400 series

REAR AXLE
 Preface

This manual is designed as a technical training aid, it is not to replace the workshop
manual or operators manual, but should be used in conjunction with these, where
detailed procedures are given, and further detailed service information is provided.
 AGCO – 2003
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 Contents

Rear Axle................................................................................................................... 4

Rear Axle And Brakes ............................................................................................... 5

MF 415 Final Drive .................................................................................................... 6

MF 425 – 465 Final Drives......................................................................................... 7

MF 475 Final Drive .................................................................................................... 8

Final Drive Preload .................................................................................................... 9

Brakes ..................................................................................................................... 10

Brake Operation. ..................................................................................................... 12

Brake Adjustment .................................................................................................... 13

Differential Lock....................................................................................................... 15

Differential ............................................................................................................... 17

Pinion Preload ......................................................................................................... 21

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Rear Axle

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 Rear Axle and Brakes

Specification

Rod operated oil immersed disc brakes on all tractors.

Epicyclic ratio No final drive (MF 415)

Epicyclic ratio 3.14:1
Epicyclic ratio 4.80:1
Epicyclic ratio 6.0:1

Crown wheel and pinion ratio 6 x 37

9 x 35

Settings Required
Axle shaft oil seal Fit flush with casting

Bolt Torques
Axle to centre housing 104-156 Nm (77-115 lbf/ft)

Final drive (epicyclic) housing

70 Nm (52 lbf/ft)

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 MF 415 Final Drive

Direct Drive

MF 415 tractors do not require an epicyclic reduction unit. The drive comes out of the
differential and goes directly to the rear wheels through the half shafts.

1 – Trumpet Housing 6 – Drain Plug

2 – Retaining Collar 7 – Cover
3 – Bearing 8 – Lip Seal
4 – Shim 9 – Protection Plate
5 – O Ring 10 – Half Shaft

Half shaft Adjustment

When reassembling the half-shaft it is essential that the following procedure for
setting the endfloat is adopted.

1. Install the left half shaft with 2.0mm shims between the cover and the trumpet
housing.
2. Tighten the cover securing bolts to 60Nm.
3. Install the right hand half shaft with sufficient shims to ensure that there is free
play.
4. Using a dial gauge on the face of the right hand half shaft measure the
endfloat and adjust by adding or removing to achieve a value of
0.05 – 0.20 mm.

Shims are available in the following size 0.10 – 0.25 – 0.50mm

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 MF 425 – 465 Final Drives

20

22

1 – Breather 14 – O ring
2 – Half Shaft 15 – Cover
3 – Tapered Roller Bearing 16 – Road Wheel
4 – Pre load shim 17 – Needle Roller
5 – Double Lip Seal 18 – Spacer washers
6 – Sun Gear 19 – Road wheel Cover
7 – Ring Gear 20 – Wheel Stud
8 – Planetary Carrier 21 – Planet Gear
9 – Planetary Gear Pin 22 – Drain Plug
10 – Road Wheel Snap Ring 23 – Roll Pin
11 – Tapered Roller Bearing 24 – Thrust Plate
12 – Bronze Bush
13 – Seal

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 MF 475 Final Drive

4 18

3
2
1

6
22
5
9 8
23

7
19 20 10
11
12
21 13
14

15 21
16
17

1 – Half Shaft 13 – Cover

2 – Bearing 14 – Road Wheel
3 – Shim 15 – Needle Rollers
4 – Seal 16 – Washers
5 – Sun gear 17 – Road wheel cover
6 – Ring Gear 18 – Ring gear locking pin
7 – Planetary Carrier 19 – Planet Gear
8 – Planet gear Pin 20 – Guide Pin
9 – Snap Ring 21 – Thrust Washer
10 – Bearing 22 – Locking wire
11 – Oil seal 23 – Locking bolt planetary
12 – O ring

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 Final Drive Preload

Once the final drive unit has been reassembled it is necessary to adjust the preload
on the tapered roller bearings between the final drive unit and the trumpet housing.

The correct procedure is as follows.

1. Remove the half shaft.

2. Install the final drive onto the tractor, using the existing shims behind the bearing
race, then tightening the retaining bolts to 70Nm.

3. Fit special tool FT4011 across the wheel studs and measure the rolling torque of
the epicyclic unit. The rolling torque should be 10 – 20Nm.

4. If the rolling torque is less than this value then the number of shims behind the
bearing race should be increased. If the rolling torque is greater than this then the
number of shims should be reduced.

Shims are available in the following sizes 0.13 – 0.25 – 0.38mm

5. Once the correct preload is achieved remove the final drive unit and refit the half
shaft. Then refit the final drive

6. Refill the final drive with oil.

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 Brakes

The figure above shows a typical 4-plate system.

1 – Differential retaining Plate

2 – Expander unit
3 – Friction Disc
4 – Steel Interplate
5 – Trumpet Housing

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General Description

MF 400 series tractors are fitted with multi-disc oil immersed disc brakes. The brakes
are fitted inboard between the differential retaining plate and the axle trumpet
housing. The brakes consist of a number of sintered bronze friction plates and steel
interplates, the actual number of each depends on the model number. An expander
unit is fitted in between two of the friction plates and is used to activate the brakes.
The expander unit consists of two cast iron plates, held together by tension springs
and separated by steel balls located in inclined ramps.

The following table shows the number of friction discs and steel plates fitted to each
side of the tractor.

Model No. of Friction Discs No. of Steel Interplates

MF 415 and MF 425 2WD 5 Discs 3 Discs
MF 415 and MF 425 4WD 5 Discs 3 Discs
MF 435 5 Discs 3 Discs
MF 440 5 Discs 3 Discs
MF 445 5 Discs 3 Discs
MF 460 5 Discs 3 Discs
MF 465 5 Discs 3 Discs
MF 475 5 Discs 3 Discs

The number of active friction discs fitted to each side of the tractor can be identified
externally by the number of grooves machined into the differential retaining plate.

The photograph above shows four grooves machined into the differential retaining
plate, therefore this tractor was fitted with 4 friction plates, on both the left and right
sides of the tractor.

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 Brake Operation.

1 2 3

1 – Expander Unit
2 – Pull-Rod
3 – Pivot
4 – Brake actuation lever
5 – Brake adjustment nut

The operation of the brakes on platform tractors is done by steel rods. When
pressure is applied to the brake pedal, the steel rod pulls on the end of the brake
actuation lever (4); this then rotates about its pivot (3) and pulls on the pull-rod
through the brake adjustment nut. As the pull-rod moves it forces the two halves of
the expander unit to turn. As the two halves of the expander unit turn, the ball
bearings are forced up the inclined ramps and the expander unit forced apart
compressing the friction discs and steel plates together applying the brakes.

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 Brake Adjustment

To adjust the brakes the following procedure must be carried out.

1. Press one of the pedals by hand until resistance is felt.

2. Keep the pedal held down and measure the distance travelled in relation to the
other pedal. This distance known as free play and should be 40 - 50 mm

3. If this distance is not correct turn the brake adjustment nut (1) on the trumpet
housing. Turning the nut clockwise will reduce the free play and vice versa.

4. Repeat this procedure for the other pedal.

5. Once static adjustment is correct, lock both of the pedals together and road test
the tractor. While road testing the tractor, check for binding or pulling to one side,
if either of these occurs, counteract this by slackening off the adjuster nut on the
side to which the tractor pulls.

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Differential Lock Mechanism

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 Differential Lock

Due to the design of a differential when one of the rear wheels loses traction the
other will stop turning.
In order to prevent this the MF 400 series tractors are fitted with a mechanical
differential lock that connects both half shafts and provides equal power distribution
to both wheels.

The differential lock consists of a mechanical coupler, which is splined onto the half
shaft. When the difflock pedal is pressed the coupler slides along the splines and
engages with the differential housing. This prevents the internal planetary gears
rotating and locks the differential, cause both wheels to drive at equal speed.
NOTE:
Only engage difflock when the wheels are stationary, to avoid serious damage
to the coupler and corresponding dog teeth.

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FT 4030

Differential Removal

Crownwheel Warpage

Planetary gear endfloat

and radial free play

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 Differential

The differential is mounted into the rear centre housing, it is held in place by two steel
retaining plates that also act as the inner friction face for brakes.

The following paragraphs list the various checks and settings that can be carried out
on the differential. For a detailed explanation of each of the procedures please refer
to the workshop manual.

Differential Removal

To remove the differential it is first necessary to remove the left-hand trumpet

housing and differential retaining plate the differential can then be removed using
special tool FT 4030.

Crownwheel Warpage

Once the differential has been removed from the tractor it is possible to check the
crownwheel Warpage.

The maximum allowable Warpage is as follows.

MF415 = 0.10 mm
MF425 to 475 = 0.13 mm

Planetary Gear End Float

The end float of the planetary gears can be checked by inserting a feeler gauge into
the centre of the differential from both sides and taking a measurement, the endfloat
can then be calculated using the following formula.

Endfloat = (Fa + Fb) / 2

The endfloat must be 0.20 mm to 1.00 mm.

Planetary Gear radial free play

The radial free play can be checked by using a feeler gauge or dial indicator.

The free play (F1 + F2) must not exceed 0.80mm

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 Differential Preload

Differential Backlash Adjustment

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Differential Preload

The differential preload is adjusted by increasing or decreasing the thickness of the

shim (also known as the chip shield) under the bearing cone on the right-hand side of
the differential.

The preload can be measured in one of two ways.

1. Using special tool FT 4029 and a torque meter.

The preload should be 20.5 to 30.8 kgf.cm

2. Using FT 4029, FT4020 and a spring balance.

For this method the preload should be 4.1 to 6.2 kgf

If the preload is higher than the above figures then a thinner chip shield can be fitted,
if the preload is lower than these values then a thicker chip shield should be fitted.

Differential Backlash.

Adjustment of the differential backlash is not normally necessary however it can be

adjusted if it is found to be incorrect. The recommended backlash is etched onto
the side of the crownwheel. If there is no value etched on the crownwheel then the
following figures can be used.

MF 415 = 0.23 to 0.33 mm

MF 425 to 475 = 0.25 to 0.38 mm

The adjustment of the backlash on the differential is achieved by increasing or

decreasing the thickness of the shim under the left-hand bearing cone. If a thicker
shim is fitted it will reduce the backlash whereas if a thinner shim is fitted it will
increase the backlash.

NOTE:

Altering the shim under the left-hand bearing cone will also effect the
differential preload.

1. If the thickness of the shim under the left-hand side is increased then
the thickness of the chip shield fitted under the right hand side should
be reduced by the same amount to maintain the correct differential
preload.

2. If the thickness of the shim under the left-hand side is decreased then
the thickness of the chip shield should be increased by the same
amount, to maintain the correct differential preload.

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 Pinion Preload

Locking pins

Locking of the Pinion Nut

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 Pinion Preload

The pinion preload can be adjusted using special tools FT4012 and FT4014. Special
tool FT4012 is used to lock the pinion and stop it rotating and special tool FT4014 is
used to tighten the pinion nut. Tightening of the nut will compress the two tapered
roller bearings and increase the preload.

Having adjusted the preload it can then be measured in one of two ways.

1. Using special tool FT 4020 and a torque meter.

The preload should be 20.4 to 25.5 kgf.cm

2. Using FT4020 and a spring balance.

For this method the preload should be 4 to 5 kgf

Once the correct preload has been achieved, the pinion nut must be locked using two
small steel pins.

NOTE:

The pins must be positioned as shown to ensure that the nut cannot work
loose.

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