Is this normal behavior for rear axle when spun manually?

[Webtech]

2007 TXT PDS.... I've been working to identify a "hop" when riding and believe I have it narrowed down to the rear hubs or axle - both of which are stock. I have both tires off and from the passenger side am spinning the axle with a wrench for leverage (I've removed the hub but put the castle nut back on so I can spin it with the wrench). It spins with some effort a few full rotations and then all of a sudden there's a "free spot" of about half a turn where it doesn't feel engaged in the differential - it's extremely easy to turn. Then it grabs back on and has resistance again. The spinning process is difficult by hand, but can be done. Not being familiar with how it's actually supposed to feel, is this normal? Obviously with the hub removed, the brake is not engaged. The cart rides and drives normally - except for the hop/wobble. Initially before I took the hub off, during a portion of the rotation, there was a metal on metal "brake partially engaged" feel/sound when spinning it manually or with juice - even with the break disconnected behind the hub. (FYI: The metal on metal friction sound is definitely at the hub, not in the dif). Thoughts?

thanks for your help.

[Sir Nuke]

Webtech, IF what you described (doesn't feel engaged in the differential) happens on a regular frequency.....I am thinking you have a few teeth missing or broken in the differential. Since you got it up on jack stands, drop the pan and have someone rotate the axle so you can see all the gears as they turn.

oh and btw...... Welcome to our happy little corner of the net, and to BGW. There is a BIG fridge on the back porch with anything you can think of in it...help yourself...of course only take what you can LEGALLY have. Make yourself at home on one of the big fluffy couches, kick your shoes off, put your feet up on one of the tables, yes we are allowed to do that, mom's, dad's, wives', husband's, girlfriend's and boyfriend's here don't care....and take it easy.



oh...btw....every once in a while a food fight breaks out...so you may not want to wear nice clothes here.

Welcome!!

[Webtech]

Thanks for the "welcome"! After further testing I noticed that it essentially spun freely when spun faster as if something was disengaging. if I spun it at a steady pace, the resistance remained constant. It almost feels as though it's by design with the additional testing. I'm actually now thinking my sahara classics on steel wheels are the hop culprit. with the rear jacked up and the motor at partial throttle, both wheels wobble in out and up down - one significantly worse than the other and when I swapped rears, the wobble/hop percentage followed the tires. Guess it's time to upgrade the wheels/tires to something machined and designed for pavement.

[yurtle]

It's 7 years old, so it's probably not a bad idea to change the differential oil anyway, which would let you see if any gear chunks come out when you drop the pan.

It's entirely possible that the hop is caused by the tires, but the symptoms you described originally were without the tires.

[JohnnieB]

Few carts have a limited slip differential, so you most likely have the open type and all the power goes to the axle that has the least traction and with both wheels off the ground, you may be feeling the motor being intermittently turned by the axle you are turning.

Block the axle on the other side from turning and the side you are turning will be turning the intermediate differential gears and motor all the time, so it should be fairly hard to turn all the time, since the motor will turn 12.44 times each time the axle turns once.

Also, both rims and tires have been known to be out of true and out of round.

Second the suggestion to drop the pan and change the oil. A little glitter is normal, small particles and chunks of metal aren't.