L-Series Loose Rear Wheels

[shadow]

I have recently purchased a new L3710 HST. Well actually it was in April of this year. I have been busy and have not been able to use this new toy very much and I only have 8 hours on it. From the first day I received it new from the dealer, on occasion, I would hear a loud crack when pulling a hill and sometimes when changing directions. After carefully examining the tractor I noticed that both rear wheels were loose and when the tractor was under load the wheels would
slip on the hubs. The crack I was hearing seemed to be coming from the rims hitting the lugnuts as the rims shifted back and forth as I changed directions. The noise was being amplified up through the roll bar. I attributed the problem to the dealer not properly torquing the lugnuts. I notified the dealer where I purchased the tractor and he ordered me all new lugnuts/lugbolts for both rear wheels. No questions asked!

The other day I visited another dealer and mentioned the problem to him. He told me he had seen this problem before with the L-Series Tractors. He suggested that Kubota should have used tapered lugs on the rear wheels like the tapered one used on the front wheels (Also used on Cars & Trucks).

I have installed the new lugs and torqued them to the proper torque per my Kubota service manual, but have not had the time to run the tractor to see if the problem will return.

I have searched this forum for other posts about this problem and have found very little.

Has anyone else had this problem?


I find it hard to believe that my lugs worked loose after only
8 hours of service.

I also find it hard to believe that if this is a common problem,
why Kubota wouldn't have addressed a potentially deadly design problem by now. The L-Series Tractors are nothing new, they have been on the market for years and loosing a rear wheel because of a known common problem would surely lead to a lawsuit if someone would be injured.

I have made it a point to look at other tractors, Kubota and other brands. They all seem to use regular lugnuts and bolts
which just clamp the rim to the hub/axle. None seem to be tapered. They all seem to be similar to my L3710.

Thanks in advance to any comments on this issue.

 

[MikeFLA]

Shadow,
I had the same problem. Kubmech set me straight. Read this entire thread, follow his instructions and your problem will be resolved.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=owning&Number=130541&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1>Thumping Noise</A>

 

[kubmech]

Mike, while that situation would cure the problem, it wont work with his. As well as checking the center lug nuts (which could be wrong as stated) He also needs to check the inner rim nuts and bolts, which, depending on the tires he has could also be loose.

 

[JimC]

I had the same problem on my BX2200 except it was only the left rear, it was about 3/4 of a turn loose. The rest were not tight, but not as much as the Left rear.
I had a leak where the hydraulic lines for the FEL attach and had to remore the left rear to tighten the fitting.
Thats when I found the lug nuts were loose.
Someone needs to set the torque at little tighter on their impact wrench at the assembly plant.

 

[MikeFLA]

Kubmech,

Thanks for clarifying. I'm sure with your coaching he will have the same end result. "Problem Solved!"