RSD60 - broken transaxle mount bolt

bradmc

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Last night I performed the first hydro/transaxle oil change on my 2015 Raptor SD 60. I removed the rear tires to get easier access to everything (and because it takes no time with my impact gun). On the left hand side, I noticed a loose bolt that connects the very front end of the hydro-drive to a cross-member and to a tab coming down from the chassis. It had a nylock nut on it, but had backed itself about an 1/8" off of being tight. I checked the right side to see if it was also loose and found that bolt sheared clean off where the threads would have just been visible below the cross-member. Here's a pic of the right side. You should be able to see a nut on the bottom.

2016-08-11 18.04.27.jpg

I was pretty irritated because it was too late to get to the hardware store last night, so I finished up the oil change and left the rear wheels off the mower. Today, I picked up 2x 3 inch long grade 8 5/16 course thread bolts, four washers, and two new nylock nuts. I didn't like the fact that the factory bolts had threads inside the bolt hole. That should be all shank in my opinion to prevent wear and fatigue. The bolt I got was almost perfect. There is only about 1 whole turn of threads inside the hole. Here is the new bolt next to the broken original bolt - you can see the threads that were in the hole are pretty mangled.

2016-08-11 18.04.45.jpg

Here's a shot of the new bolt installed and tightened. It sticks down farther than the original, but there is nothing nearby that could make contact with the extra bolt length.

2016-08-11 18.08.55.jpg

One last pic of the broken bolt and the loose bolt that probably would have broken fairly soon. Notice that its threads are pretty boogered up too.

2016-08-11 18.16.35.jpg
 

mechanic mark

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Very good post & pictures, you may choose to send information & pictures to manufacturer to make them aware of issue.
 

BlazNT

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Not another Raptor with hydro bolt problems.
 

Carscw

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Wow what a shock.
 

577jersey

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80 hours and mine is running strong,,I just double lock nutted the stock hardware,flipped them around so the thicker shank was going through the frame,,and keep my eye on them weekly..no issues yet..and I run alot of huge slopes,banks,and cow paths.

This is a minor issue that can be completely avoided if you just flip them around and keep an eye on them weekly.

I do have the grade 8 bolts ready if I ever need them,but I doubt I will.

Tom
 

BlazNT

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80 hours and mine is running strong,,I just double lock nutted the stock hardware,flipped them around so the thicker shank was going through the frame,,and keep my eye on them weekly..no issues yet..and I run alot of huge slopes,banks,and cow paths.

This is a minor issue that can be completely avoided if you just flip them around and keep an eye on them weekly.

I do have the grade 8 bolts ready if I ever need them,but I doubt I will.

Tom

If you look at his first picture you will see it is installed with the threads down and it still broke the bolt. At somewhere around $4000.00 I would not think I would have low grade bolts. My $3000.00 Husqvarna does not need any of that stuff done. I just check it annually to make sure it is still torqued. I purchased it in 2007 and have never had a bolt break or back out. It just amazes me what people will settle for. I would be screaming at my dealer till they fixed it right. Not just put another crappy bolt in. From what I read there are some serious design flaws in the Raptor/Raptor SD line. I would not own one until it is all fixed.
 

RhettWS

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There is another thread about this very issue about 1-2 months ago. I checked mine and they were installed properly, thus no issues (so far). I purchased mine in January of this year. I'm not sure how we could accomplish this but ideally, within a brand forum, there could be a moderator maintained thread with issues like this. Essentially, it would be a list of problems to check for a given model.

Theoretically, forum followers and new owners would then know what to check for specific to their model, etc.. I would have thought all followers of the hustler forum with this model would have checked those bolts after that particular thread. Then again, it does take some spare time to check the forum to see what is going on.
 

RhettWS

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If you look at his first picture you will see it is installed with the threads down and it still broke the bolt.

Good pickup BlazNT. The photo was a bit dark and it took me a minute to orient myself. At some point in the near future I will probably go ahead and get some new bolts and swap them all out. If I find anything interesting, I will report.
 

577jersey

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Yeah,,I double lock nutted mine and hammer the living crap outta it every day,,the bolts are tighter than a frogs butt 10 feet under water,,no issues with this RSD at all other than normal things that happen to every mower regardless of the price.

I would buy this mower again and again so far....people where talking about the deck being crap also,,well I have been cutting in pouring down rain every day this week.
Super tall,wet crab grass is the worst,,plugs up every mower deck I ever had...this deck is awesome,,I went to scrape it out the other day and there was nothing under there to clean,,not sure if its the hi-lift blades but its truly amazing,,no more scragglers and the deck is staying super clean in all this wet junk!!

I love my RSD so far...80 hours and counting.

Tom
 

577jersey

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I might add,,the RSD is a great little mower but the deck lift hanging system is a little bit of a weak point,,I would not go any bigger than a 54" deck,,they use the same system on all the models and it flexes a bit,,I can see that becoming an issue down the road especially on the bigger 60".
If I don’t get the Bobcat CRZ next,,I will get a 48" RSD no problem at all.
 
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