A Few Questions on TS1610F

Waterlogged · Jul 29, 2006

Recently purchase a TS1610F 4wd for some landscaping projects and am going over it to make sure everything is going to last for years to come. Only problems I've found are a bad starter switch and some play and leaks on R&L front axles where they rotate with knuckles. The part that has me a little concerned is about 1/8" of vertical play where the front axle rotates with the knuckle on both sides (see attached picture). I've seen postings on leaks but nothing on the vertical play. I have a couple of questions before I dig into it.

1) Can the play be removed via king nut?
2) Can anyone recommend a good source for new seals?

Thanks for any help.

buppy69 · Jul 29, 2006

Yes the play can be removed with the kingpin nut but if the balls in the bearing are starting to wear it will just keep getting worse.

Eugene

Waterlogged · Jul 29, 2006

Looking at it closer, it does appear to be the bearings. Best supplier to buy them from? I assume that they aren't a standard bearing house item?

larso1 · Jul 29, 2006

I rebuilt the front end of my TS1610F, including some new bearings as needed. I Had some vertical play and still do after the rebuild. I think it is normal. The big pivot pin, or king pin that the front wheels turn on bear onto a ball thrust bearing. Mine were still in good condition. The leak you see is between a large lip seal (metric of course) that fits into the lower casting and a thin steel sleeve, about 5/8" wide, that is pressed over the king pin to take the wear from the lip seal. The sleeves on my tractor's king pins had wear grooves in them so just replacing the seal wouldn't have helped much. I bought my seals from a local hydraulics repair shop. They ordered them for me from one of their seal suppliers. Instead of buying the Japanese-supplied sleeve, I had the hydraulic shop order Speedi-sleeves like those used to repair crank bearing surfaces....work just the same as the originals but are a little thinner and not quite as wide (or tall?). Worked well for me. A good source of the original parts is:

Rainbow Distributors Inc.
2009 Homerule Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96819
Phone: (808) 841-6203
Fax: (808) 847-1623
Email: "mailto:raindist@aol.com"
Website: "http://rainbowdistributors.com/Tractors/tractors.html"

Bill in CO

buppy69 · Jul 29, 2006

I was able to buy just the balls that went in from a local bearing supply house.

Eugene

Mark_in_NY · Aug 6, 2006

I rebuilt the same areas on my Bolens G194 (TS1910F) and got all the needed seals and bearings from the local bearing supply house. The grease seal was a double lip and I had to opt for two thinner single lips because of availablity but it worked fine. No more leaks. You really really do not want to let this go. I had to change out an axle because the leaks left the pinion dry and... well... it wasn't pretty. I also rebuilt the king pins and arms. I had them turned and trued and new bushings installed. Its all good now. You should have no problems.