T20 Driven pulley shaft play

[truxnthangs]

Should there be any in/out play on the shaft from the trans. that primary pulley mounts onto ? mine has about 1/4" or so....thanks guys

[thebuggyman1]

Should there be any in/out play on the shaft from the trans. that primary pulley mounts onto ? mine has about 1/4" or so....thanks guys

1/4" is a lot. It is usually about half of that. Some free play is a good thing, but you may have some wear in your trans. The center plate in a t-20 has shoulders that protrude into each case half. these support one drum (each side) and space the sun gears properly. The center plate is soft cast iron, so there is a washer between that and the sun gear. Yours may be worn.

[truxnthangs]

Thankyou much Jim !

[hydromike]

The center plate is soft cast iron, so there is a washer between that and the sun gear. Yours may be worn.

Some of the older T-20s that I've pulled apart didn't have this washer, some had a hardened thrust washer with an ear that locks into the center plate, one just had a thrust washer with no ear, and one actually had a fiber disc between the sun gear and the plate. Regardless, Jim's right. The sun gear has a tendencey to chew into the plate, or if the washer is absent or has a broken ear, the sun gear will spin it just like a lathe tool and dig right into the plate. For the T-20 that had the fiber washer/disc between the gear and plate; I'm not sure if it was an experiment or standard issue for some manufacturers. It seems to have held up well in an otherwise abused transmission. If your endplay is unacceptable, you can have the center plate welded back up and turned down to orignal specs.

[Stonewall]

The T-20 in my Hustler has the flat washers behind the sun gears, and there is about 1/4" of play in it. I have had that transmission apart twice, and there is no noticable wear on the center plate shoulders. I do recommend taking a look inside just to be sure though.

[truxnthangs]

thanks guys !

[mark m.]

"If your endplay is unacceptable, you can have the center plate welded back up and turned down to orignal specs."

Mike. If anyone has a notion to do this it should noted that the center plate is made of ductile cast iron and cannot be welded easily. It could have a steel washer brazed to it and then turned down as an alternative. I just thought I would put this out there as a cautionary note.

[hydromike]

Mike. If anyone has a notion to do this it should noted that the center plate is made of ductile cast iron and cannot be welded easily. It could have a steel washer brazed to it and then turned down as an alternative. I just thought I would put this out there as a cautionary note.

Absolutely. That's a much better approach. Along these lines, when is someone going to machine an aluminum center plate? Between that and some billet drums, I bet we can get the weight of a T-20 below 40 pounds.