Burning out drive side jackshaft bearing on Trisport RTS-5. Help?
If you're coming this way just let me know. The TS was in a semi running condition. My RTS was in real bad shape. I think I have pic in the gallery of when I brought it home. I was kinda of disappointed but you see the results. Seized engine, bad everything, severly weathered body......lots of work,.still not.finished.
I took it out for a run and to get some video of it and I ended up with a catastrophic rear differential failure. I knew the snap rings wouldn't hold and would break at some point. I think I have a solution but wanted your opinion. Given the loose halfshaft in the rear because the brass inserts are worn I was thinking about taking it to a machine shop. What do you think of me having them cut out the old sleeve and inserting a new brass sleeves that will fit the halfshaft properly with only a few thousandths clearance so they won't wobble. I could also have them make new half shafts if the old ones are not salvageable. The original owner had to halfshaft welded to the gear and I see why. Do you think I should just have the brass inserts redone and then tack weld the gear to the end of the halfshaft? Should I have them cut the half shafts for new clips? I am so glad this happened the neighborhood and not out on the trails. That's the point of me riding around the neighborhood I guess. Find the weak spots now an fix them.
Here is where the catastrophic failure occurred.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcVsCBZFa-0&feature=youtube_gdata
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcVsCBZFa-0&feature=youtube_gdata
Well what you need to do really depends on what is damaged. Usually the snaprings come off. I've found these that were braised on, I think from the factory or at least a dealer. Bushings shouldn't be too hard to do. A new axle shaft will be a much bigger expense. But now why did it come out? It looks like the lock collar wasn't tight enough and allowed the axle to move and pull out. When I tightened mine I put a punch in the hole on the collar and hit it while holding the axle in a vise.
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Somebody butchered this thing before. What I had to do was crying a full weld off and cut a new groove for the snap ring. Actually puts to snap ring on me both broke. Those were what was holding the shaft in the gear. The lot collar for the bearing if that's what you're talking about I guess I didn't have to tighten enough. When I got tied it started to spin the inner race.
I didn't see your posts earlier about the phase 3 racer with the 60 horse motor. That thing must be a blast. I'm beginning to learn why they had the two axle brakes because I was having the same problem with the front wheel not grabbing under power. Especially when I was in my backyard where there is slippery pine straw. While I have this apart I may just order a brake hub with a 1" bore the same style as the jackshaft brake which is 3/4. I'll remove the jack shaft brake and return it to just the two axle brakes. I shouldn't have a problem with the new driven unit hitting the left side brake if I use that type. The one I had on just stuck out way too far.
Now I'm wondering if I should just weld the half shafts onto the gear with tack welds. There's not a lot of material left after the last guy butchered the ends of the shafts. I don't know if I can make it so that snap rings could be used on the current shafts again in a way that won't come apart so it's either that or have new shafts made at the machine shop. Like you said, that could get pretty pricey. Since I am having the rear diff re-sleeved with new brass and it's been all cleaned out and inspected perhaps it would be okay to just go ahead and weld them. It shouldn't have to come completely apart again for a long time. I can't afford the risk of having a shaft blowout 10 miles back in the woods in the State Forest. That would make for a very bad day. What you think about the welding?
Now I'm wondering if I should just weld the half shafts onto the gear with tack welds. There's not a lot of material left after the last guy butchered the ends of the shafts. I don't know if I can make it so that snap rings could be used on the current shafts again in a way that won't come apart so it's either that or have new shafts made at the machine shop. Like you said, that could get pretty pricey. Since I am having the rear diff re-sleeved with new brass and it's been all cleaned out and inspected perhaps it would be okay to just go ahead and weld them. It shouldn't have to come completely apart again for a long time. I can't afford the risk of having a shaft blowout 10 miles back in the woods in the State Forest. That would make for a very bad day. What you think about the welding?
The shaft is splined to the gear. If the yoke you are talking about is on the other end (pardon my ignorance) like a u joint then it is removable. Rough guess while I'm laying here in bed is that the shaft section I can remove is about 6-8 inches long. Here is the before welded pic and the after pic with the weld removed and snap ring installed. I wire tied the snap rings closed with mechanics wire. It was still in place unbroken when I pulled the shattered rings out of the grease. The welds were poorly done and actually had the slag still on them. I'm a rank amateur when it comes to welding but I thought that was kind of funny. Even I know to clean my welds.
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I e noticed that some of the Alsports I've seen have the rear sprocket on the right side of the trike. Mine was on the left side when I got it so that's how I rebuilt it. Is the left correct on an RTS-5 or does it matter? Does having it on the same side as the TC put any additional and harmful force on that side of the jack shaft which would be reduced by putting it further away? Might as well figure this out now while it's apart.
Ok, I think I figured out what happened. The bearing didn't have a good enough grip on the shaft. When you turned the wheel pulled on the shaft and the snap ring couldn't take it. Do yourself a favor and install some two piece locking collars on the inside of the bearings when you put it back together. You can get them from Surplus Center, Mcmaster, or sometimes your local tractor/farm store.
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Thanks Boost. Just so I'm clear the locking collars go on the half shaft just to the inside of the frame plate right? The problem with that may be that there is no shaft space available between the diff where the shaft comes out and the bearing. I'll double check though since the bearings are now on the outside of the plate where it should be.
Alright so here's the plan until you shoot holes in it if there are issues. I have ordered the two-piece shaft collars from McMasters as suggested by Boost which are 1/2" wide to go between the diff and the insert bearing mounted with flanges to the frame. Since there isn't enough space for them I thought that having the machine shop turn the diff shaft outputs down by 3/16 to 1/4. This should give me enough space for the collars. To rectify the worn brass bushings which create a lot of slop with the half shaft I'm going to have the machine shop bore out the brass. It should be pretty cheap up to this point. Here is where I really need your input. McMaster has cast bronze sleeve bearings in various OD's, ID's, and lengths. Instead of having the machine shop make me new brass bushings I could have them press these in and face them off when the take the 1/4 inch off the shaft output. The bronze sleeves only cost about $4 each. With the lock collars and a properly fitted shaft to diff combo I thought I could keep the snap rings as they would no longer be taking the lateral load or rotational wobble pressures from the loose shaft. What do you think?