JD 5105 front wheels making growning sounds

[andrewj]

Hi folks - sure could use some opinions here....

I have a JD 5105 tractor with MFWD made in 2004. Just this year i bought a loader - a 553. Now, when it is in MFWD, and when the loader is empty or full, and when I turn a hard left or right, the front wheels make a sound like a seal..you know, "aaaarf, aaaarf, aaaarf." and when I straighten out teh wheels the sounds stop. or if I take it out of 4wd it stops. I can't tell whether it is cimong from left or right wheel.

there is only one grease fitting on each front wheel and I have greased it. I can see inside the axle housing at the wheel end a 4 way U joint, and it is all sealed so no way to lube it.

I called the JD service dept and they said probably nothing to worry about. My common sense says otherwise.

What do yall think?

 

[kennyd]

How are you ballasting the tractor when you use the FEL?

 

[andrewj]

How are you ballasting the tractor when you use the FEL?

? well normally with a bush hog or 3 bottom plow - the heaviest things I own. But this makes the sound whether with a load or not, and whether ballasted or not.

 

[RoyJackson]

I think you might be getting a little squeal from the wheels being at their limits...just as you would when move your loader to it's limits.
That's just a guess, however.
Do you get any feedback in the steering?

 

[andrewj]

I think you might be getting a little squeal from the wheels being at their limits...just as you would when move your loader to it's limits.
That's just a guess, however.
Do you get any feedback in the steering?

no feedback - steering feels normal. adn the sound is like a seal, but if he had chalk and chalkboard in his mouth -a dry sound.

 

[radman1]

Make sure you are not in 4x4. It is going to grind and scuff more when turning with the extra weight when in 4x4. Second, check the oil in the front axle. Had a Kubota 3710 that I bought from dealer once. 1 year old with 300 hours. Heard some minor squeaking in the front under load. No oil in the front axle. Didn't cause any problems. Added oil and no more squeak. Probably shipped from factory with no oil.

 

[Treesanddust]

Ok I'll throw this out there as no one has said it yet. Double check all bolts and nuts on your front wheels. I've heard tractor wheels make that kind of sound when a bolt or two was not as tight as it should have been.

 

[red4now]

Ok I'll throw this out there as no one has said it yet. Double check all bolts and nuts on your front wheels. I've heard tractor wheels make that kind of sound when a bolt or two was not as tight as it should have been.

I have seen and heard about this as well - they look tight tight but when you throw the wrench on, there is still some room to give.

 

[Wombat125]

Well, you have a few mechanical interfaces.

• Hub planetaries
• Hub seals
• Hub bearings
• Hub u-joints
• Front differential
• Front pinion shaft
• Front driveshaft u-joints (perhaps no joints here?)

I think a big clue would be the frequency of the chirping relative to the front wheel rotation. It would be even more helpful if we knew the gear reduction ratios of the planetaries and of the front diff.

For instance, if there was a 3:1 reduction on the planetaries and 4:1 at the diff, you could might localize the problem. If you got a chirp 3 times for every front wheel rotation, you might assume the problem lies between the diff and the hubs. If you got a chirp 12 times for every wheel rotation, look at the front driveshaft. I looked in the FSM for ratios for my 5303. No luck. There's apparently a separate Component Technical Manual for the MFWD axles.


My total shot-in-the-dark guess is going to be u-joints in the hubs. This would explain the noise when turning. Even sealed u-joints go bad sometimes.

 

[2broke2quit]

This may be too simple but on my 5105 MFWD, the tires were mounted wrong for a front end loader and the tires rubbed the hydraulic cylinders when you turned at max. I reversed the rims and solved that problem. See if the paint is gone from the cylinders where the tire turns.