Ariens 21546681 Axle Genuine Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Part

Fit my Ariens riding lawn mower perfectly with no modifications at all . is supposed to be original equipment and I feel that it is the same quality as original .

Swapped this out on my mower for a twisted axle after hitting a fence post. Was easy to install and brought the mower steering back to new condition.

Made my Ariens mower like new. Rebuilt entire front end and back to cutting like a new mower

This is installed with a 5/8 inch hex head bolt and a 11/16 inch nut. Before removing the old one you need to jack it up and remove the muffler. Before installing the new axle I checked that both zerks functioned properly and fed grease to the axles. The quality is good for a welded axle and is only surpassed with a cast iron axle that is not available as far as I'm aware.

This fits well and resolved my mower's steering issue. It wasn't the easiest thing to install, but it wasn't too bad--mounting the axle itself is done with one bolt through two spacers with a nut on the end, but getting to that bolt with enough clearance to still turn the wrench/ratchet was a little difficult since the muffler sits in front of it. I ended up taking the muffler and it's mount off so I could pull the bolt all the way out and reinstall it in reverse (with the nut toward the front of the mower) so it will be easier if I ever have to replace the axle again. It was a bit difficult trying to line up the bolt through the axle channel, the spacers, the axle itself, and the bracket on the backside of the channel that connects the axle channel to the support rod that ties to the front of the mower deck, but it went in once I took the support rod off. Overall an OK install, just awkward positioning trying to reach under the engine to do everything since I don't have a sufficient lift to get the mower up to a comfortable working height.All that said, the reason I only give it 3 stars instead of 4 or 5 is because of the issue I had greasing it. When I put the spindles, tie rods, and wheels back on, I coated the spindle shafts in grease before putting them into their slots in the ends of the axle, and then I tried to top them off via the grease zerks. The right zerk worked fine, and I got grease squeezing out around the top of the spindle; however, when I tried greasing the left one, I didn't get any grease out the top. Thinking I must have just finished off the tube of grease, I then got another tube and ended up putting the whole thing in, still without getting any grease out the top. I knew something was definitely wrong, so I took the spindle back out and discovered that the 1.5-2 tubes of grease had pumped through the zerk and straight into the body of the axle instead of into the spindle slot (see the light blue spot in the attached pic). Too bad nothing inside the axle housing moves requiring grease. I ended up just slathering the spindle directly again with lots of grease and reinstalled it that way. I considered returning the axle, but at this point it's not worth the effort to take it all back off again (even with the bolt being easier to remove after I reversed it).

It works.

Item was as expected. Got it easily installed and now my mower drives easily

The welds on the axle I was sent were junk. It was not completely together when welded. Seller refunded but would not respond to communication. Cost $22 to send back.