I went to change a flat tire on my 2012, Mule 4010 today and found 2 of the wheel studs were stripped. I personally have never removed the wheel as all my service has been under warranty at a dealership until this year. Anyway, long story short, I finally got the nuts off and both studs need to be replaced.
I was dismayed to find that removal of the brake drum requires a special rotor puller tool (OEM 57001-1215).
I called a buddy who has an older model Mule and his does not require the tool for removal. His can be removed by tapping with a rubber mallet from behind. The 2012 has a brake panel assembly that sits behind the drum and does not allow removal with rearward pressure. With two of the studs stripped, I'm not sure how well the tool would work anyway as it uses them to provide the counter force.

Questions:
Can anybody give me any hints on how to remove the drum to replace the studs without purchasing the above expensive and not easy to find tool? Have you used a wheel puller that uses the lug nuts for counter force?
If not, can anybody point me to a source for the tool?

Thanks.

 

About the only active discussions on this forum revolve around KLX 250S bikes. You may have better luck at this forum:

Kawasaki ATV and Mule - Kawasaki Motorcycle Forums

or this one is even more focused:

https://www.kawieriders.com/forum/

 

Hi Phopkinsiii.
I have experience with the front drum removal on my neighbour's 3010 Trans Mule. The drums are a tight fit. The fit is so neat that the drum in my neighbour's had filled with water and the water didn't escape. Some rust therefore got into the brake cylinder so I had to remove the drum to drain it and get to the brake cylinder to clean it up.

I made a puller.

I made one out of a piece of flat 1/4 plate. This was a while ago but from what I remember I drilled a hole in the middle of the plate and welded a decent nut over the hole. I brought 4 stud connectors that basically extend the wheel studs and then you can put a bolt through the plate and into the stud connectors. Thus the 1/4 plate is attached to the drum

When this is attached via the wheel studs you screw a tapered bolt into the center welded nut and it pulls the drum off. I still have the puller somewhere. I guess I could send you some pictures of the home made puller if you want. It's not a precision puller by any means and I guess it took me an hour to make.

It worked a treat though and I would never, ever have removed the drum otherwise. If I recall the drum is on a spline. Hitting it would not work other than giving you a headache from the clanging each time you hit it.

Hope this helps.

 

The puller plate for the drum that I manufactured is made from a piece of 9mm thick plate. The plate is square - it's 18cm x 18cm. It was a scrap piece of footing plate that was lying around.

I purchased the rod connectors (extended nuts) from a local Bolt/Fastener Business. They are 45mm long and 4 of them cost me a few dollars. I think they are an M12 thread. That is no issue to you. If you purchase some just take a wheel nut off the Mule with you as a sample when you go to buy them.

I center marked the plate and drilled a tiny hole at the center point. I then neatly covered the plate in masking tape. This makes your pencil marks easier to read as they are on the tape. With the wheel removed I measured out from the center of the axle on the Mule to a stud and then used that measurement and drew a radius line on the plate using a compass on the small centered hole as a reference point.

I then measured two studs "center to center" and used that measurement on the radius line to get the distance where the holes on the plate needed to be to match the studs.

If you wanted to buy some steel plate from a steel merchant, take a Mule wheel with you and ask them to radius cut a piece of plate (like a disc) that will fit inside the wheel of the Mule. If they have a Plasma Cutter or Oxy. it will take a person who knows what they are doing about 5 minutes to cut for you.

Then you can mark where you will need to drill the stud holes through the plate using the four holes from the wheel as a reference. The round plate will fit snugly into the wheel of the Mule and you can mark the plate through the wheel holes. You will also need to buy 4 bolts that will go through the plate at the matching wheel stud holes.

After that you just need to drill out the center hole. I welded an M12 nut over the center hole and tapered the end of a long M12 bolt. With the wheel off the Mule you screw the 4 rod connectors onto the wheel studs. Next you screw the plate to the rod connectors using the four bolts through the plate. The taper on the long bolt through the center hole of the plate will push against the centering hole at the end of the axle and pull the drum off.