MF 240 Front Wheel Shimmy

MoDeer43 · Nov 11, 2012

I was driving my MF240 to town to get the winter services done, and experienced a awful front wheel shimmy.
I had to bring the tractor to a stop to get the shimmy to stop, then I took off again and usually got about a mile before it all came back.
I was wondering if the tractor has an idler arm or is this a sign that the power steering pump is going out ? I really dont have any idea what
caused this. This past summer I drove this same tractor in the high gear and 4th, and had no problem so it is just some that recently showed up.

Any ideas.?

Thanks
Mark

cockeyedMFer · Nov 12, 2012

My 35 deluxe does this also, but mine seems to be due to wear in the steering box itself (excess lash internally probably). I can see the steering arms vibrating at the box.
However in general shimmy can be caused by worn kingpins, steering linkage, wheel bearings, bent rims, flat spotted tires, etc.

A customer several years ago had me work on his 31 Lincoln convertible which had a high speed 'death wobble' in the front end - just as you describe. Of course he wanted to be able to run 60+ mph as the car was originally designed for, and the wobble kicked in at 55 mph.

We chased it for months, going over every possible source, even adding a steering dampener. Never did resolve it 100%, and "go slower" wasn't in his vocabulary.

Start at the front wheels and look for play in any joints. Kingpins that are worn just a few thousandths can cause wobble given the right road conditions.

shona13 · Nov 13, 2012

G'day MoDeer43
There is a backlash eliminating screw on the side of the steering box ,it has a screwdriver slot and a lock nut be careful when you adjust it as it may be to tight at the extreme ends of travel because of the uneven wear,also check all track rod ends for wear ,wheel bearings!!and last but not least Toe in ,the wheels should be one eighth to one quarter toe IN this will help to hold the tractor in a straight line , I would check everything else before playing with the steering box.
Happy days.
Hutch.

MoDeer43 · Dec 3, 2012

found that the toe in was wrong. Also took off the power steering pump, took it apart and cleaned it, the filter, and flushed all the fluid.
then refiled and bleed the system according to MF spec.s.
I drove it yesterday for an hour without a problem.
thanks for the help

massey p · Aug 5, 2013

got a wobble in one of my front wheels got tracking adjusted and solved it for a while what else could could cause it?

Gale Hawkins · Aug 5, 2013

I can get the wobble sometimes with our 265 on pavement. I keep planning to measure / set the toe in but only think about it when it is wobbling.

MoDeer43 · Aug 5, 2013

Gale Hawkins said:
I can get the wobble sometimes with our 265 on pavement. I keep planning to measure / set the toe in but only think about it when it is wobbling.

I had had a wobble when driving on the farm but never really went that fast that it was a problem.
Then I went on the pavement to town to have my MF240 serviced and the steering wheel shook so bad as the wheel wobbled, that I had to come to a stop
to get the shimmy to stop. They set the toe in to the correct setting, and took the power steering pump apart, cleaned it really well, and flushed the lines.
I didn't have a problem since. Funny thing is that the MF dealer that I bought the tractor off of said they went through the tractor ? Maybe the fact that I was using it more that it had been used caused the crud in the power steering lines to clog the filter ? I would try the filer and change the fluid next.
Mark

redman135 · Sep 6, 2013

I to had a shimmy problem on a 240. It was tracked down to worn out ball joint on the steering arms. The ball joints failed due to perished rubber seals letting water in. New ball joints fixed the problem.