A few weeks ago I was at our ranch property in northern Wyoming. We were riding up a trail following a creek, after crossing the creek several times the lower ball joint on the passenger side sheared off, not good to say the least considering the terrain is very rocky with the creek bed lined with watermelon size river rock.
We still have no idea which crossing the damage occurred, did I mention the tie rod was also bent? AND we were 2 miles upstream in a steep canyon with 40 degree water flowing through the creek. Truly up a creek Wait it gets better!
We were able to limp the 825 back to our remote property (no landline no cell service), carefully re tracing our tracks trying not cause any more damage.
Once back at the ranch, we pulled the wheel as upright as possible and wired the lower A arm to the knuckle assembly in order to load the Gator back on the trailer in preparation for a 6 hour drive home.
With the 825 safely loaded the trailer, we started the drive back home. During the drive home I obviously had the time to formulate a plan for the pending repair. I decided to go ahead and replace all ball joints on the front end and tie rod on the steering rack. I also was thinking it would be a good idea to replace both wheel bearings. I bought the Gator used and from my experience with previous repairs it was time to replace the bearings.
Okay I had a plan set, it was now time to start sourcing parts. While at a fueling and lunch stop driving home, I was finally able to get on the iPhone and the JD parts app and check availability at my local JD shop- mind you my home town local dealership is 30 miles away in a adjacent town. Well of course they didn't have anything AND you can't simply purchase a tie rod for the repair, at this point I was not confident the tie rod could be straightened. So I added the steering rack to the parts list. Ugh! $$$
Once back home with 2012 825 unloaded, I began dissembling the front end. At this point I also saw a torn outboard CV boot on the front axle, back the parts application on the computer. Can you guess? . the boot was not available locally. SO another part order crap! . After further tear down I noticed one of the front differential output seals was starting to show signs of oil seeping. Again trying to be proactive I decided to replace all the seals and gasket on the differential.
As I was getting ready to drain the oil from the differential, I remembered the drain plug needed to be replaced -because whoever serviced the differential before I bought the machine stripped the fricking plug.. thank god for vise grips!! Again parts were ordered, I was really thinking what is next?
Finally with the differential dropped and on the bench I removed case end in preparation of replacing the gasket. As I lifted the case end the roller cage came apart! with rollers and spring steel keepers all over the place. The cage was cracked, so with parts lying in the differential case I was thinking the clips fell deep into the abyss of the case dang!! I had no idea how many were lost?
After thinking about it for a minute, I figured I could count the number of the clips on the end of the cage that remained somewhat intact in order to determine how many were lost. I truly did not want to tear down the gearing in the case to find the missing clips. So I found 9 clips- the assembled the roller cage has 10. Shit . 1 clip was missing!!! Holy crap!! I searched all over the place AND finally found the missing clip on the floor HOORAY!!! Again the cage assembly was ordered!!!! PHEW ..
Oh I forgot to mention both wheel rotors were really questionable, and the brake pads needed to be replaced soon. I didn't want to tear down the front end anytime soon soooo rotors and brake pads were ordered
I hope the remaining parts will arrive in the next couple days, so I can finally put this thing back together. The weather is going to be cold the next few days, so I will have the propane heater blazing in my dirt floored barn .
My friends wish me luck !!!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
We still have no idea which crossing the damage occurred, did I mention the tie rod was also bent? AND we were 2 miles upstream in a steep canyon with 40 degree water flowing through the creek. Truly up a creek Wait it gets better!
We were able to limp the 825 back to our remote property (no landline no cell service), carefully re tracing our tracks trying not cause any more damage.
Once back at the ranch, we pulled the wheel as upright as possible and wired the lower A arm to the knuckle assembly in order to load the Gator back on the trailer in preparation for a 6 hour drive home.
With the 825 safely loaded the trailer, we started the drive back home. During the drive home I obviously had the time to formulate a plan for the pending repair. I decided to go ahead and replace all ball joints on the front end and tie rod on the steering rack. I also was thinking it would be a good idea to replace both wheel bearings. I bought the Gator used and from my experience with previous repairs it was time to replace the bearings.
Okay I had a plan set, it was now time to start sourcing parts. While at a fueling and lunch stop driving home, I was finally able to get on the iPhone and the JD parts app and check availability at my local JD shop- mind you my home town local dealership is 30 miles away in a adjacent town. Well of course they didn't have anything AND you can't simply purchase a tie rod for the repair, at this point I was not confident the tie rod could be straightened. So I added the steering rack to the parts list. Ugh! $$$
Once back home with 2012 825 unloaded, I began dissembling the front end. At this point I also saw a torn outboard CV boot on the front axle, back the parts application on the computer. Can you guess? . the boot was not available locally. SO another part order crap! . After further tear down I noticed one of the front differential output seals was starting to show signs of oil seeping. Again trying to be proactive I decided to replace all the seals and gasket on the differential.
As I was getting ready to drain the oil from the differential, I remembered the drain plug needed to be replaced -because whoever serviced the differential before I bought the machine stripped the fricking plug.. thank god for vise grips!! Again parts were ordered, I was really thinking what is next?
Finally with the differential dropped and on the bench I removed case end in preparation of replacing the gasket. As I lifted the case end the roller cage came apart! with rollers and spring steel keepers all over the place. The cage was cracked, so with parts lying in the differential case I was thinking the clips fell deep into the abyss of the case dang!! I had no idea how many were lost?
After thinking about it for a minute, I figured I could count the number of the clips on the end of the cage that remained somewhat intact in order to determine how many were lost. I truly did not want to tear down the gearing in the case to find the missing clips. So I found 9 clips- the assembled the roller cage has 10. Shit . 1 clip was missing!!! Holy crap!! I searched all over the place AND finally found the missing clip on the floor HOORAY!!! Again the cage assembly was ordered!!!! PHEW ..
Oh I forgot to mention both wheel rotors were really questionable, and the brake pads needed to be replaced soon. I didn't want to tear down the front end anytime soon soooo rotors and brake pads were ordered
I hope the remaining parts will arrive in the next couple days, so I can finally put this thing back together. The weather is going to be cold the next few days, so I will have the propane heater blazing in my dirt floored barn .
My friends wish me luck !!!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk