kenfain

I've used the Kubota for a few hours. It has some nice features, good power. I'd recommend it. The one that I used had a high, low, and mid range. My mule only has high, and low. If I had it to do over, I'd definitely choose the Kubota.

I'd try jacking it up, and put it on stands. Then put it in gear, and try to replicate the vibration. You might be able to narrow it down if its immobile, with only the drive train in motion.

Glad to hear you've got it going again. Did you flush out the old brake fluid, when you bled the brakes?

I'm assuming that there's no rebuild kit available then? If the soaking doesn't fix it, you might have to operate. If you can gently disassemble the cylinder, there's not much in there. Lightly honing the inside of the cylinder, and cleaning the parts, along with rubbing silicone oil into all the rubber should fix it. 90 bucks seems way over priced. The ones for a car are fifteen or twenty.

If the cylinder can't be salvaged its not all bad. Since a new one should be available, and it can't be that expensive. But if a rebuild kit is available, it's a simple job. At least the drum cleaned up. Everything that's saved means less parts to buy. So I'd say the evaporust was a good choice. Especially since its supposed to be reusable. Battery charger electrolysis works great too.

Nice job! Yeah, a large puller, and a hammer is what I usually have to resort to. Glad to hear you got it.

Didn't look too hard at what the material is that its made of. But I have something similar on mine. It's like a 3/16 thick polymer. Like a bed liner material. It's got lots of scars underneath. Of course I drive in heavy woods. But it's good insurance. The only problem, if you can call it that. Is the cleaning of it, on the inside/topside.

Nice work Travis, as always. I like the detailed description. You've left us with a real good feel for what this job takes to complete. That's what this forum (and all forums) need. Just a thought here, if you use that diff lock. Then you'll want to change that cable soon. If you check that picture you'll see some rust brewing in there. Maybe you could get by with giving it that solvent bath, that you used on the brake cable?

Good work there Travis. That board ought to work out just fine. Same with the permatex.

Glad to hear that all is well. Have to admit I was a little confused with the type of machine you have. Don't suppose I've heard of that one. Course, after I re-read my earlier post, I can see that I was also confused about wether you had disc, or drum brakes. Lol, sorry about that. Old age can be a challenge sometimes. But I'm glad you got it worked out.

Cool! The sweet smell of success! Looks like you weren't rained out after all.

You might get lucky. But that luck would probably run out pretty quick once you started on the seal. But its worth spending a few minutes on. Being a sealed bearing, you might get away with just leaving the other side alone. Just depends on how much trouble it is to release that axle. Sometimes driving out seals can be a p.i.a also. Seal pullers are cheap, but that axle has to be out to use it.

That axle grease that's leaked, is very bad for the brake shoes. It'll destroy the material the friction surface is made of. So if it's got on them, you'll want to hose em down with that brake cleaner. If it has soaked in for a few weeks, they might not be salvaged. Takes awhile for them to break down though. So if you re-use those, you'll want to keep an eye on em.

Looking at those springs, they look just like what I'm used to seeing on auto drum brakes. So I can definitely say that you'll want new springs. Reusing old springs just makes drum brakes squirrelly. They'll be fine one stop then not work, or do something wierd the next time.

Great news! I knew it would work out. Depending on how much trouble it is to do it over again, vs. the price of new cables, I'd look very seriously at replacing those. Since the cables will never slide the same way as when new. They'll always bind, and be prone to rust again. There's nothing wrong with trying to salvage parts, but you might be spinning your wheels there with soaking. All new cables, springs, and probably the hardware also, is probably the best way to go. But it never hurts to try. They'll certainly be better than what you had before. I'm glad to hear you're on the way to getting a handle on that parking brake. Now for the axle bearing, and seal. You'll want to do both sides. If you have to pull the axle out of one side, its a small step to do the other. Assuming it's like a cars differential, it would have to be opened to release the axle clips.

So the A/B motorcycle type cable ends go into C on one end. And you say the end in question, the square end, goes into the rear brakes? What does the part diagram look like for that? I have to admit it's a funky illustration. Giving very little detail. Maybe the other end will give more detail. Or the part that it actually goes into. Do the cables terminate into the brake cylinders?

Maybe the new cable end itself, along with the fastener could offer a clue. Check for a picture of these parts in the catalog.

No, I'm only about 75 miles east of Dallas. So we might get rain, but that should be all. Can't seem to stay dry for very long this year. But I suppose its better than having it the other way around.

Sounds like you might've found the problem. Either way, you obviously need to make sure that doesn't happen again. Was it a gasket failure? Or bad design? Or both?

If it's near the top of the allowed amp draw. You might have to leave the engine running while in use. Just like when using a winch. Depending on your intended use, you could also look into an auxiliary battery to guarantee an engine start. There's also having separate lights, that don't draw as much, that you could leave on for an area light when parked, instead of the light bar. That would be preferable in any case, to a blinding light bar while stopped/ working. My suggestion would be both. If the utv has a regular car type alternator. You might get an alternator shop bump up the output.

You're really getting to know that machine Travis! I can't help with how that cable is connected, I'd guess it's some kind of clip, like a motorcycle. And if you can find a manual from that era, most manufacturers tend to use the same method from one model to the next. But depending on the routing of that cable, and how much it winds between components. I'd think about tying, and then taping some sturdy cord to the end, or ends. That way you can feed the new one back through the same way it came out. Sometimes that stuff can be a 3 dimensional puzzle. The cordage can "sometimes" make it easier. Not always, but there's no harm done, if it doesn't work. FWIW my buggy has a short cable, that goes to a solid yoke type linkage. So it pulls two rods, one going to either side, where it looks like it then becomes cable again, and goes to each drum. That doesn't sound like what you've described, so a picture of mine from the manual would likely be useless. At any rate, I looked but didn't see any detail on the type of fastener. It just said " remove cable from grommet". There was no useful picture that I could see. All I can say, is it seemed to indicate the back, outside of the plate. And if memory serves, that's how it was on an auto, with a clip holding it. A couple cans of walmart brake cleaner is good to keep on hand. I use that stuff a lot.

Yeah, it does get dry in the summer. It's funny watching all those cool fronts, bouncing off our high pressure bubble, that typically surrounds the entire state. That bubble hasn't really formed yet this year, so we've had actual weather, like the rest of the U.S. And its sure been nice.

This is Texas, there's only a couple of seasons. And the cool one ain't fer awhile yet. I'm just happy we've had so much rain. Although it does keep the humidity up. The high temps have been moderate for this time of year.

Welcome to the forum! Good luck with the buggy. Maybe post some pictures, so we can see what you're working with. Most of these things are a bit sluggish. Of course not the high end models. Especially those that are purpose built for quickness. The rest...not so much.

Welcome to the forum! Just a guess here, but the brake springs are responsible for returning everything back to the resting position. So that would be a likely spot to check. Looks like napa has pretty much any normal maintenance parts you could want. New springs might do the trick though. If there's no leaks, and everything else looks good. I'd probably totally disassemble the brake calipers, and shoes from off the mounting, so it could all be cleaned, and inspected. If you've never done drum brakes before, do one side at a time. Leaving the other side for reference, and take a good picture before starting. The spring mounting holes, are sometimes shared with other things, like emergency brake components, automatic adjuster, etc. You'll want to notice the way their fitted, and which part overlaps which. Usually the springs are a bit different from each other, so pay attention to which goes in front/back. And how they go top/bottom. You don't want them upside down. That's what the picture is for. As well as using the other side for reference, although it'll be a mirror image. Use lots of non chlorinated brake cleaner, walmart has the cheapest. Fighting brake springs, is sometimes a challenge. But don't be discouraged, maybe check YouTube for tips. They're all very similar. Good luck, and keep us informed.