTV , measure the new shaft that fits, see if they are the same, and tell the sellers that is what you want shipped asap and I would wait on it to come before doing anything else ..

edit: if the length is the same but the troublemaker is not going in, I'd still have them send another.. The inner plates of the transmission could get bent etc and that would cost you a fortune. The splines of the shaft or something isn't syncing in there... something on troublemaker is different from the other shaft.. good luck, collie
 
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Harbor Freight and most of the big box stores sell these for $10-20 and they are invaluable when comparing dimensions on various parts. They are also very easy to use. I have a couple of them just for the kind of problems described in this post. IT's easy to measure OD and spline dimensions with them and it's also data to tell the supplier they screwed up, if they did.

image_13305.jpg
 
avantiguy said:
Harbor Freight and most of the big box stores sell these for $10-20 and they are invaluable when comparing dimensions on various parts. They are also very easy to use. I have a couple of them just for the kind of problems described in this post. IT's easy to measure OD and spline dimensions with them and it's also data to tell the supplier they screwed up, if they did.
Click to expand...

You are right avantiguy. I got one of these last year and have used it more than I ever thought I would. Just make sure it is off after the case is closed :yum:. ( mine came on in there and used up that little coin battery 2x. Now I keep spare batteries bought cheap on Ama zon.)
 
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I got the axles in!

It took me about 20 hours to do this project but I am far from a mechanic and I pretty much have a new machine now after replacing:

Seat and Back Rest
Belt
2 Trans. filters and Super UDT oil
Engine oil and Filter
Complete new rear axles with grease fittings
Bed(someone had a new one on ebay for $425...$200 to ship...came with new taillamps)

It's too late for this project but I would have loved to have the tool pictured in a couple posts above because the axle definetly was too snug fitting into the trans.

The axles were all the same length...and the axle I mentioned in an above post as "the good axle" would barely fit into the problem side of the trans.

Here is what I did after hours of manipulating all these components and coming up about 1/2 of an inch short of getting the axle in. WARNING: I do not recommend doing all of the things below!

1. I also noticed the inner trans bearing would not fit back into the slot in the trans. The new one and the old one wouldn't fit back into place...if I let it go it would fall back off...SO...in frustration (and after hrs of sweating) I took the old bearing and tapped it in with a mason's hammer(which i love). Then I would pull it back out with the head of a regular hammer simply by sticking the head inside the bearing and tugging lighly back toward me.
I did this 5 times going a bit further each time until the bearing was halfway in the slot. I didn't risk going too far cause I may not get it out.

2. I pushed the new inner axle into place by hand...like i said earlier. It went in until just before the bearing...so probably 1/2 an inch is all I lacked. I grabbed my hammer and started tapping it in...took 50 taps....all light except a few moderate taps. I know you are all freaking out hearing me say this but remember I had already had trouble getting the axles into the trans when BC said it is like a safe that is just not perfectly in line. I knew from that experience(when I could hear a metal on metal ping as I tried slide in the axle) that this was different...ultimately the axles were probably a mm too large or the trans was a mm off...in other words...something was too snug. The rear bearing being too snug was just another crazy problem I do not understand. But...by using the old to clear the way earlier with the hammer ...that helped.
OH...I barely remembered to put the flange sealant in time cause it would take a lot to get that axle out...I think its in there forever or I would have to remove the next trans plate bolted onto the side of the trans.

out of space...continued.....
 
3. Here is what I really wanted to share because it worked well and others may find useful.
So I have two inner rear axles now sealed and bolted onto the trans. The outer axles(with 2 near bearings each) I installed into the rear bumper housing...I greased heavily thanks to Finch's advice. (there was no grease present when I dissasembled)

Now here is the good part...sorry no pics
I have 1 floor jack already in place in the middle of the vehicle from the rear basically below the trans.
The rear bumper is heavy so I decided to use the tires just laying there to hold each end of the bumper into place. The tires were just about the right height to connect the splines from inner to outer.
To get the bumper level(cause the hitch was laying on the ground) I took another floor jack with a block and jacked up the hitch to make the bumper level and in place.
It was easy of course to get one side(inner and outer axle splines) together. The other side was more difficult....(it reminded me of when you fix a leak in pvc....when you have dug a hole and each side of the pipe cannot flex or move enough to get the new coupling in place and your glue is drying!)
This was different as I could move the bumper housing with the two floor jacks....I could raise and lower both of them until I found the sweet spot where I could insert the splines of the second side.

Now...there is a lot of talk about marking the splines....which I didn't do originally. I talked to the kubota parts guy and he showed me the u joints in the inner and outer need to line up. SO...when I had the inners installed...I took the outers and found the alignment and then marked the splines with white out. This is a must as most of you know...no way to align the u joints while the outers are in the bumper housing cause you can't see them at that point. I think of the ujoints as crosses....if one cross is straight up and down the other needs to be the same.

4. Reinstalled the rest of the equipment including shocks and wheel assembly. All the while praying I didn't destroy my machine with my work.
The first thing I did was put the vehicle in neutral and push it backword...nothing broke! Then I drove slowly for a few minutes...axles looked great....no squeaking like before! Then I gave it the final test...cut donuts in the parking lot...well sort of.:17875:
then fed the cows...all worked and sounded great. Thank the Lord!

I hope all this made sense and something was learned...Like I said earlier...I could not have done this project without all of the advice that has been put on this site over the years. I hope I filled in any gaps which is ridiculous because I am such a poor mechanic...but I felt obligated to write this because so many of you have taken time and whether you knew it or not i read it and it made a difference for me.

Cheers
 
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JUst make sure you have the joints lined up.If they are out of sync you will know it.It will vibrate your socks off.Someplace here i have directions on how to line them up.You can look in one of the u joint repair threads or ir may even be pinned .Hope it all works out well for you.
Regards

Mark
 
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