May have been too much weight on the front axle. Check the fluid. You might need a new set of heavy duty springs in the front, usually needed for plowing.
3010 mule front end noise
While hauling 6 hunters and several deer over some rough terrain I engaged the 4 wheel drive and started hearing a noise in the front like a clicking,thwapping,popping. This doesn't happen in 2 wheel drive and only under load when 4 wheel is engaged. Looked for obstuctions but it was clear. Any Ideas from you fellow mulers as to what it might be?. Thanks, thought I'd ask 1st before tearing it all down.
MICK
MICK
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thanks for replying. Wasn't excessive weight on the front as no one was sitting there, and I installed heavy duty springs with my lift kit. The fluid thing sounds plausible. That I'll definitely check thanks again
Clicking and drumming with popping noises are generally associated with the CV joints on the front axles.
Get it up on jackstands, all four wheels at once, and then engage the 4 wheel and lock, with the engine off, the drive belt removed, and the brake off. Grasp each front wheel and roll it back and forth and in complete circles. Listen at each front axle for any noise. It helps to have a buddy grasp one of the rear wheels and add resistance to the drivetrain.
I see this problem quite often when I hunt in Wyoming. A lot of the rich guys that have them for hunting only get snow, ice and water in their boots this time of the year and then let their Mules set all summer long. The joints are full of rust pits come the next Elk season then they click and clack and fail.
I use a grease needle, looks like a large hypodermic, and fit it to my grease gun, then force the needle between the bellows and the axle, and jack my boots full of Hydrotex Parasyn 70 grease after every "wet" hunting trip. I have never lost a CV joint in years of running these things in swamps, mud bogs out duck hunting, the gumbo out west, and even in the salt marshes in Louisiana, and everything else in between.
Get it up on jackstands, all four wheels at once, and then engage the 4 wheel and lock, with the engine off, the drive belt removed, and the brake off. Grasp each front wheel and roll it back and forth and in complete circles. Listen at each front axle for any noise. It helps to have a buddy grasp one of the rear wheels and add resistance to the drivetrain.
I see this problem quite often when I hunt in Wyoming. A lot of the rich guys that have them for hunting only get snow, ice and water in their boots this time of the year and then let their Mules set all summer long. The joints are full of rust pits come the next Elk season then they click and clack and fail.
I use a grease needle, looks like a large hypodermic, and fit it to my grease gun, then force the needle between the bellows and the axle, and jack my boots full of Hydrotex Parasyn 70 grease after every "wet" hunting trip. I have never lost a CV joint in years of running these things in swamps, mud bogs out duck hunting, the gumbo out west, and even in the salt marshes in Louisiana, and everything else in between.
Just what we need. A MULE EXPERT! Stick around RCW, we need you. Most of us are bike people and have no contact with mules.
Clicking and drumming with popping noises are generally associated with the CV joints on the front axles.
Get it up on jackstands, all four wheels at once, and then engage the 4 wheel and lock, with the engine off, the drive belt removed, and the brake off. Grasp each front wheel and roll it back and forth and in complete circles. Listen at each front axle for any noise. It helps to have a buddy grasp one of the rear wheels and add resistance to the drivetrain.
I see this problem quite often when I hunt in Wyoming. A lot of the rich guys that have them for hunting only get snow, ice and water in their boots this time of the year and then let their Mules set all summer long. The joints are full of rust pits come the next Elk season then they click and clack and fail.
I use a grease needle, looks like a large hypodermic, and fit it to my grease gun, then force the needle between the bellows and the axle, and jack my boots full of Hydrotex Parasyn 70 grease after every "wet" hunting trip. I have never lost a CV joint in years of running these things in swamps, mud bogs out duck hunting, the gumbo out west, and even in the salt marshes in Louisiana, and everything else in between.
Great idea with the grease needle, I Will defiantly do that in the near future as I am moving to southern Mississippi in January and the Mule will be seeing allot more water than out here in the desert.
1 - 6 of 6 Posts
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