Craftsman 18hp Rally Mower

It hard to clean but a lot of folks have good luck with diesel as an economical parts solvent

I crack my Transaxles open, and scratch the grease out with a puddyknife, throw the gears n stuff in Heating Oil for 24hrs, then taking the compressor and blow the crap off them with compressed airm and they're wonderful clean! The case halfs get filled with the old heating oil let them sit 24hrs, drain the crap and blow them out! Wipe the gasket surfaces with acetone, and it's ready to reassemble! I did this method to 3-4 Transaxles now, and had great luck with it!

Thanks Crazy_Carl and SabastianAlbrecht
I ended up just disassembling everything and wiping it down.

Since I have my trans taken apart I'll take this opportunity to show you how I did the center piece for my live axle swap.



I took the center of an 8 in rim and cut it down to fit in the case. Then I cut the pin from the original diff and welded the ends of it on to the rim piece. I also drilled two 9/32 holes in it and tapped then to 5/16 for set screws.

Does anyone know what is the best weight oil to run in transaxles? I was going to get 85w-140 or 85w-90. What do you think is better?

85-90wt

Peerless Recommends 80W90

Thanks! I have some 85w-90 laying around so I think I'll use that.

Huge day today I got alot done!






I cleaned the rest of the grease out of my trans and put in a brand new BMI KARTS 3/4×36 inch live axle. Ended up using 80w-90 lucas oil. And put it back in the tractor!





I used the 3/4 pillow blocks to build some axle supports. It seems like this should prevent it from bending easily and I can run the tires alittle wider. I also got my hubs on. I ran out of time but my tires are going on tomorrow!

nice ! i like the pillow blocks. Should add a lot of support and work well !

diddie wrote:

nice ! i like the pillow blocks. Should add a lot of support and work well !

Thanks! Sincs I bent my last 3/4 live axle the hope is the pillow blocks will prevent that.

Great work MJ! The idea with the rim hub for a locker is neat, don't think I've seen that yet. Should hold up fine I would think.

Axle supports look great too, she should be pretty solid now!

AllisKidD21 wrote:

Great work MJ! The idea with the rim hub for a locker is neat, don't think I've seen that yet. Should hold up fine I would think.

Axle supports look great too, she should be pretty solid now!

Thanks AllisKid! Since I couldn't find a peerless 820 I'm tryin to make it as strong as possible with this Spicer. Hopefully the axle supports will make this axle last for a while.

SEXY AF!! Nice Job!!

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

SEXY AF!! Nice Job!!

That was goal!!

I got the tires on!






I'm loving the look of this thing. I could make it alot wider if I want but that would compromise some strength. It will look even better after I paint the fronts to match.

I have a 5in rear pulley and I got a 7in for the front but I didn't quite work out so I have a 6in on the front know. My stock clutch did not allow me to run anything larger then a 5 in the front and so I decided I needed a new clutch anyway.



I put it behind the pedal so the linkage pushes instead of pulls but it seems like it will work fine.

these tires look LIT AF! H much were they?

Nice clutch and the 18" tires look great on the back of this. What is your plan for fenders? I think older round looking fenders from an old garden tractor would look cool but what are you thinking? Open wheeled would be cool too maybe with a couple of grab bars for hand holds.

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

these tires look LIT AF! H much were they?

SunF seem to be all right quality for how affordable they are. These were $87 on Amazon.com I would recomend them to anybody.

Crazy_Carl wrote:

Nice clutch and the 18" tires look great on the back of this. What is your plan for fenders? I think older round looking fenders from an old garden tractor would look cool but what are you thinking? Open wheeled would be cool too maybe with a couple of grab bars for hand holds.

Thanks Crazy_Carl! I've been meaning to ask everyone what I should do about fenders. I used the original fenders to make 2 individual ones but they turned out REALLY sh*t. I would really like to find some nice round GT or trailer fenders. I think they would look really unique and cool on there. If anybody has any ideas that would be awesome!

Looking really good. Nice to see someone using a Spicer for a change Interesting how the hood has just grey plastic where the headlights should be.

MatthewD wrote:

Looking really good. Nice to see someone using a Spicer for a change [smiley]https://2img.net/i/fa/i/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/smiley] Interesting how the hood has just grey plastic where the headlights should be.

I live in California and I have never even seen a MST/800/900 series peerless the only transaxles out here are Spicers. This one is a particularly good Spicer. It has bronze bushings like a peerless and it also has 4 shifting keys instead of the usual 2. The grille looks like that because I painted over the grille and lights with block spray paint. I plan to get LED lights for it at some point.

for the fenders would just use the stock AYP fenders (the square ones)
they look sexy IMO I wanted them for a along time but prolly will never have them since AYP is pretty rare...

Wow, I haven’t checked this thread for awhile, but man you’ve made some serious progress! I really like those pillow bearing axle braces! I would do that as well but I’m hoping to run the exhaust right through there so I might need to come up with something else.

I guess I hadn’t realized you’re using the spicer, interesting that it seems to be a much higher end one. Always confused me that transaxles made by Dana, a company that makes car axles, are so inferior to the peerless Tecumseh transaxles. You seem to have found a good one though, so I anticipate seeing just how well it holds up!

I really like the way she's looking! The axle supports sorta make it look like it has IRS when you look from the back, haha.

What do you think about some rounded fenders from like a Sears garden tractor or something? That might look pretty good.

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

Wow, I haven’t checked this thread for awhile, but man you’ve made some serious progress! I really like those pillow bearing axle braces! I would do that as well but I’m hoping to run the exhaust right through there so I might need to come up with something else.

I guess I hadn’t realized you’re using the spicer, interesting that it seems to be a much higher end one. Always confused me that transaxles made by Dana, a company that makes car axles, are so inferior to the peerless Tecumseh transaxles. You seem to have found a good one though, so I anticipate seeing just how well it holds up!

Ya I've ran that spiver unlocked with 25in tires with welded on rims for a year and its held up fine. but then I live axle swapped it and bent the axle. I just put the new live axle in it and the supports should keep it from bending. I'm just curious to see if it will take the speed well.

AllisKidD21 wrote:

I really like the way she's looking! The axle supports sorta make it look like it has IRS when you look from the back, haha.

What do you think about some rounded fenders from like a Sears garden tractor or something? That might look pretty good.

IRS I wish! Haha. I would use sears fenders if I had them. I actually have a idea of what I'm gonna do if it works I post it up tonight.