I have a Komatsu D31E-18 equipped with the 6 way power angle blade. The problem is the "trunnion ball" has started to "fall" through the holding cap. Anyone have an "easy" fix to this problem before I replace trunnion/cap assembly? thanks in advance.
Are there any shims left in between the two halves of the trunnion cap..? If so you can gain a bit of life by removing them to tighten things up a bit. Does the trunnion ball weld on the the tractor side frame or bolt on..?
Hey Nige, No shims and the ball welds on to the frame.
Bugger ...... It would have been easy to rebuild the ball if it bolted on, building it up in situ with weld will be much harder. Similarly you could build up the inside of the 2 halves of the cap with weld. Only thing I can suggest is price a new trunnion ball plus time for a welder to remove the old one and install the new one versus build up the O/D of the old one with weld. Also price a new cap versus time & materials to build the existing one up with welding. Lastly there would appear to be no alternative than to build up with welding the other half of the cap that forms part of the blade push arm.
yes, my thoughts exactly. I am curious though, I am wondering how much material to add on by welding, (and of course grinding down shape and to be smooth). Is this actually a metal to metal fit with only a film of grease between contact points? There is on ebay, trunnion for around $200 and cap assembly for $355. Was also wondering what if I ground off a "few thousandths" from the mating surfaces of the cap assembly?
You should find a part of both the trunnion ball and the cap that are unworn that would give you an idea how much to build up. I wouldn't bother grinding things too smooth, working the machine will knock the high spots off it PDQ. No grease in that join AFAIK (unless you can find a grease zerk on it) - they run dry. If the slop in the assembly is so much that the ball is almost coming out of the cap you're gonna have to grind more than a "few thousandths" off the joint faces to take out the slack. But in theory it would work. The problem is if you ever replace the ball then you have the challenge of putting those "few thousandths" of material back on again ......
yes, I agree. For certain, the ball is now "slipping" out of the cap assembly. This ball "shaft" does have the zerk fitting for grease. I also wondering is the "ball shaft" made of harder material than the cap assembly? Sounds like welding the cap assembly is the way to go, or maybe just bite the bullet and replace cap assembly. Either way, the blade will need to come off just so I can weld the frame side of the cap assembly. If I do this, I guess I should simply replace it. What do you think about the idea of me welding a plate to the bottom of the cap having a cut out with slightly smaller radius of cap, to keep ball from "sliding down"and also, putting some weld in the radius of the cap?
The ball and cap are matched high alloy steel and priced at about what it would cost in labor to do a "cheap" fix. Since you can't match the alloy material in welding rod to the ball or the cap, your welding job will be gone in a few hundred hours, if you are lucky. I've gotten to the point of doing these types of jobs if someone tells me they want it done, even after I tell them the cost and how long it lasts. Lately I've been of the opinion that if a customer can't afford wear parts, they probably can't afford the machine in the first place.
Hey John, yes, my thoughts too. Was only attempting a "quick fix" because machine is on a job back in the mountains. Thanks though for you thoughts.