2072 Axle Carrier Problem
 

When I bought my 2072 the other day, I knew it had a piece that had broken off the cast aluminum axle carrier housing. One of the previous owners had over-torqued a bolt and popped off a chunk of aluminum. I figured it wasn't a problem, I just ordered another used axle carrier.

What I failed to notice was that the bolt was a larger size (3/4" head instead of the original 9/16").This means that someone has likely drilled out the Rear Transaxle Housing to accommodate the larger bolt.

Ideally, I'd like to use the bolt that is supposed to be there as opposed to the larger one. How would I go about repairing the Transaxle housing to return the hole to original size? Would I be better off to just go ahead and drill out the new axle carrier to use the same larger bolt? Thanks

http://i39.tinypic.com/2rokpea.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/2lst9v8.jpg

I'm going to think about this one for a little while before I fire off an answer. Don't want to give you bad info. Off the top of my head I think it can be saved but stay tuned.:bigthink:

I would try to use the oversize bolt with it's head cut off as an insert in the housing. Someone with a lathe could drill and tap the the center of the oversize bolt for the correct thread (3/8-16 if I remember correctly). Then the insert could be installed with threadlocker and the proper bolt installed.

I think the easiest way would be to weld a hardened washer to the frame where the hole was enlarged. I have done it a few times in the past with good luck. If you are not concerned with the look of a washer there. That would be about a 10 minute repair with a wire welder.

Keensert ......

The others have given you good advice. Just my 2 cents but I'd pull the rear cover and take a look inside to see what you are dealing with. If the PO has just drilled it and tapped it for a 1/2" bolt you may be better of leaving it alone. If it's not leaking a quick and dirty way to fix it would be to just put some JB weld on the axle tube and a set of axle braces from Xtreme. problem solved. Other options are replace the tube and heli-coil the case. Drill the new tube for the 1/2" bolt. All depends on how much work you feel like doing. Don't think it broke from being over torqued more likely it got loose and twisted, that is how most of them break and why I designed the rear end brace. BTDT Take a good look at the front mounts up near the pump.

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'd just leave it alone if it wasn't leaking a little more than I'd like. Right now I'm waiting for the axle tube I ordered to arrive before I break into it.

The Keensert thing looks promising if I can figure out how to decode the sizes.

Sam, when you say the front mounts up near the pump, are you talking about the left axle tube bolt hole at the 11'oclock position? That's where my worst leak seems to be coming from.

No, I'm talking about where the front of the trans is attached to the frame. The 4 bolts on each side circled in red in the first pic. Very often they break the attachment point on the pump adapter housing like in the second pic. That's why I designed the rear end brace last 2 pics

Ah, I see now. I just checked them over and there doesn't seem to be an issue. I wiped everything down last night and there are some leaks around the upper two bolt holes on both axle carriers/tubes as well as someplace on the pump adapter housing. I'm thinking it might be best to pull the whole rear end out and fix everything at once.

Thanks again for your pictures and expertise, Sam.

Yep you will need to pull the rear out anyway to change the axle tubes. The cork gasket is probably shot. While you have it out you can also drill the case for some oil drain back holes. I'll post a couple links to threads for you to look at. I'm going to be pulling the rear out of my 1782 to do pretty much the same things to it as soon as I get the engine back in it.