After recently buying a 20ish year old B7800 I pulled the mower deck only to discover bad sounds coming from the left side of the front axle. When I pulled the cover, I noticed overflowing sealant that wasn't present on the other side, so maybe this has been opened before.
The bottom bearing had completely disintegrated and bits of the ball cage were going through the bottom gears. With the balls out of the race, the pinion shaft could move plenty far enough to open up clearance for race bits to go through the gears. The pinion was damaged enough I chose to order a new one, but the ring gear looks OK. The pinion shaft had dropped down and the pinion teeth were only engaging the outer edges of the ring gear teeth.
Obviously bits of metal have been circulating through the axle. The big bits seem to have mostly stayed in the lower portion of the left side. While waiting for parts, I decided to open the right side to see how things looked over there. What I found is a little grittiness in the bearings, but no chunks. All bearings will be flushed until the spin freely.
The really weird part is that the two sides have different bearings in front of the ring gear. The left side is a NSK pressed onto the hub shaft. The right side is a KOYO that is a close, but free fit on the hub shaft. Both are numbered 6305. One of these must be wrong. Pressed fit seems like that should be right, but I don't know. Maybe it doesn't matter for a low speed application like this.
Advice and comments are welcome.
The bottom bearing had completely disintegrated and bits of the ball cage were going through the bottom gears. With the balls out of the race, the pinion shaft could move plenty far enough to open up clearance for race bits to go through the gears. The pinion was damaged enough I chose to order a new one, but the ring gear looks OK. The pinion shaft had dropped down and the pinion teeth were only engaging the outer edges of the ring gear teeth.
Obviously bits of metal have been circulating through the axle. The big bits seem to have mostly stayed in the lower portion of the left side. While waiting for parts, I decided to open the right side to see how things looked over there. What I found is a little grittiness in the bearings, but no chunks. All bearings will be flushed until the spin freely.
The really weird part is that the two sides have different bearings in front of the ring gear. The left side is a NSK pressed onto the hub shaft. The right side is a KOYO that is a close, but free fit on the hub shaft. Both are numbered 6305. One of these must be wrong. Pressed fit seems like that should be right, but I don't know. Maybe it doesn't matter for a low speed application like this.
Advice and comments are welcome.
