I have a ex120-2 with a leaking center joint. Is it worth trying to rebuild it or buy a aftermarket one for $800. Anyone have any experience with the aftermarket ones?
It's not that hard of a job. I bought a Mottrol seal kit from Ebay for my EX60-2 for $75.00. I think the joints are similar between the machines. Crows feet wrenches are your friends for getting the hoses off. I used a ratchet strap to lower the unit out of the track frame and subsequently to lift it back in place. I had to rig up a puller to get the joint to separate but its a pretty simple job. Just takes some time. I did mine in a Saturday.
Yes it is worth it. I have a deere 160dlc that I just rebuilt the center joint on. When i took it off the seal on the very top was the leaking seal because the shaft it surrounded was a bit rusty and pitted from water and dirt debris getting into it being as its face up underneath the housing. Found out it was a hardened cast material so it could not be built up and turned on a lathe very easily. Ended up just starting with as low a grit as sandpaper as was allowed and sanded/polished it all the way up to 2000 grit to get the area where that seal sat polished up again before replacing all the seals in the joint and reinstalling. I thought i was going to need an aftermarket one also but 175 in a seal kit and 20 in sandpaper and it was fixed. Hope that helps.
I took it apart today and rebuilt it. It was really hard going back together and I can’t spin it by hand anymore. I was able to turn it with a big pipe wrench. Is this normal? It came right apart all the seals were junk. Thanks
I would say that's normal. I had to do the same thing with mine when I rebuilt it.