Have been following this thread and will pass along my experiences gained
from having done a number of these.
The idea of flushing the old and replacing it without a rebuild is certainly
quick and convenient, and I will try the recent 'TriFlow based' suggestion
in the next one I come upon. However, what we don't know without 'going in'
is what's really there. What I have found has been wear that is usually
minimal but in at least one case was pretty severe (a Triton IV that had
seen some use) and trying to get the old parts to work properly AND SMOOTHLY
would have not worked. I have also taken old grease out that was
essentiually in a somewhat crystallized form that resembled something
between lumps and small rocks. I doubt that this would flush out adequately
if present.
The cost of a kit from T*T at abt $25.00 is really pretty minimal,
considering the fact that in doing this, one is replacing virtually all the
critical wear components in the reduction, and in part the drive assembly.
IMHO, this has benefits in that the unit will function flawlessly if the
instructions are followed. Also, there are at least two 'vintages' of the
PTO innards that I am aware of, and the kit updates to the new ones. These
seem to wear longer than the old design, for whatever reason. In doing so,
one also becomes acquainted with what the mechanism does, how it works, and
this is invaluable for future reference, as obscure as it may seem. The job
has a bit of a learning curve to it. The first one I did took me several
hours. The last two ~1 Hr each, at separate times. All these have worked
flawlessly for me.
Then, there was the one that I rebuilt without a kit. It would have been
fine, but I used Lubriplate, a Lithium-based grease that stays put. I have
used this in other apps with outstanding results. This one was a disaster in
that the grease was too thin to do its job properly, and evidently moved out
of the bearing contact surfaces after having been out of use for several
weeks, so I don't recommend that one.
So, the way I see it, the rebuild is a guarantee of sorts. A flush and
replace is probably a good bet (I'll try it.)
GL -
Tom N5OZQ
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