Vortex owners

[Jim Martin]

check the bracket that holds the u-joint on to the PTO
Today the bracket described above for some reason broke in half..(stress crack ?????) and the front of the PTO shaft came all un-glued...

As it decided it had enough and left my truck on it's way out it put a huge hole in my transmission pan ....game over.....

( sorry about the pictures..this is on my phone..My daughter has my camara)

 

[Kevin B]

I bet that made some racket.

 

[John Watson]

ouchiewawa Jim, sorry to hear about that.

Is that the U bolt that holds the Universal joint in place that broke??

 

[Mikey P]

Gives me the chills.


Damn Jim whats next?






I assume the unit was running at the time?

 

[Jim Martin]

It was the c clamp...... there is one on each side and they hold the u-joint in place on the PTO...kinda hard to see but you can see it laid over in the first picture...........the front half of the pto shaft is laying in the back ground by the tire on the last picture....the u-joints "were" in pretty good shape but that shaft took a pretty good hit and it will have to be replaced...and a new transmission pan.......I did not lay the shaft over there .the truck and machine were running full out when it let loose...and so that thing pin-balled before it came off the end of the shaft and landed on the opposite side of the truck from where it was mounted....until we get parts and it all back together I don't know it it hurt anything else.............


I can tell you one thing for sure.........I am to damn busy to be worrying about my truck all the time......it is not like I don't take care of it...so everyone can't yell neglect ....everything that has happened has been something that has been out of my control....(things that don't take maintenance...).I have been cleaning 4 a day and we are booked out that way for the next 2 and a half weeks including the Saturdays .....if stuff like this keeps happening I am going to part that damn thing out and start looking at a different set up.......

I had just did my 50 hour maintenance on everything about 20 machine hours ago...everything got greased and checked.....there was no indication of a problem...all u-joint were fine ...oil levels were fine .all oils were in great shape.........I go threw everything and everything was fine.....

Note to Vortex/ AT................think about putting a safety strap around the PTO shaft...It would of just broke and fell and spun to a stop instead of pin-balling the way it did.......or at least kept it more contained......I am just glad that piece hit the tire and stopped.......to cause the damage it did it had to be flying under there...........................

 

[gasaxe]

what other problems have you had with it? how many hours have you got on it so far? I feel your pain seems like if it weren't for bad luck we wouldn't have any at all...

 

[Dolly Llama]

when all the costs of repairs and maintenance are added up, is it "really" worth the productivity gains you single wand V/AT guys are claiming? :roll: :roll:

i don't get it


..L.T.A.

 

[Jim Martin]

Maintenance is nothing............just like any type of equipment , you keep up on it and it is pretty easy to maintain ......If you were to take it into a shop to get it serviced or do it yourself it would cost as much as any machine out there .................so yes ...........

 

[Greenie]

I wonder if these things are more common on trucks that see a lot of single wand action, especially stock trucks running 2" hose, I say that because it's the #1 comment from V/AT users when they re-plumb the vacuum system and go with larger hose "the truck just runs smoother".

Do you think running a #6 blower on single wand those years added to this obvious fatigue failure?

 

[Jim Martin]

when I first got it I ran a single 2".when I opened the other side of the tank I know it got quite and ran smother...............

 

[Jim Martin]

This is what the mechanic called the C clamp/bracket......a bunch of you called and so I went down and got a picture of it

You can see where it broke at the bolt line........it was dark under there so I had to shine a light to see but it is pretty straight forward and you can see it snapped....My mechanic said he can see no indication as of why it broke..
every thing look fine.........
the good new is .he are able to save the transmission pan.....when it got hit it did not damage anything inside.......the crack can be welded and be just as good........but the PTO yoke.. and the part that flew off....
will have to be replaced......both are damaged beyond repair.....

 

[Mike Draper]

Really not a big deal in my opinion. The break could happen to any one with a four wheel drive or all wheel drive vehicle, not just a truck mount. Actually, It happened to me on my jeep, the clamp just got old or something. Fixing the drive line shouldn't be a big deal. The oil pan is a different story, still should only take 2-3 hours to unbolt the old one a put a new one on.

 

[Jimbo]

Thanks for the pictures, Jim...and the heads up on inspecting the part that holds the ujoint.

I just rebuilt the shaft and jack shaft with new pillow blocks and ujoints a couple of weeks back...I'll have to go out and inspect that front piece...I wonder if a guy could magnaflux it to identify any small stress cracks?

The u-strap is a great idea. Jim

Just went out and checked the yoke with a light and a magnifying glass...could not see any cracks.

 

[Ricky Thurman]

hate to hear about your problems Jim. I know you take care of your stuff!!!







if you decide to go with a different setup, I've got that bluewave waiting on you!! :wink:

 

[Jim Martin]

well there it is

$175.00 towing bill and a hour and a half ride with with Otis the drunk...

$453 parts (that includes over night shipping )

reschedule 8 clients 4 for Friday and 4 for Monday (lost 2 due to time factors)

and I have yet to see my mechanic's bill

we were able to save the Transmission pan and weld it..
which I am really happy about.because I know UD was going to give me a dry one for that part...


I will be back on the road Monday afternoon Thanks to Adam Hale and Blue line for making sure I got the PTO shaft here ... I know Adam jumped threw hoops getting it out to me on time.....

 

[Desk Jockey]

That's not bad down time considering the damage.

Good luck, hope that's the end of your troubles! 8)

 

["The" Al Bradham]

Jim
I have had the same thing happen on two trucks. The parts we buy local with no problem and at alot less cost. One of the good things about Vortex that most of the parts are OTC items. You can grease all you want BUT the u joint will still wear out. We leave the shield off the trucks so we can check for play in the joints. Call me if you have questions.

 

[Jim Martin]

this was not a u-joint failure.it was the bracket that holds the u-joint to the yoke on the PTO... first thing that came off once I got it into town was the shield.......It really has no great purpose except to get in the way.....

I am glad that Blue line sent the whole assembly.............I did not think I needed it but come to find out the shaft bent also..........so it worked out pretty good....we checked around here before we went to blue line and we had nothing like it here in town........not to surprising for Tucson......

 

[Steve Lawrence]

Jim,
Sorry to hear about the part failure. Sounds like you're getting over such a disaster pretty quickly and with little business damage. Well done.

Steve

 

[Jim Martin]

Thanks .....Being the only truck I got to run... I keep good contacts and back up contacts all the time.....and a great mechanic....

normally when something happens I pretty much know what I need and have to do and I call Tia right away and tell her to start finding them.. and do what ever it takes to get them here...

I am thankful, it don't happen to often but we try to stay on top of it.....

 

[steve frasier]

I have to had it to Adam and Chuck

my PTO would start today so I called Chuck, we kind of got things figured out and then the UD wouldn't start

Thanks Chuck and BlueLine

 

[Jim Martin]

Both have helped me out and done a great job..................

Every time I call Adam I picture him standing down on the floor of the ware house leaning up against something and throwing a Blower site glass up and down saying to himself..."So...Mr funny man needs some part does he ".....


(some of you should understand that ).......