Tires How Round Are Your Wheels and Tires?

[GregJ]

Just recently I had to travel on the road to get to our other lot to do some clearing. I traveled about 2 miles on the County road at close to full speed. After a while I started to notice a very rhythmic bounce and specifically from side to side. (I guess this is another Bouncy Bouncy post) At first I thought is was the road, then, with a sick feeling in my stomach, realized it was the tractor. I immediately went with "BENT AXLE" and dreaded the trip home to find out. I just checked it out and the axles are perfect...Whew....but both of my wheels have close to 1/2" side to side wobble and the tires are equally out of round. I realize that my tractor is engineered for a whopping top speed of 9 MPH, so tolerances can be slackened up a bit, but I was just curious if others have the same situation. The only time I can feel this is when I am going full speed on hard pavement.

Greg

 

[Junkman]

assuming that the wheels themselves aren't bent, then it would be in the tires. Since they are produced for off road use, I don't think that the manufacturers are very concerned about run out. Check the wheels and make sure that they aren't the culprit and then learn to live with it if it is the tires.

 

[GregJ]

Junkman,
My wheels have almost a 1/2" wobble to them. I don't know if they are bent or if this is within specs. My tires are out of round as well. I was just wondering if other tractors had similar characteristics. I can live with it no problem. Like I said, I can only feel it going full speed on hard pavement.

Greg

 

[Junkman]

1/2' out of round on the wheels would not be acceptable. Depending on how old the tractor is, you might be able to get the manufacturer to warranty them. If they are that bad now, they aren't going to get any better and if you have a loader on the tractor, it might just get worse.

 

[chim]

My right rear was VERY much out of whack. I followed #3 Son one day when he was driving it, and it looked like it had about two inches of wobble. When I checked it out, the problem was a loose wheel. It was loose where the hub fastens to the axle. I removed the bolts and wedges that grab the hex axle, and used a disc sander to remove a small amount of the material from the rounded parts of the wedges. Then I greased the parts and reinstalled them.

The wedges are made so close to the ID of the holes they reside in that they can bind and get tight in the hole rather than clamp the axle.

There was a thread on this where the poster referred to the noise a loose axle makes as "errnt, errnt, errnt". If you hear that noise, it's a giveaway.....................chim

 

[GregJ]

Chim,
Thanks for the suggestion. I haven't removed the hub assembly and cleaned it for a while. I have torqued both the wheel the hub fairly regularly, but it may be time to remove it and clean it well. I did have the squeaky wheel and posted here for help about a year ago. The wobble in the wheel could be caused by the hub. I'll check that.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[chim]

That's what the problem was with mine. After doing the maintenance above, the wheel ran true again. I spoke with the one mechanic when I was at the dealer's for supplies, asking him if it would be possible that the wedges were so long they butted together instead of getting tight on the axle. He assured me they couldn't do that, and looking at the marks they made on the axle confirmed it. He said he has done the same thing I did, plus removed paint from the axle where the wedges contact.

Wish I remembered who it was that came up with the "errnt, errnt, errnt". That was the perfect reference.............chim

 

[GregJ]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Wish I remembered who it was that came up with the "errnt, errnt, errnt". )</font>
That was B7500. I think in the last year there have been about 5 posts on this topic, but that was the most descriptive. I'll let you know if cleaning and retorqing the hub fixes it. I just torqued the bolts a few weeks ago, but there could be some dirt that got in there causing the shims to jam.

Greg

 

[frank_f15]

Greg: something is not right. i scoot down the road on ocassion at top speed(whatever that is for a b2400) with no wobble whatsoever. i would check what Chim suggested.

 

[markct]

well for what its worth, my ford 8000 bounces considerably on the road at about 16 mph or so, go a bit slower or a bit faster and its not as noticable, its just something about how it rides with the radials on it. the tires appear to run pretty true if ya watch them out the window of the cab, so i think its just something about the weight and speed of the tractor, its considerably less when i have a heavy implement on the back too. so this stuff may not realate to your tractor since an 8000 is in a different class, but still tires are tires so maybe its just the nature of it, not the outa roundness so much.