Final Drive Installation - Avoiding Disaster

You already know final drives aren't cheap.  Even used final drives can cost thousands of dollars.  The last thing you want to do is get a new final drive and hook the unit up to your machine wrong.  That can prove to be a very costly mistake.  Here are important tips that can help you hook your drive up quickly and without problems.

You can save a lot of time and some headaches by tagging hoses as you remove them.  Much like electrical work, knowing where hoses go will help with installation.  You can use colored tape, or mark the tape with chalk or a pen.

When you remove the old drive, it's a good idea to clean up the area of dirt, debris, and leaked fluid.  This will reduce chances your new unit will be contaminated when you install it.

Before you reattach the hoses to your replacement drive, make sure the connections are clean.  You should do the same if you are installing a final drive motor.

Put hydraulic fluid in the final drive motor before you install it or you could cause major damage when you run the machine.

You should also add gear oil to the planetary hub.  Many final drives are shipped with gear oil already inside.  If this is the case with your new final drive, at the very least check gear oil levels.

It's very important to replace the case drain filter if your machine has a case drain.  A clogged case drain is a major cause for final drive failure.

Once you have the new final drive installed, test the unit.  Do this before you put the sprocket on.  Move forwards and backwards.  If it runs in the wrong direction then you know you have the input and output lines hooked up backwards.

All of these are simple steps to avoid disaster however, you'd be surprised how many people do not take the time to perform these simple things to prevent damaging a final drive they spent thousands of dollars on.