4120 Owners Beware!!!!

[clarityconnect]

Present and prospective 4120 owners beware as the owners manual you get with your tractor doesn't always coincide or agree with what is needed or can be done to your tractor. Case in point; on page 49 it says to lubricate your tie rod ends and steering cylinder joints with grease. Guess what, there's no zert fittings to grease these places with. They appear to be sealed joints and ends with no way to grease them. These places are obviously going to be weak points in this tractor and subject to early failure and replacement by the tractor owners. I'm really surprised that John Deere saw fit to eliminate this lubrication feature on their 4120 models, yet I have noticed that the 4320 and 4720 models do have the zert fittings as described in their operation manuals. Maybe someone from John Deere can explain this.

Ed

 

[MT. Sparky]

Mt 4120 has ZERK fittings on the tie rod ends. The best universal joints that I ever had did not have ZERKS to grease and lasted longer.

 

[Bird]

Ed, you might ask your dealer, or even send an e-mail to John Deere and ask about it. But my experience has been that manuals do occasionally have some errors. Many even have the disclaimer than specifications may change. As to whether those joints will fail earlier . . . maybe, maybe not. I'm old enough to remember when cars and pickups had grease zerks on all tie rod ends, A-frame suspensions, most U-joints, spring shackles, etc. but I don't know of any that have them now and the newer ones last longer than the old ones did.

 

[sunnyside360]

Ed, you might ask your dealer, or even send an e-mail to John Deere and ask about it. But my experience has been that manuals do occasionally have some errors. Many even have the disclaimer than specifications may change. As to whether those joints will fail earlier . . . maybe, maybe not. I'm old enough to remember when cars and pickups had grease zerks on all tie rod ends, A-frame suspensions, most U-joints, spring shackles, etc. but I don't know of any that have them now and the newer ones last longer than the old ones did.

I agree 100%. Having worked in a garage in the late 50's and 60's I can confirm what you stated about grease zerks on older vehicles vs newer ones. I have always done my own maintenance and there are far fewer failures with newer vehicles as long as the joint remains sealed.
I have a new JD 3720 which does not have zerks on the tie rod ends but I am not concerned as long as they remain sealed.

 

[Willl]

4 exclamation points ?

Wait till he finds his leaky battery.

 

[jamestaylor72]

Present and prospective 4120 owners beware as the owners manual you get with your tractor doesn't always coincide or agree with what is needed or can be done to your tractor. Case in point; on page 49 it says to lubricate your tie rod ends and steering cylinder joints with grease. Guess what, there's no zert fittings to grease these places with. They appear to be sealed joints and ends with no way to grease them.

Ed

For whats its worth, I've got Zerk fittings on my 4120 too !! Kinda makes ya wonder . Unless different model years either used or did not use greaseable fittings.

 

[Dutch445]

There was a running change in the front end components
of the 4X20 tractors last fall sometime.
I had the issue come up when a customer traded in his
4320 for a 4720, and all of a sudden he didn't have the
zerks on his new tractor, and thought he got shafted.
A quick response from deere was that they changed part
numbers, and went to sealed tie rod ends and steering
cylinder ends. They didn't change their owner's manual
to reflect this change..

 

[Tact]

I must have bought my 4520 that was built in the middle of this change as my steering cylinder ends are sealed with no fittings, but my tie rod ends have the zerk fittings. What do I do, if anything?

 

[Killer_B]

Same thing with my 3320. The manual shows zirks on the tie rod ends, but they are not there. No biggie.

 

[Greyfields]

No biggie.

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