My front Axle almost came off!!

[Double Orange]

Thanks for posting the pictures! Glad you where able to skip the dealer expense! Nice job, glad your up and working again.

 

[redlevel]

They will not fail.

Rob

Yeah, that's what they said about that plating on the Titanic.

I don't believe the failure was caused by lack of grease, either. I tend to agree with you about the cause. With anything close to normal use, though, that failure should not happen at 1300 hours. If I had a similar tractor with a loader, I would be very concerned. I'd get me a grinder with a brush and start looking real hard. It could be dangerous for that section to fail with a load of dirt in the bucket, maybe headed down a little slope . . .

I have often thought to myself that the front-ends on some of those tractors looked a little spindly.

 

[Willl]

Nice job Rob.





Just a small safety note.
That cinder block will kill you.

 

[BTDT]

Nice job on the repair. Only thing, be careful with this setup http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...y-front-axle-almost-came-front-end-fix-5-.jpg

If that block that your floor jack is sitting on breaks, you will have a mess on your hands (and maybe elsewhere). I realize you also have jack stands in place, but please be careful.

edit: oops! I guess Willl and I posted the same thing at about the same time, sorry.

 

[Leejohn]

Hi,
I also looked at your picture and I thank you did a nice job. I also looked at the parts manual and it shows a seal in each housing and a thrust washer at each end of the shaft, but no grease fitting.

Lee

 

[Stand-up Dave]

I have a question about the crack shooting off to the right in picture 13. The repair in picture 16 shows weld over the entire cracked area. I am wondering if you drilled a small hole at the end of that crack to effectively 'dead-end' the crack?

I have had a few experiences where I repaired a crack after cutting a groove in the crack with an angle grinder, filled in the groove with weld, only to have the crack re-appear at the end of the repair. A friend told me about drilling a hole at the end to 'relieve the stress', and then fill with weld.

I am self-taught, so by no means an expert. I am just wondering what experiences others have had with similar types of repairs. Thanks!

 

[RobJ]

Hi,
I also looked at your picture and I thank you did a nice job. I also looked at the parts manual and it shows a seal in each housing and a thrust washer at each end of the shaft, but no grease fitting.

Lee

Good catch Lee. There is a hard plastic looking seal in the cups. I dodn't bring them home so I can't look closer at them. No thrust washers in there unless they are stuck to the cups. I might have missed them, I was mainly looking at the damage. I'll check my parts and shop manual today. Good reminder.

 

[RobJ]

Nice job Rob.

Just a small safety note.
That cinder block will kill you.

Guilty, sometimes you have to work with what you have. I was never under it until I had the stands in place. And I had to shift the block a couple times to get the position right. This weekend i'll bring up my larger jack for better support. It would have been easier to lift on the front guard, but i don't think that is as solid as the frame itself.

Rob

 

[wushaw]

I can see how and why you need the extra lift on the little floor jack, I see no reason why you need the bigger jack since you were just getting clearance for the jack stands and not using the cinder block for holding the tractor while you were under it.

If the cinder block would have gave way then the tractor would have rested back on it's tires and not on you.

 

[dfkrug]

Nice repair job, Rob.

That is a surprising failure. I had a 99 L2500, too, but the DT version.
It did have zerks for the front pivot on a heavier axle.

What is the diameter of your pivot pin? I had to replace one on my
JD and I was surprised it was only 1 inch. Grease is hard to get in
there even WITH zerks.