Can wheel hub be repaired?

[ernemats]

The front wheel on my 5660 Agco Allis four wheel drive is showing signs of a hairline crack around the 6 bolt holes. See Attached pictures. Can this be fixed any way or will I need a new hub?
A new hub is $550. plus shipping , I have tried to find a used one with no luck .

 

[Just Bill]

Hello
At that price it would be well worth a try.
You would probably need a machine shop to make you a new center,
and then have it welded in place.
I would clamp it to the existing one and and have welded on the OD of the
plate to keep it square.
I think that if you try to repair the cracks only, they will crack again.

 

[sandman2234]

A machine shop would make it easier, but in reality it can be fixed a couple of ways. One way would be to grind out the crack, weld it back up. Or make a larger diameter circle and drill the bolt holes, being careful to make the holes "exact" and use a tool to champer the edges just like your wheel is, then sandwich the wheel in between them. Add some really good security, and do both! Then weld the disc to the rim!(Note, the side that matches up to the wheel should have as much surface contact as possible, so the dimples and ridges need to be matched together.so they don't interfere with each other)
Contact a couple of the tractor used parts (junk yards) and see if you can find another set.
Post the EXACT size of the wheel, measure it's offset, rim width, bolt hole pattern and the tire size and see if anybody has a match, maybe in a different color tractor.( or anything that uses wheels) My JD has the tires off a tanker trailer on the front end right now, so use what works.
David from jax

 

[sandman2234]

Hmmm,
16"? front wheels...
I think I have a set of 16" rear rims out in the shed...originally came off a compact tractor that I purchased so I could put "duals" on my Ford 1100 FWD. Cute but somebody offered me more money that it was worth for just the tires, so I sold them. Still have the rims, methinks.
David from jax

 

[zzvyb6]

You can add some life to it by getting a circular spacer made up for both sides and making a sandwich out of them. Make it as large as will fit in the hub.

The wheel has been overstressed probably by too much wheel offset. I suggest you reset the front wheel track to rim and hub spider positions such that the center of the tire is in the same plane as the center of the hub bearings. The bending moment caused by a lateral offset is pretty hard on wheels like these. All you really need is a new spider, though, the wheel seems fine. Most flat wheel disks like these should use lugs with washers. Too low an air pressure combined with too much toe in (or out) can cause this type of over-stressing. Its not so much overloading as the number of cycles (revolutions).

 

[RoyJackson]

The front wheel on my 5660 Agco Allis four wheel drive is showing signs of a hairline crack around the 6 bolt holes. See Attached pictures. Can this be fixed any way or will I need a new hub?
A new hub is $550. plus shipping , I have tried to find a used one with no luck .

I'd weld it (stop drill the ends of the crack first) and add a doubler plate to the outer surface (weld it on). This isn't a high speed application, so perfect balance isn't required.
Just keep an eye out for a replacement wheel. You may need it sooner or later.

 

[eepete]

Forgive me if everyone knows this, but: Be sure to take the tire off before welding. There was a thread on that a while back.

Learned something form this post about what stresses tires, tnx to all !

Pete

 

[PILOON]

I have had both my front rims work loose and chew up the mounting holes.
Both times it was the right front!
Made me new centers with 1/4" stock and welding to the outer rim.
While center cut out and careful mounting hole alignment was a challange. I was successful.

So. if you can weld, it can be done.

In my case new or even used was not an option as Mitsubishi parts are rare and very spendy + shipping.

 

[Bedlam]

Why remove the tire the welding would be far enough away from the rubber..

 

[Soundguy]

Hub?? we call them centers.. but anyhow.. i agree with the others.. weld the cracks up then scab a plate on to it probably as large as the big part of the center circle then line the holes up and drill em.. then weld it in. not sure how much stud you have to work with.. so something like 1/8 on each side.. or maybee 3/16

soundguy

 

[Ken Cunningham]

Why remove the tire the welding would be far enough away from the rubber..

If you had seen the video of the tire exposion from the very short time of welding you would know that welding with the tire on the rim is gonna turn out bad. Even unseating the bead isnt good enough. Do a search for pyrolosis ( spelling might be wrong)

 

[Bedlam]

Pyrolysis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNZ4siYGkag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNZ4siYGkag

thanks never knew...

 

[Soundguy]

to all of you claiming that the tire must come off the rim.. did any of you actually look at the pictures??? the center can be removed from the rim with 4 bolts... take the center to your work bench and have at it.. leave the poor tire seated onthe rim where it should be...


soundguy

 

[Bedlam]

Good point soundguy...I was carried away with the explosive part ..

 

[sal64]

i would grind slot in cracks weld from back, then make a 1/4 plate od to meet that radius on hub cut big hole out in center, then weld it to rim drill out bolt holes, u mite need longer bolts ,be shure to use cold roll steel not hot roll.

 

[ernemats]

Thanks for the advice. I know nothing about welding. My neighbor suggested what several have said about grinding, welding and put a plate on, that is probably what I will have done.
My neighbor knows a guy with a machine shop that is good at welding and fabricating.

 

[tulenutn2o]

The front wheel on my 5660 Agco Allis four wheel drive is showing signs of a hairline crack around the 6 bolt holes. See Attached pictures. Can this be fixed any way or will I need a new hub?
A new hub is $550. plus shipping , I have tried to find a used one with no luck .

I always say, you can't ruin junk. I'd try to fix it.

 

[schmism]

Id weld cracks from one side, and scab a plate to the other the size of the center circle area

 

[lostcause]

i can't make it out real clearly, but is that the crack that looks to run nearly all the way around the outside of the bolt holes? looking at the condition of the rest of the wheel it's hard to believe that it's been stressed enough to crack that badly without any catastrophic damage elsewhere to the rim - especially on a front wheel. forgive me for asking, but it does go into the metal and not just in the paint/powdercoating?

if it's cracked on one side, i'd just have the crack cleaned and welded. grind as necessary to put the lugs back on. if it looks to be cracked nearly through, possibly reinforce it by welding another plate to the wheel. check and see if anyone around has a cnc burning table that can cut you a precision center that can be welded in. today's plasma cutters, when coupled with a cnc controller can cut good quality bolt holes - especially for a low speed application. i've seen people on ebay making cnc parts for around $1 a pound. even if you used 1/4" plate, you'd only be in about $10-15 plus shipping for a piece that is a perfect fit into the center of that wheel.