4000/4310/4410 rear wheel bolts - please respond

[Muhammad]

Bragging, of course! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Thanks! /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[Steelfan]

Still the mystery man. Most Superheroes hide their identity. I think those shoes are Italian. Very Pricey.

 

[JC4HD]

I recently took ownership of a 4310 (18 hrs so far) with the oversize R4's and they are tapered lugs (no washers) front and rear!
Because of the concern/problems with the lugs coming loose I have checked them each time the machine is used and I am happy to say that there has been no sign of loosening yet!

 

[Steve_in_Ont]

Loosening wheel lug issues are so great of a concern in the trucking industry that maufacturers recommend checking the torque after the first 50 - 100 miles after a change. I believe that the key is getting the bolts or nuts to set at the specified torque value, then they will stay... But that first few hours is very important...

Additionally, many tractors have a bolt the threads into a casting. Old timers will tell you that a stud and nut system is much better (like a car). Interestingly, my TC21D has 2 studs & nuts and 4 bolts per wheel.

 

[Geoff]

MJB, my rear's are 6 hole.

According to my owners manual, there are several types of rear wheel, some of which can be reversed to widen/narrow track and some cannot. A disappointment to me, as the kind that comes with standard R4's has the web right on the tire centerline so that reversing has no effect.

Thanks for calling out the specific type of loctite you used, there are so many different varieties...

 

[Geoff]

Thanks, JC4HD! We don't have enough replies yet to determine a pattern, but I am glad to hear a good report on tapered lugs.

 

[Geoff]

hazmat, "sticktion" is not a linearly reversible function; for instance a bolt with a smooth washer under it's head may loosten more easily in use than a flange bolt even if both are torqued the same to start with.

The taper on lug nuts or bolts does in fact transfer static and dynamic loads from the wheel throgh the studs or bolts to the axle flange. My concern is that the 4000/40ten series wheel assemblies were engineered to use tapered bolts, and that ordinary bolts are being substituted on some units at some point.

Wheel warpage may be a contributing factor, although in my opinion the lug bolts should not come loose even with that much cyclical variation in loading.

 

[MJB]

My old wheels were the standard R-4s. Reversing them gained about 3/4" in width on each side. I have my new rears wheels in the wider position also, which gains about 1" on each side.

 

[hazmat]

Geoff,

You make a good point about the sticktion. Also the tapered bolts will transfer a radial load directly, w/o having to rely on the friction. I'd still check the flatness, it is easy & cheap to do. I'll give you an extreme example:

Imagine a salad tong, you know the ones at buffets that are spring loaded. drill a hole thru both sides of the end & insert a small screw & nut. When you torque it to say a couple of inch pounds, it will compress the tongs, but they still won't make contact with each other. If you were to load the tongs by squezing them together further, the screw would be unloaded and be able to back out.

Because the spring constant is so much bigger on the wheel & hub, any gap doesn't have to be large to let this happen. Your dealer should be able to get a flatness tolerance spec for the hub & wheel from the factory.

Good luck

 

[MikePA]

<font color=blue>Hey, check it out, you can see a sliver of my pant leg, shoe, and hand in that photo!</font color=blue>
Yep, that's what I figured you looked like! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Who's the gentleman leaning against the tractor? JMIII????