Craftsman Self Propelled mower wheels

[Oldmanfunk]

I recently bought a used Craftsman 917.376677 (917376677)
The mower in like new shape. The owner told me he had replaced the two front wheels as part of his most recent maintenance routine. The problem is after getting it home and mowing with it for less than 10 minutes, the front wheels started to slip and make a grinding noise. I removed both wheels and noticed that the plastic teeth inside the wheel hub were freshly chewed down. It's obvious that the metal pinion gear is chewing the tips of the plastic off the wheel. The question is why so quickly?
So after doing a ton of research, this is what I found.

This Mowers model number is 917.376677 (917376677)

Here is the parts breakdown page for that mower
https://www.searspartsdirect.com/mo...aftsman-917376661-gas-walk-behind-mower-parts

The correct wheel part number for this mower is #532403111 which is apparently for 22" mowers (Craftsman, Polan, Husqvarna)
https://www.searspartsdirect.com/product/23bsy7gir8-0071-917/id-194231x427

Wheel specs are:
Size - 8"x1.75"
Hub Offset - 1-1/2"

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The wheels that the previous owner put on the mower are #5321807-67 (532180767) which apparently is for 21" mowers (Craftsman, Polan, Husqvarna)
https://www.searspartsdirect.com/product/2mxhir1h0e-0071-359/id-5321807-67

Wheel specs are:
Size 7-3/4"x2"
Hub offset - 1-5/8"

Here is one of the models that this 2" wheel fits
https://www.searspartsdirect.com/mo...usqvarna-5521chvb-gas-walk-behind-mower-parts


Each of these two wheels uses a different pinion gear. If you open both pages for each of these mowers and compare the metal pinion drive gear that fits each of these wheels, you will see there is a huge difference in their overall shape and design.

What are your thoughts?
Should these two wheels be interchangeable?

 

[Soft Cars]

Craftsman 917.376676 would probably be closer to 917.376677 than 917.376661.

Official Craftsman 917376676 gas lawn mower parts | Sears PartsDirect

Craftsman 917376676 gas lawn mower parts - manufacturer-approved parts for a proper fit every time! We also have installation guides, diagrams and manuals to help you along the way!

www.searspartsdirect.com

The previous owner bought the wrong wheels obviously.

 

[Lubener]

You need to check the bearings which support the drive axle and the steel pinion gear. Remove the wheel and grasp the steel gear which meshes up with the wheel's gear. Wiggle it sideways and if there is a lot of sideway slop, the bearing is bad. It will cause issues with the steel drive gear properly meshing up with the wheel and will shear the wheel's gear teeth, ruining the wheel. The bearing often is integrated with the wheel height adjuster.
This video may help.

 

[Oldmanfunk]

Craftsman 917.376676 would probably be closer to 917.376677 than 917.376661.

Official Craftsman 917376676 gas lawn mower parts | Sears PartsDirect

Craftsman 917376676 gas lawn mower parts - manufacturer-approved parts for a proper fit every time! We also have installation guides, diagrams and manuals to help you along the way!

www.searspartsdirect.com

The previous owner bought the wrong wheels obviously.

I would agree that would be the OBVIOUS conclusion, BUT, not knowing what the differences with the dimensions of the drive pinion are, I wanted to explore other possibilities.

The reason why I'm saying this is because I noticed a lot of folks having the same problem and unless it's just a matter of garbage plastic being used in the replacement wheels, then there has to be a common denominator.

Apparently, this is a common problem with gears stripping prematurely...



Seriously, this design isn't the best, but it worked well enough when the mowers first came out so there has to be a reason that so many folks are currently having the same issue. If it's a simple fact of crappy plastic in the new wheel castings, then we are all just shoveling poop against the tide.

Lubener posted a very interesting video that was helpful. I checked my lateral play in both drive pinion gears and they are what I would consider "ACCEPTABLE". But maybe between that minimal lateral play and the slight difference in the wheel hub offset of 1/8" is enough to cause the problem in my particular case. I suppose the only way I'm going to know is to replace both the 2 drive axle bearings and wheels.​

 

[Oldmanfunk]

You need to check the bearings which support the drive axle and the steel pinion gear. Remove the wheel and grasp the steel gear which meshes up with the wheel's gear. Wiggle it sideways and if there is a lot of sideway slop, the bearing is bad. It will cause issues with the steel drive gear properly meshing up with the wheel and will shear the wheel's gear teeth, ruining the wheel. The bearing often is integrated with the wheel height adjuster.
This video may help.

A very interesting video. I checked my lateral play in both drive pinion gears and they are what I would consider "ACCEPTABLE". But maybe between that minimal lateral play and the slight difference in the wheel hub offset of 1/8" is enough to cause the problem in my particular case. I suppose the only way I'm going to know is to replace both the 2 drive axle bearings and wheels.​

 

[64bawagon]

I see they still havent mover on from that lousy design. I dealt with that 20 yrs ago when I had a Craftsmen mower. It would eat up the front wheels every year.

 

[Lubener]

A very interesting video. I checked my lateral play in both drive pinion gears and they are what I would consider "ACCEPTABLE". But maybe between that minimal lateral play and the slight difference in the wheel hub offset of 1/8" is enough to cause the problem in my particular case. I suppose the only way I'm going to know is to replace both the 2 drive axle bearings and wheels.​

There should be little if any sideway play of the steel gear..

 

[Oldmanfunk]

There should be little if any sideway play of the steel gear..

Well, there is definitely side play, but not as much as in the video. So the question is, WHAT IS TO MUCH PLAY?
So as I said earlier, I'm not going to know what is worse between the two evils, and replacing the wheels without replacing the bearing would be costly if I in fact eat up another pair of wheels. Better to just do them both considering I currently need new wheels.

 

[Lubener]

Well, there is definitely side play, but not as much as in the video. So the question is, WHAT IS TO MUCH PLAY?
So as I said earlier, I'm not going to know what is worse between the two evils, and replacing the wheels without replacing the bearing would be costly if I in fact eat up another pair of wheels. Better to just do them both considering I currently need new wheels.

If someone recently replaced the wheels with the correct ones and they sheared right away, that leaves the bearings. You could try just the wheels, stop right away if you hear grinding of the gears and replace the bearings. Damage should be minimal if you stop immediately.

 

[benjy]

Jack's small engine has good prices + service. i found sears-craftsman direct pricing to be Hiiii!!