Suspension springs

grantnelson00 · Post by **grantnelson00** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 12:58 pm

I think my John Deere 300 needs new suspension springs. It doesn't spring back up after I get off like I think it should. The snowmobile is torn apart right now so it would be the ideal time to do it. Can anyone give me some guidance.

Danzig · Post by **Danzig** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 1:31 pm

My X8 was the same way. When I installed the new track, I took everything apart and sandblasteded it, painted and lubed it. It works fine now.

However I am sure it wouldnt hurt it to install new springs, ect.......but I dont see a big gain on the 2 inches of suspension travel, even if its that much travel, I never measured it before.

JDFanPa · Post by **JDFanPa** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 8:22 pm

they also bind where the rear sprocket shaft mounts the mounting plate and the pivot plate will bind up if rusty etc

Post by **Matt** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 8:59 pm

It probably doesen't need new springs, just a rebuild to clean off the rust a grease everything up.

400brian · Post by **400brian** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 9:32 pm

I can recall only one set of NOS springs for sale on evilbay in the last couple of years, so unless someone has a bunch of them lying around, they don't seem all that plentiful.
I've got my rear suspension apart right now, and the bushings the springs are mounted on are all rusted solid, freeing them up and lube can't hurt, I'm thinking.

400brian · Post by **400brian** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:35 am

I was working on my suspension tonight.

Wow! it was worse than I thought. While the pivot was loose, nothing else was.
The aluminum spacers the springs go over, were totally stuck. I don't know if it is imperative for these to be free, but being as the washers that hold these in position were missing, they were stuck out of position. I used a bit of heat, and a generator bearing puller along with a harmonic balancer puller to slide them off.

The rear pivot bushings that the 3/8 X 3 3/4" NF cap screws go through were rusted solid. As one of the bolts had the threads pretty much stripped, I had to get at least one apart. It took the Ox/Acetalyne torch to heat the bushing cherry red before it came apart. Managed to singe my hand a bit too, Damn, don't normally do stuff like that.

I ran a tap through the rod that ties the 2 sides together, so I think a couple of new bolts and I'll be good to go.

Post by **Matt** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 10:08 am

I don't think it is imperative for those bushings to be free, as along as the bogie arms still move on the shaft. There are normally no washers there, but there shouldn't be much room for them to shift around.

The rear pivot assy. is always a pain, and always seized in several places.

JDXsand00s · Post by **JDXsand00s** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 11:31 am

i went through my bogie suspension underthe x6 last year and redid it all as the track was destroyed by the susp. about 4 of the 6 bogis shafts were bent pretty good so when you put yours back together make sure rods spin freely. also make sure that the idler assembly moves up and down freely and i'm pretty sure that the wheels should spin as a unit and not freely. make sure that bogie wheel bearings are intact as i also had about 5 wheels that wobbled like crazy. i just reused the old springs and replaced the ones that were broke and it bounced really good. i will have to replace the last 2 sets of springs this yar now though because i was hitting the jumps really good one day (i didn't hit the ground for 30 feet) and snapped a set of springs in half. the track was somewhat loose and shaft rotated the wrong way and got tangled with one ahead of it, slowing my down by about 20 mph and snapping even more springs. lesson learned, jump sleds with slide rails and don't replace x6 susp with bogies.

grantnelson00 · Post by **grantnelson00** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 12:05 pm

JDFanPa wrote: they also bind where the rear sprocket shaft mounts the mounting plate and the pivot plate will bind up if rusty etc

That's the problem. I can move the rear assembly but once I get it moved once place it just stays there. I'm going to pull it apart today.

grantnelson00 · Post by **grantnelson00** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 12:08 pm

Danzig wrote: My X8 was the same way. When I installed the new track, I took everything apart and sandblasteded it, painted and lubed it. It works fine now.

However I am sure it wouldnt hurt it to install new springs, ect.......but I dont see a big gain on the 2 inches of suspension travel, even if its that much travel, I never measured it before.

I tipped my 300 on it's side and tried pushing the boogie wheels up. They move nice and free and the springs have lots of tension. It's the rear assembly.

I'd like to thank all of you guys for the advice, it's saved me quite a bit of money.

Grant

400brian · Post by **400brian** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:29 pm

Matt

I'm talking about the rear suspension, not bogie shafts.

Both my parts book, and SM, show washers between the pivot capscrews, and the pivot rod. They keep the aluminum bushing and the spring, from sliding inboard.

I'll shoot some photos later tonight.

Post by **Matt** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 10:18 pm

10-4, I misunderstood.

400brian · Post by **400brian** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 4:39 am

I managed to put together enough good parts to to get the rear suspension back together tonight. The parts axle I had, did have the washers, and the aluminum bushings were loose and in better condition. I cleaned everything up with emery cloth, greased or never seized where needed and re-assembled.

Here's a shot of the pivot shaft with the washer I'm talking about.

400brian · Post by **400brian** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 4:43 am

Here is a shot of the tools I used to pull the seized aluminum bushings off. I did add a bit of heat as well.

grantnelson00 · Post by **grantnelson00** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 3:30 pm

I got lucky. The rear end was in pretty good shape so I just hit it with penetrating oil and worked it back and forth until it's pretty smooth now.

I have a tech suggestion and I hope it's not already common knowledge otherwise this will be redundent. I had to take the bearings off the rear axle. The flush-mount slotted crews were tough to remove. I have replaced them with a flush-mount allen-wrench type of screw. I got 'em at the hardware store. (31 cents a piece) Much easier to put on and I believe they were grade 8's. I'm a big fan of new hardware.