rtv 900 costly rear ujoint repair

markc

Member
new member here i have 2 rtv 900 2004 2007 the 2007 has 378 hours and the inter ujoints is gone so i order all 4 from a ebay seller for 25 dollar each instead of 75 at the dealer. so here i go start to change them not fun could not figure out how to get the spline apart was not enough room to pull apart somy buddy got his torch out and started cutting on the ujoint cloes the the tran. all well except he cuts one of the eye almost into so i need one section not. you have to buy the whole shaft 289.00 thats just half of one side. also when i took the axle out on both side the bearing was nothing but a rust pile seals had totally failed so that 4 bearing and 4 seals so im waiting on the parts the question i have is it possible to install the axle by just sliding the splines together or do ihave to leave one of the ujoints apart closes to the tranmission side </p>
 

sjcolu

New member
I just did thistwo weeks ago. Jack up the rtv and place two jack stands in front of the 2 rear leafs on the supports. place floor jack under rear axle not to lift just for support. remove all nuts from jeaf spring perches (both sides). remove band clamps from inner boots. slowly lower axle now twist the rear axle left to right to seperate the splines from the inner shaft to the outer.these splines only line up one way when going back, to make it easier before seperating take some paint marker and scribe a straight line across both shafts where they connect this will make reassembly very easy. now that the shafts are seperated remove the three bolts holding the inner shafts to the transmission, place a catch can under both sides to catch the trans oil. I lost about half a gallon. take a thin blade screwdriver and remove plates from side of trans, shaft ,bearing and u-joint will all come out as one.To answer your question reassemble joint on inner shaft on both sides then with some pivoting left and right align splines on one side then the other and finish reassembly.Hope this helped</p>
 

bordercollie

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When my rear ujoints went out at 1800 or so hrs , the bearings and seals were also replaced. They were'nt out but were rusty piles so everything was replaced while it was open. What about the quality of the ujoints you bought? Do they have the updated grease fitting ? I wonder if they were made in China or if they appear the same quality. We ordered some for our heavy feed wagon and they were in the black and orage box (you know the brand-- starts with a T - always associated with USA --- they were even out of the country.. Welcome to the forum.... Bordercollie<br _moz_editor_bogus_node="TRUE" /></p>
 

markc

Member
Iordered them off ebay the name of the company is cv restoretions . there web site is www.thecvman.com. also there are grease fitting on the cap end .and i think that would be a advantage in greasing themthe enter ones i am going to replace the straight one with a 90 degree one i believe there is enough room for it to rotate around and not hit the housing i need to go pick up the parts next weekend had to order the axle that goes into the tran. because my bubby nick one of the cap eyes with the torch and cut in half into afraid it would break very expensive mistake did not study the situation long enough thanks to sjcolu explaining how to take the carrier loose from the leaf spring giving enough room to spline them back up.hope i do not have much trouble installing the bearing and axles back threw the housing any help from anyone of you good fellow member would be very helpfull .I no dont worry the bubby with the torches in not going the touch them new bearings and axle thanks . everyone</p>
 

bordercollie

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markc, If by chance you want to use the contact info on this site to securely get your mailing address to me , I could send you some additional detailed info on how to do this thru the post office. What has already been explained was also very good. -- But these illustrations would be helpful. I can't post the info because it is copyrighted. Let me know if you email me since there have been problems with them going out. Bordercollie</p>
 

doggman

Member
Replacing them now...

I started replacing my rear u-joints yesterday on our 2005 RTV900. I followed the outline by SJCOLU posted above and it worked pretty well for removing the axle and u-joints.
I'm not done but here are a few observations.

1. The u-joints are now $86 each. The u-joints from a 1984,5,6, etc. Subaru Brat or GL are nearly identical and are $10 at Autozone... I already had the Kubotas so I used them.

2. Mine failed from rust and lack of grease from the factory. The seals are just plain cheap, even on the new greasable ones. Without the zerks, water would get in the new style, too.

3.The old greaseless ones are actually drilled for grease but Kubota didn't provide a zerk. Do you think they wanted to sell parts and service?

4. I think the u-joints are a little too small for the angle in the axle design. They needed a bigger joint which I think they now use.

5. A 12 ton press was barely sufficient to press out the u-joints. No way would a vice work.

To be continued...
 

doggman

Member
Finished, more power, and smoother

I actually finished up the U-joints last week. It's not a hard job but there is a lot of getting up and down in order to replace them. I found that it was relatively quick and easy to reinstall the axle assembly with 2 helpers and a floor jack under the hitch. That part is not a one man job.

The RTV is a lot smoother and quieter with the new u-joints. I could hear one squeak every so often before but I never realized how much "whirring" noise they really made nor the extra vibration they created.

I also adjusted the shifter cable and the throttle cable when I finished up. It helped just a little in getting it in gear. The real benefit was that it was never fulling opening the throttle - but it does now. It lacked about 3/16th inch from being pulled fully open with the initial dealer/factory set up. I probably gained 2 to 3 MPH in top speed and a noticable gain in power. It's worth checking it out. I don't usually use full throtlle but it's it's nice to have it if I need it. If you are plowing or have tracks you ought to check it out. Do a search for HST adjustment on this site.

I also checked the HST creep but it was fine.

It occurred to me that the those little u-joints take a lot of punishment with the HST braking. Since we don't use the brakes that often on RTVs there is a lot of torque on the axle shafts and joints during de-acceleration. All that twisting momentum and inertia gets transferred through those joints. No wonder they fail...
 

bordercollie

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This is a bump to show sjcolu's information on what he did to line up his shafts his source, etc. also Doggmans info.. bordercollie
 

rchristner

New member
markc, If by chance you want to use the contact info on this site to securely get your mailing address to me , I could send you some additional detailed info on how to do this thru the post office. What has already been explained was also very good. -- But these illustrations would be helpful. I can't post the info because it is copyrighted. Let me know if you email me since there have been problems with them going out. Bordercollie</p>

Bordercollie, not sure if you are still active here since it has been quite some time, but I messaged you through contact system on this site. I am about to undertake a project to replace passenger side inner u joint at just under 1500 hours and will take all of the info I can get my hands on
 

bordercollie

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Hey, I'm here. Just got back from having no internet at the old family home (that I'm in the process of selling so trying to clean it up etc) Did you see the latest post I made on the 2011 ujoint replacements ? It's improved over the first time I did it. link follows ..
You need to take off that tube that connects the rear sides so might as well do both sides at the same time. Thats the hardest part of the whole thing .. ( removing and replacing it) . Mark everything and take pictures. The spline shafts need to be phased so pay attention to how they are positioned . I think there's a link to a picture of proper phasing on the thread that I participated in . ( Rear U joints needed again ) https://www.nettractortalk.com/foru...joints-needed-again.13788/page-13#post-116366 I'll be glad to help but its been a good while since I did the job.
 
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rchristner

New member
Hey, I'm here. Just got back from having no internet at the old family home (that I'm in the process of selling so trying to clean it up etc) Did you see the latest post I made on the 2011 ujoint replacements ? It's improved over the first time I did it. link follows ..
You need to take off that tube that connects the rear sides so might as well do both sides at the same time. Thats the hardest part of the whole thing .. ( removing and replacing it) . Mark everything and take pictures. The spline shafts need to be phased so pay attention to how they are positioned . I think there's a link to a picture of proper phasing on the thread that I participated in . ( Rear U joints needed again ) https://www.nettractortalk.com/foru...joints-needed-again.13788/page-13#post-116366 I'll be glad to help but its been a good while since I did the job.
Thank you! I read through all the threads and found them very informative. In the end I ended up just replacing the inner passenger side u joint while both propellor shaft yokes were still connected to the 2004 RTV 900 so that I didn’t have to remove the axle. Maybe next time I’ll pull everything apart and rebuild all 4, but for now I wanted to get back on the trail for fall colors as quickly as possible
 
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