350 Brake Band Adjustment

[AgentChicken152]

Thank you for adding me to the message board.

I recent purchased a straight 350 from a family friend. They rebuilt the final drives, clutches, and brake bands about 2 years ago but very few hours on it since then. The biggest I have came across since purchasing the crawler is that the left brake doesn't seem to be adjusted correctly. In soft dirt, the track will usually stop but in harder packed dirt the track still spins some until the track digs in and then the crawler turns. Pulling back on both steering levers will stop the crawler so I don't believe the clutch is sticking. The right track operates just fine and I have adjusted the left side as the manual specifies. From what I can see looking down through the cover, the band appears to be newer and not worn down much.

Any help recommendations or help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[LeonardL]

If you're sure you have the adjustments correct and it is good and dry down inside the steering clutch housings, I would run it some. Put a few hours on it and see if it works its way out. I've found over the years that new parts need to be "Run In" so that they will function properly. Run it and then maybe re-do the adjustments.

[AgentChicken152]

I ran bore scope down the pack and it looks good and dry, some rust down in the bottom but nothing I would find concerning. I've probably ran it for 7-8 hours since I've adjusted it and I've adjusted it twice in that time frame. How hard is the brake adjusting screw (AT 18929) suppose to be to turn until its set right? The book mentions tighten until snug but I can't really tell if its snug or the spring is just really stiff.

[LeonardL]

Well your spring isn't that strong. The bolt should turn relatively free until it begins to bring the band in contact with the drum. That is when you should notice it getting snug as the book says. Usually you can tell when it is getting tight.

One thing to look for is the detent shoulder at the top of the bolt. Those will wear a burr around the edge and then they want to bind where they fit in between the brake anchor. If that is burred then it will give you a false feeling of being tight at the band when in reality the bolt is binding against the sides of the anchor.

You can't remove these bolts as it is impossible to get them reconnected to the band. So what I have done is turn the bolt so that the shoulder is accessible or to where the shoulder is exposed. Then I use a die grinder with a de-burring bit to clean the edges of that shoulder so it will turn freely. You could also use a Dremmel tool or something similar.

Be warned that this is a pain in the butt to do. You are limited for space and those die grinders like to grab everything except what you want them to. Your only other alternative is to pull the final and remove everything.

[AgentChicken152]

Thank you for the information, however after using a mirror to look into the pack. It appears that the loop part of the band where the pivot pin goes through is broken. I'll run the bore scope down to get a better look but that is probably the issue. Any tips on pulling the final drive?