B6000 Front Axle Repair

[east coast andy]

I have recently purchase a B6000 4wd. This website helpled me to fully service the tractor. After replacing the front axle mounting bushes i have decided to proceed to replacing the front pivot/swivel bushes and seals.

There seems to be some movement between the hub(reduction gear case) and front axle and the large seal between the hub and axle is leaking gear oil from the reduction gear case.

I have a parts manual and service manual for the B6000 and a Workshop manual for the B6100 but it dosent help with info regarding how to remove the fron hub from the axle so i can replace the bushed and seals.

I hope the attached photo uploaded ok.

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

Oh yeah this is my first post.

Cheers Andy.

 

[dusty-t]

I am sorry no one has answered yet. But this will take it to the top of the pile. Myself, I would just start rippin in. I have never done one.But you have a parts manual which should tell you if there are any nasty springs or ball bearings or such that are going to come flying out if you take it apart. I would start by draining as much of the fluid as possible. Remove the steering linkage and then all the bolts from that backing plate. and go from there. Good luck and keep us posted. Dusty

 

[TopGear]

Hi Andy

I have done this job a few years ago on my B6000. If you have a look at one of my old posts I have a photo showing the hubs which where rusted and had no oil in them for a long time before I brought the tractor. Anyway being a B6000 it didn't phase it too much

To do both sides takes a while - like a weekend - well for me anyway. As Dusty mentioned just start unbolting the outside housing and the inside housing. There will be 5 bearings in each side from memory.

See if you can get a hold of "Kubota Shop Manual" by I&T Shop Service K-201. I think if you search the net or Google books you may even find its available online. It has a section (Paragraphs 10-11 page 8 of the B series section) on the B6100 which details breakdown and assembly better than the other manuals you had and walks you through it step by step. Also note I can find no difference in the front axle between the B6000 and B6100 and all parts seem interchangeable.

For the bearings + oil seals go to you local supplier of bearings and buy SKF bearings or the like which will be much cheaper than buying them from kubota. i.e. take all bearings out and go into your local supplier and he will measure them. I think you can buy four of the 5 bearings as they are stock standard however one bearing is kubota specific and has a type of oil seal attached to the bearing hence you will have to buy this off kubota. Also new gaskets, wipers, felt seals etc will need to be brought from kubota.

Also before you change your kingpin or kingpin bushes I would check them with a good set of calipers as I found mine where still in spec (details are in one of the manuals) and they are expenses - like $200 for a set of kingpin bushes. I found even without oil mine where still in spec so I didn't change them.

Anyway hopefully the above helps.

Cheers John

P.S. I'm not on the list as much lately as I've been fixing a Hyster ZA-80 forklift and my kubota never seems to break down! So if I don't respond again good luck!

 

[fj40dave]

That picture looks a lot like the front hub on the older Land Cruisers I have worked on (and own).....and like the others' have posted....."dig in and enjoy!".....I sould start with those seal retainer bolts on the inside surface there.....that will get you to the seal for that knuckle.

Rubber gloves....

Dave

 

[east coast andy]

Cheers for the info guys!

I have ordered the manual you mentioned Top Gear and it should arrive soon.

Then i will proceed to tear down the fron axle and see what happens.

I know i will be replacing the knigpin bushes as they feel pretty sloppy both sides and the oil seals and dust seals.

Hopefully the bearings are ok, but who knows?

Anyway i will keep u posted.

 

[east coast andy]

Well,

i finally got a break from the missus and kids and jumped into the axle repair. had a good stash of heinekin and some new oil seals to get me started.

anyway i had an easy time removing the upper and lower kinpins which then released the reduction gear case and axle shaft so i could replace the oil seal.

but to my surprise there was no axle seal there to replace!

the attachemnts below show the oil seal (part 37) which i assume sits in its own housing in the axel case, but as the photo of the axel case shows there is no housing?

i am trying to prevent the front diff oil leaking out through this hole.

the final photo shows the oil seal and retaining circlip provided by my local parts supplier, which he gets flown in from melbourne.

the chassis no is b6000 32638

my theory is that i have to remove the axel case from the diff housing to insert the seal (but didnt see any sign of it looking though the shaft hole)

or its a freak b6000 that dosent have an oil seal for the axle shaft ( i know that from working on jap bikes there are lots of wierd models out there)

any help would be appreciated.

cheers!

andy

 

[east coast andy]

g'day,

i have progressed with the front axel repair. i figured out that to gain access to the seal i need to remove the front axel case from the diff housing.

after a bit of persuaision from the rubber mallet it was free.

now my only problem is there is a bearing, shim, circlp in the way then do i get to reomve the troublesome seal.

both upper and lower king pin bushes are stuffed as well as their respective bushes.

also i will have to replace all gaskets that i have discovered during the tear down.

pics below show the bearing to be removed from the gear case to access the blown oil seal and the next pic shows the view towards the diff.

anyway i will keep u posted on the axel repair progress

andy

 

[east coast andy]

sorry here is the pic of the bearing to be removed.

cheers!

 

[east coast andy]

I have progressed with the axel repair, i recieved new king pins, bushes, thrust bearings, knukle dust seals, felt seals ect from tsunami ravaged japan.

Anyway i prized the bearing out and replaced the seal. next was to punch out the king pin bushes, and install the new ones, this was done by using the correct size socket and hammer and a lot of patience.

When i removed the axel shaft the diff center came out as well, i gentley tapped this free so i could then remove the above mentioned bearing.

when i re installed the axel case to the diff housing i used a new kubota gasket + "permatex form a gasket compuond" (dont want to fix one oil leak and create another)

basically just re assembled in the reverse order of dis assembly. one bolt snapped off on the steering arm assembly which was removed with a screw extractor. main part of the job has been spent carefully scraping old gasket material from the metal surfaces.

the uni joint behing the knuckle was cleaned with petrol and re greased before re assembly.

next is to tackle the other side and replace the king pins, bushes and knucle seals.

its a pretty easy repair but quiet expensive, it has cost about $700 aus for the parts alone. i have re used one top king pin as they are about $180 aus each from kubota.

hopefully the attached pics show the process.

 

[fj40dave]

Andy....that repair is coming along nicely Mate!

Good on ya.

 

[300zx]

Andy, the repair looks great! Thanks for all of the pictures. I am still amazed at how beefy these little tractor are! Did you ever figure out what happened to the missing seal?

John

 

[napakettu]

Years later I am now attempting the same repair. I lost traction on my front axle and I'm proceeding to take it all apart to see what's the damage.

This post is quite helpful, with all the pictures. So, thanks for posting!

Any hints for getting the top king pins out? I can only get them to wiggle a bit, but they don't move.
Also, how do I know if the king pins are shot or still serviceable?

Cheers!

 

[JosephGozo]

hello.
sorry if i unearth this thread in 2018. I have decided to dedicate my summer recess to treat the little b7001 (1978) to a full respray (strip down) and bearing/seal replacements of all wheels and pto (very leaky)

i am currently tackling the front axle. this thread has been very useful (photos and all) I have managed to find a Greek dealership that still stocks part for most japanese tractors! they posted parts to Malta with no problem within 3 days. i do not know if i can mention them here so i will stop here.

i have a question about the differential. i used a punch to markup the crown and pinion gear to ensure parts go back the way they were. The problem is the bearings of the diff carrier look tired/rough/with movement when outer race is wiggled in and out. is it easy to replace them? just remove and press new ones? it has two shims which i took note of where they were. i do not want to upset the differential settings. Or some sort of preload should be obtained?

Cheers.
Joseph.