Craftsman Lt2000 Project

the idea is to throw the shocks on, and then see if it still flexes, I have no idea if these will still work with droop style suspension. i did finish up the arms, so now im going to have to spend some time on hooking up shocks, or something of that sort. That is going to be bit of a project, I honestly think I'm going to have to buy new shocks for this, because I doubt these atv shocks will still work in this application. I think this will definetly need bump stops seeing that the short ride i went on was very noisy and rough.
But for now, here's some shockless beauty



sweet RTI ramp am i right

sorry for the picture quality, this getting dark early stuff is a pain

Being that its suppose to be a swingarm deal in theorie, im still confused how it flexes that well. you arnt twisting the axle right?

RTI score looks to be over 9,000.

axle is straight, all the flex are in the rear ball joints, looking forward to seein your build, you'll get it right on the first try lol

RTI = The best thing created after 1 day of working on this

Got some work done today, I removed the coils from the atv shocks i have and then mounted them up to the axle. the plan is to allow the coil to slide up and down on a guide that is attached to the upper mount. the design is going to need a panhard bar, but for now here's some pics of the progress

removed the coils, this allows me to have maximum flex out of the suspension


The stance hasnt changed any, the axle is farther foward by an inch


Upper mount, bed fram and the mowers stock deck mounting brackets

Almost done with this, I think this is the first Long Arm Suspension I've seen on a tractor, but I could be wrong, don't mind the axle tilt, I havent dialed in the Arms yet

Just got a couple pictures from Google Maps that had my mower in them......Am I famous yet?

You bring up two good points LMM....and that may be brought into consideration soon......
Now, I have some good news and bad news

THE GOOD NEWS:
I touched up some areas on the front axle and was able to go on my first real test drive today. This thing handles and drives like a champ. I have 0 complaints on the ride quality


What the finished product looks like. Needs paint and some sheet metal then I'm done. I need taller coils (about 3/4 - 1 inch taller). I need to weld on the retainers and limit straps and then I should be ready for paint

THE BAD NEWS:
While I was romping around the field.....I lost one of the atv coils in middle of the field........The weld snapped, so this mishap is 100% my fault. I can't find the coil due to the fact that there's 7 inches of snow in a 9 acre field..... I might just end up buying coils that are 3/4 of an inch taller off of ebay or something. So far I would say that the long arm suspension is better than my 4 link. I get more flex, more responsive steering, and overall the build is much stronger.

Maybe when you put new coils in, you could make a setup like some cars have. A bolt with a tab or tabs that holds the coil down instead of welding it. That way you don't stress the spring with the heat either. You could either put the bolt on the inside of the coil or maybe one or two bolts on the outside. Or just have a safety cord or something on it, at least then you would know where it is. Front end looks pretty good though.

LAWN MOWER MUDDER wrote:

Maybe get some stiffer springs too? They looked like they were squashed just under the load of the tractor. Stiffer springs would get you more front end lift, which, is always nice.

yup the goal is to buy springs off of a bigger atv or something of that nature....these coils are off the shocks of a 70cc chinese quad....so they werent designed to hold alot of weight.....I'm just going to look in my field tomorrow just to see if I can find that coil

mr.modified wrote:

Maybe when you put new coils in, you could make a setup like some cars have. A bolt with a tab or tabs that holds the coil down instead of welding it. That way you don't stress the spring with the heat either. You could either put the bolt on the inside of the coil or maybe one or two bolts on the outside. Or just have a safety cord or something on it, at least then you would know where it is. Front end looks pretty good though.

Thanks, I have been thinking of other ways to attach the coils onto the axle....I'm going to have to look around the garage for some more inspiration.....on another note I went for a walk in the field and look what i found

So now I guess I can mess around with the coils a bit more, make a retainer on the top side of the coils, make a coil bucket or something on the bottom side of them, I think I might flip the coil over, weld the little plate I have to the mounts on the frame, then weld some coil buckets on the axles.......grind down the plates so they arent obnoxious squares, paint, and limit straps then I think I am done

You could run limit straps and run the straps right thru the coil itself so you wont loose it again. just a idea.

redlinemotorsportts wrote:

You could run limit straps and run the straps right thru the coil itself so you wont loose it again. just a idea.

Hmmmmmm, I didn't even think of that, that would kill two birds with one stone. thanks for the idea Red

The coils should work, I am going to put a small 3/4inch block on one side of the coil to add a small lift, this should fix the axle hitting the frame problem with out me cutting out any of the frame, I have some small ratchet strap that I am going to use as the limit straps, going to fold it over itself, and bolt it onto the axle with washers crimping the material in place, I think this should work perfectly fine.

Some say that red paint adds about 50 horsepower...........
the little piece of diamond plate is to hide my crappy welds

Well today started off alright, got everything bolted back together, I  strapped the front axle at full bump so that I can go for a quick drive since I havent driven the thing much recently.....In middle of riding I feel the transaxle just slip....which was weird. I crawl under the thing and I find a quarter sized hole under the bull gear. Well I think then and there well this sucks. I start the mower back up and carefully let off the clutch...the thing still drove just like it did before, I go through all the gears and find that they still work, and I can still drive the tractor back home.....well this sucks because I can't buy a transaxle for cheap in my area, so I will have to keep my eyes open for one on the list of Craig   Oh well, I'm gonna run her till the Peerless completely blows up.
So let me tally up the damage report:
-Kohler 17 HP, scored cylinder, burns oil.....but hey she's still running
-Peerless MST-206, quarter sized hole, still running.....so yah this tractor is defying the odds and just doesnt want to die...
PICTURES:


So yah thse next pictures was after the discovery of the broken transaxle....when you have a hole in your tranny, why not drive up a snow pile.....I just cant beleive it didnt skip or grind at all after it blew a hole through it.....

Open that axle up and see what's happening. Might be more simple fix (as in single part than hole axle) that you can order.

that hole to me looks like it was due to contact with a rock or something. my bet is the internals are fine. open it up, check it out, seal with silicone from the inside, and JB weld the outside of it

willis923 wrote:

that hole to me looks like it was due to contact with a rock or something. my bet is the internals are fine. open it up, check it out, seal with silicone from the inside, and JB weld the outside of it

(Replying to Red too)I haven't opened the transaxle yet, but seeing that the thing was working just fine, I'd say the internals are just fine. Can you just buy the bottom half of the case? I haven't seen the top half of the case yet, but I bet it is fine. The hole isn't from contact, I was driving in my driveway all day when it happened. I do like the JB weld idea, that is what my dad recommended to me as well, and what was going to be my "temporary fix". I can't find the piece I blew off, but I bet I could make a piece of sheet metal work as a patch.

yeah, you should be able to get the lower case. if you know someone that has aluminum welding equipment, id take it to them and see if they could do something. if it just randomly popped a hole there, unwarranted and without external help, id say something is inside there that shouldnt be, and needs to be disassembled asap.

willis923 wrote:

yeah, you should be able to get the lower case. if you know someone that has aluminum welding equipment, id take it to them and see if they could do something. if it just randomly popped a hole there, unwarranted and without external help, id say something is inside there that shouldnt be, and needs to be disassembled asap.

Thats what i think too, maybe a chunk of weld from when your posi broke? or maybe a gear tooth of some kind. I can pull a transaxle out and open it in like 10 min, gettin good at it. lol

yup there is something floating around in there for sure....some point this week I will pull the transaxle and do a full cleaning.....JB weld the inside, and then see if that solves the problem. I have found a bottom case for 70 bucks on ebay, a high price, but it lets me know I can buy one within budget. I wish I had a tig welder, I might be able to fix it more permanately. My guess is something with the fozzy gears......I think creepycrawler had warned me about it...I think he might get the last laugh on this one....either way I will just have to find out when I pull the axle

I found the problem!

Fozzy must of skipped, and then blew up.....then punched a hole via bullgear

here's another problem.....I have no idea when this happened....but could of assisted the failure

The case got some damage besides the hole.......but it isn't that bad.... i might just sand down the rough spots and call it good

Ummm.....Weight reduction?
I'm going to clean this hole up and then JB weld it shut.....then pack the transaxle with grease instead of oil to prevent further leakage

OOPS! atleast you found out what it was, really, its not too bad