1811 drive shaft parts

[john hall]

Not really looking for help, just ran into something interesting/annoying. About 3 weeks ago pulled engine out of 1811 to replace coil, found flex couplings, shaft and ball joint were destroyed. Kind of ticked off as I put it all in new about 4 years ago. Got all new parts, put it back together and noticed driveshaft running out (wobbling). Being a machinist I had to check---.080" TIR (way too much). Back has been bothering me so lawnmower had to wait until I felt like working on it. Decided to start at the flywheel coupling. The pin and thru hole are fine, but the 4 tapped holes for the ball coupler are about .015" out of center (.030 TIR). Hmm, bad, probably been that way since new, probably shortened driveline life but not terribly destructive. Next I checked the ball coupler I just installed. The mounting holes are about .025" out of center (.050 TIR)--this isn't easy to check unless you have means of setting the ball perpendicular to the mounting face.

So my plan is to bore and install small sleeve in flywheel coupler that is concentric with hole pattern--and hopefully doesn't change the distance of the dowel to centerline.

Regarding the ball coupler, gonna TIG the holes up and reinstall relative to ball centerline. Not sure what exactly is wrong with this part, the holes look well positioned to the outside, it could be where the center was stamped for the ball assembly to be pressed in. I bought a spare to have on hand and the hole punched for the ball assembly is way uneven.

Anyway, just passing along what I have run into in case someone else is scratching their head as to why their brand new driveline is about to shake you out of the seat!

[R Bedell]

I had a wobble in my drive shaft of my 784 also. Got to the point of where you are at. I bought a new Drive Shaft from "Jeff", and installed new Flex Disc's, and Ball Coupler. I did not mic out any parts, but my drive was considerably smoother.

[Oak]

That stinks John....but not as bad as that hat on the seat of the 1811!

I never rechecked mine when I put new parts in but I guess I need to now. Thanks for the heads up and keep us posted on the progress.

[ol'George]

Originally Posted by john hall

Not really looking for help, just ran into something interesting/annoying. About 3 weeks ago pulled engine out of 1811 to replace coil, found flex couplings, shaft and ball joint were destroyed. Kind of ticked off as I put it all in new about 4 years ago. Got all new parts, put it back together and noticed driveshaft running out (wobbling). Being a machinist I had to check---.080" TIR (way too much). Back has been bothering me so lawnmower had to wait until I felt like working on it. Decided to start at the flywheel coupling. The pin and thru hole are fine, but the 4 tapped holes for the ball coupler are about .015" out of center (.030 TIR). Hmm, bad, probably been that way since new, probably shortened driveline life but not terribly destructive. Next I checked the ball coupler I just installed. The mounting holes are about .025" out of center (.050 TIR)--this isn't easy to check unless you have means of setting the ball perpendicular to the mounting face.

So my plan is to bore and install small sleeve in flywheel coupler that is concentric with hole pattern--and hopefully doesn't change the distance of the dowel to centerline.

Regarding the ball coupler, gonna TIG the holes up and reinstall relative to ball centerline. Not sure what exactly is wrong with this part, the holes look well positioned to the outside, it could be where the center was stamped for the ball assembly to be pressed in. I bought a spare to have on hand and the hole punched for the ball assembly is way uneven.

Anyway, just passing along what I have run into in case someone else is scratching their head as to why their brand new driveline is about to shake you out of the seat!

Really nice hat!

[Sam Mac]

Toss that in the trash and replace it with the drive line from an 1862. Jeff in PA can make you a pump adapter.