Inside the Reman Process: How a Dead Final Drive Gets a Second Life

When your final drive fails, we know that it’s far more than just a mechanical issue—it’s lost time, delayed projects, and severe stress on your bottom line. But a failed final drive doesn’t always mean you need a brand-new replacement. At Texas Final Drive, we specialize in remanufacturing final drives—taking what’s broken, rebuilding it to OEM or better standards, and giving it a whole new lease on life.

In this Shop Talk Blog post, we’ll discuss what happens behind the scenes when a “dead” final drive comes into our shop.

Here are a few other Shop Talk Blog posts you might find helpful:

• A Masterclass in Maintaining Your Final Drives
• Reman Final Drives in a Greener World
• Maximizing ROI From Compact Equipment: A Smart Business Owner's Guide

Step 1: Heavy-Duty Cleaning

Before our techs crack open a final drive, it goes through a multi-phase industrial cleaning process:

• Spray Wash Cabinet: A strong blast of high-temperature, high-pressure water mixed with detergent strips away grease, grime, and carbon buildup from the exterior of the final drive.
• Needle-Gun Scaler: Powerful, vibrating chisels chip away at the thick rust, paint, and hardened crud left on the final drive that no wash can touch.
• Sandblasting Cabinet: The last line of defense, sandblasting removes everything else—down to bare metal. And only then will we open up the final drive.
• Hot Water Parts Wash: Once our techs open the final drive, they take the internal metal components to a hot water parts washer, where detergent and pressure finish the cleaning and degreasing process. 

This clean start is critical to a clean build.

Step 2: Teardown and Meticulous Inspection

Now, the real remanufacturing work begins.

Texas Final Drive techs use a full range of tools—from small picks to pneumatic socket wrenches and hydraulic presses—to disassemble the unit. Heavy-duty drives are moved around the shop with overhead cranes and hoists, and manual arbor presses help safely separate tough hubs.

Once everything’s apart, we inspect every part:

• We visually check and measure gears, bearings, seals, and housings.
• We carefully inspect for wear patterns, cracks, metal contamination, or signs of overheating that not only point to damage but can reveal why the drive motor failed.
• Our techs rely on precision tools, real-world experience, and company standards to know what’s good and what’s not.
• And they don’t stop until they know exactly what went wrong.

Step 3: Machining, Measuring, and Rebuilding

Next, it’s time to rebuild—starting with the machining floor.

If a hub or housing is out of spec, we machine new ones in-house using CNC milling and turning equipment. For example, we regularly fabricate hubs for popular models like the Bobcat T300 and T190. 

We also use a lapping table (Lapmaster 24) to restore ultra-flat surfaces on components like valve plates. A slight unevenness can cause serious performance loss for certain components and our lapping process ensures the right contact and pressure.

Texas Final Drive also has certified welders who can rebuild surfaces that have worn away or been seriously damaged and restore them to their original state.

Step 4: Clean Reassembly

Texas Final Drive techs perform reassembly with great precision in a clean environment by our team of experienced techs:

• Our techs torque bolts to the exact spec
• They carefully install new seals to prevent future leaks
• New bearings are installed to ensure smooth performance
• As needed, other parts are replaced with brand-new, quality ones
• We use thread lockers like Loctite where required for durability

This step is all about getting it right—no shortcuts, no guesswork.

Step 5: Real Testing

We don’t ship a drive unless we’ve tested on our hydraulic test stand and other testing equipment. If it doesn’t pass the functionality, performance, and leak tests, it doesn’t ship. Period.

Here’s what our testing protocol looks like:

• Leak detection using calibrated pneumatic sensors
• Idle and load testing at high and low readings
• Case drain flow measurement
• Brake engagement/release checks
• RPM and dual-speed verification

We log every test in a digital database so that we can track your final drive from teardown to final sign-off. No “we think it’s fine” — just data-backed results.

Step 6: Digital Documentation

We use a custom digital system (built from a FileMaker base) to track everything:

• Who performed inspections, repairs, and tests
• What the results were
• Where the final drive is in the process

This gives us total visibility, accountability, and traceability—for your peace of mind.

Step 7: Backed by Real People Who Know Their Stuff

All the latest, cutting-edge equipment means nothing without a skilled team. Our technicians are trained, experienced, and passionate about getting it right. We firmly believe in mentorship and hands-on learning, so our team continuously grows in talent and capability.

Conclusion

When you choose a remanufactured final drive from Texas Final Drive, you’re getting a high-quality replacement final drive that …

• Performance that meets or beats OEM specs
• Significant cost savings over buying new
• Full testing and documentation
• Backing from skilled technicians who care about your uptime

We’re not just a parts supplier—we’re your partner in keeping your machine moving.