t-20 Bands

[Meinfield]

After installing a rebuilt t-20 into my hustler, I have had problems with the transmission "jerking" when engaged, especially after the fluid gets hot. The machine would lurch when the levers were pressed forward, almost like the bands were skipping off the drums when the transmission was engaged. When I broke it down to repair the output shaft, I think I found the problem. When I rebuilt the trans, it had been sitting for a while and the drums had some surface rust. Not bad, but I did have to sand them lightly with a fine wet sand paper. But they are pitted in several small patches. I think this is causing the bands to jump every time they hit one of the rough spots. Anyone had this problem? I think the drums might be salvageable, but they will have to be turned down a fraction to remove the pitting. It seems like there is enough extra travel in the bands that I might be able turn them a small amount and still have engagement. Has anyone ever successfully turned these drums, and if so, what did you use to do it?

[jpswift1]

Hey Meinfield, try adding about 4 or 5 ounces of limited slip differential additive and the issue with your bands chattering will be eliminated. I've used this trick that the engineers up at Recreatives told me about in all of the T-20's that I've rebuilt and they've all worked as good as new. This might be worth a shot before you pull it apart and machine the drums. Let us know if it works out for you.

[Meinfield]

Jeff,
Thanks for the tip. I was running the additive, but it did not seem to help. Have you used "rough" drums in your rebuilds? Just curious how they performed.

[Roger S]

What type of fluid is in it?

[Meinfield]

Roger,
I think that the fluid and additive were GM, I think Dextron III but not sure. I used what Richard Clark recomended.

[Roger S]

You said "jerking while engaged", is that while engaging, or while they are pressed forward already engaged, and the bigblock is doing it's thing. Not that I'm T20 qualified

[Meinfield]

It jerks while engaging.

[jpswift1]

Hey Meinfield, I never used drums with any surface rust on them. If there was any surface rust on the drums I would have took some fine girt sandpaper to get the surface rust off. I believe the correct fluid for the T-20 is ATF type F. I'm pretty sure that this is what Recreatives uses and this is what I always use in mine too.

[jerseybigfoot]

Check the trans mounting bolts to see if they loosened. the slots in the Hustler mount trans mount allow the trans to lift and you will feel a kickback in the laterals. I added a big u strap that followed the split in the trans case and pulled the trans down into the mount.
The corrosion on the drum may not be a problem depending on the total area of the pitting as the bands wrap around the drum and effective braking area remains constant though reduced,