1980 Hustler/Sidewinder build

[Stonewall]

Here I am Stonewall, haha.

Right on time!

By the way, I've drained gear oil out of T-20's and then thoroughly cleaned the internals and the bands and they were still usable and last as long as ones that weren't in gear oil, but like Stonewall said, if the band go, they can eat the surface of the drums, and drums can get pricey. Let us know if there's anything else we can do for you.

Damn right they can! When I rebuilt mine, the teeth that engage the shift collar on the ring gear drum were gone, so I had to have a new ring gear drum. $250 for that!! I ended up spending over $800 on that transmission, and I've rebuilt it 3 times chasing a leak... I should have just forked over $1200 for a new one and saved myself the heartache...


I had a band relined by Transmission Crafters. It was $35 bucks, plus shipping there and back. They recieved the band, relined it, and shipped it back on the same day. Superb service!!

[jpswift1]

Here I am Stonewall, haha. Do just what he said and go through Recreatives Amphibious Six-Wheel Drive All-Terrain Vehicles: MaxATVs - Call 1-800-255-2511 for the T-20 parts if you need them. Richard Clark buys parts from them and then jacks up the prices. I believe the place is called Alabama Bands, and they reline T-20 bands if yours need it. Clark also goes through them and then substantially jacks up the price AND requires you to send in your old bands so he can have those relined and resell them. Save yourself lots of money and skip the middleman. Some of the seals for the T-20 you can source through a bearing supplier like Buffalo Bearing (716) 874-1720. Tell them you're working on a 6 wheeler and they'll take very good care of you. I believe 6X6World member racerone3 has the part numbers for the seals, as well as the O rings on the steering plungers. We're here on 6X6World as a community to help promote the hobby, not soak people and take their money. By the way, I've drained gear oil out of T-20's and then thoroughly cleaned the internals and the bands and they were still usable and last as long as ones that weren't in gear oil, but like Stonewall said, if the band go, they can eat the surface of the drums, and drums can get pricey. Let us know if there's anything else we can do for you.

[Stonewall]

Ouch. That sucks that you've got gear oil in there... The first thing you need to worry about is the drums. Gear oil eats the friction lining off of your bands, and if the machine is run very much in this condition, the metal on metal contact will eat into the drum and groove it up. Hopefully yours isn't that bad. T-20 parts get expensive quick. Take it apart and clean everything thoroughly with varsol, then closely inspect everything. If your bands still have their lining, you should be OK; but since they have been in the gear oil, you should have them relined. Check your bearings, if they roll good and don't have any roughness or resistance to them they should be good to go. New thrust washers, gaskets, seals, and o-rings are a must for a proper first rebuild. You will probably be better off to get your parts from R.I., as Richard tends to be a little proud of his stuff. (JP will probably be here soon to slam RC and tell you to avoid him a all costs...) I would buy from whoever has the best price. (Most likely R.I.) On the other hand, if you need any Hustler-specific part, RC probably has it.

Nice work so far, and good luck!

[turtlecrawler]

jpswift1......Thanks for you words of encouragement.... Today I was able to remove the frame from the tub...used some degreaser and a power sprayer but it still needs alot more cleaning...Found all sorts of NEAT stuff in the tub..mud, oil, leaves, 2 mice (dead of course from the toxic waste...lol...and a bunch of sprare nuts and bolts.......Like most tranny mounts , mine needs some work. Some one had tried to fix it before but did a bad job. I have also found the left front lower tranny bolt hole to be in bad shape...hopefully a helicoil might fiw this problem.....A scary note it appears the my tranny has gear oil in it....Yuck....I had plan to put all new gaskets in it anyway...Should I plan for bearings as well.....RI has the gasket kit, but RC has the kit with bearings.....mmmmmmmmmmmm.....any thoughts ? Well here are some pics for your entertainment.....

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[jpswift1]

Looks great! All your hard work will be worth it, especially since you're taking the time to do this all correctly and not cut corners. I foresee some real quality work here.

[Stonewall]

Looks like you have the brown and yellow Sidewinder. The "eggs and toast" color scheme lol...

[turtlecrawler]

Well the paint removal procees is going slow but effective...The product is called PEEL AWAY 6...you can get it a Lowes... It comes in a plastic bucket and you paint it on and then wait.....................and then wait some more at least 24 hrs. It seems to have no ill effect on the body tub itself....In the moring I will pressure spray it off and post some pics....One more axle to pull then it is frame removal time ..................

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[turtlecrawler]

Hydromike and Zoood.....Thank you both for the tips.......Tomorrow I am going to go to a local Bearing shop in town and see if they can get me what I need...( I would like to spend the money in my home town...If ya know what I mean....) If not I will sure give the guys at Buffalo Bearing a call..... The plan is to replace ALL the bearings, collars, and flanges throughout the rig. Don't what any troubles down thw road....

[zoood]

The following is what I did for my Hustler - these are my notes from others in here.

You will need HC206-19 Bearings for the outers on the hustler. You can find tons of sources online, or give Buffalo Bearing a call 1800-669-8019. You should probably look into the condition of your inners as well. they are a 52mm OD, 1" ID bearing with a set screw locking inner race (UC205-16), but Greg at B-lo Bearing can get you steered in the right direction)

Call the good folks at Buffalo Bearings, and when you order your bearings also order new out flanges, they are 2 piece 3 bolt, make sure you get 6 with and 6 w/o grease zergs.. Thoroughly clean the body where the old where mounted and use 3M™ Strip Calk 08578 between the lower tub and the inner flange to get a good seal. You should refer to Mike's video he posted on changing bearings on a maxII on the 6x6world home page or YouTube.

I added a third locking collar, the clamp style 1-bolt on the inside of the outer bearing. I got the 6 1-bolt clamping style from McMaster-Carr #6435K49 1-3/16".

You will want to get anti-seiz to put on your axles when inserting them. This will help to seal the axle from water entering where it passes through the outer bearing.

that should get you going
RJ /zoood

[hydromike]

....., but there seems to be a difference on the inner bearing #'s......Do you know what I need to do to tell the difference or is there any change on the inner bearing #'s.

Embarrassingly, I don't remember the inner bearing size on my Hustler. (!) When I went through mine last January, I didn't have to replace any of my inners, so I never committed the size to memory (as though that would've helped, anyway....) I agree with you that some are different. I thought mine were 52mm, but Racerone3 has 42mm inners on his 980, if I remember right. I won't postulate on what the size of your bearings might be, but if you can measure it up some time (outer diameter, and inner diameter) we can help you find the part number, or give Buffalo Bearings a call with your bearing size, and they'll get you the right equipment. I don't think the inners have locking collars; they just have two set screws. Mine did, anyway...

[turtlecrawler]

Hydromike....Thanks again for the info.....Everyone seems to agree on the outer bearing part numbers, but there seems to be a difference on the inner bearing #'s......Do you know what I need to do to tell the difference or is there any change on the inner bearing #'s. Fyi ...I found a paint remover that works great it comes in a tub (approx 1lb.) from Lowe's. I will post the name of it when I get home tonight. You have to leave it on for more than 24 hrs. but it seems to work great so far with no effect on the tub itself...

[hydromike]

I have noticed that all my outer bearings had the collars on the inside of the tub....Is this normal ?

It seems to be normal on a lot of Hustlers. It is a pain to get them off, but it does keep them a bit cleaner when they're inside the tub. I don't think it would hurt to put them on the outside if you wanted to.

Do the bearings come with the collars and do the flanges need replaced when doing bearings? Or and if anyone knows the part numbers I need for bearings , collars and flanges that would be great....

Yes, the bearings and locking collars are typically sold as one unit. Unless your flanges are really bent, rusted, tweaked, grenaded, or otherwise fragged, it's not necessary to replace them when replacing bearings. A base replacement 1-3/16" I.D., 62mm O.D. carries a Peer or KML part number of HC206-19. Any retailer will be able to cross reference that number with other manufacturers. It may be in your best interest to get a triple sealed variant of the bearing, which carries a suffix of "R3", I believe.....

[turtlecrawler]

I have noticed that all my outer bearings had the collars on the inside of the tub....Is this normal ? From what I have seen most 950"s have the collars on the outside of the tub during the re-assembly process....Is this for the ease to get to them.......The have been a real pain to get out from the inside next to the frame.....The bearings that I have removed so far are the same as far as having 2 piece flanges (inner and outers)....Do the bearings come with the collars and do the flanges need replaced when doing bearings? Or and if anyone knows the part numbers I need for bearings , collars and flanges that would be great....

[hydromike]

I would suggest trying a heat gun. Heat the paint till it starts to bubble and then let it cool.

.....but be careful. Trying to "bubble up" the paint may very likely result in burning the HDPE. It happens fast, and it might be able to actually burn the plastic *before* the paint bubbles up. HDPE is extremely resilient to chemicals, and it's really the preferred method. The Hustler bodies are textured, so sanding them will destroy the texture in the areas you're addressing. If paint thinner, grafitti-off, acetone (etc.) doesn't do the trick (it still takes a lot of scrubbing, it's a lot of work to rememdy someone's bad judgement), you can try the heat gun. Just be careful!

[zoood]

Some one mentioned earlier you can use paint remover. I was thinking that since paint doesnt hold up on these plastic bodies. I would suggest trying a heat gun. Heat the paint till it starts to bubble and then let it cool. A pressure washer would probably blow it right off.

RJ

Well...... four more hours of plugging away at the teardown one more axle left to go......yeah.....also having a heck of a time removing the old paint if the upper body....I have used acetone and krud kutter along with a scrub brush and a power washer.....very slow going.....is it safe to use a paint stripper on these bodies .?