Fluid in front tires?

[Soundguy]

According to Kubota on the L4400 owners manual it recommends not to fill the front tires with liquid. Though it says that you can fill with foam. The reason the liquid does not allow enough shock absorbing as with air or foam. Liquid doesn't compress well. If you have a warranty issue they may give you some grief if you have filled the front.

liquid doesn't functionaly compress at all.. however wehoever wrote that manual must have skipped high school science.

as someone else pointed out, the tire still has an air space in it.. and that air space compresses. albiet not as much as an air fileld tire.. however.. a foam filled tire don't compress much either.

soundguy

 

[dex3361]

liquid doesn't functionaly compress at all.. however wehoever wrote that manual must have skipped high school science.

as someone else pointed out, the tire still has an air space in it.. and that air space compresses. albiet not as much as an air fileld tire.. however.. a foam filled tire don't compress much either.

soundguy

The advice on the allowing the foam fill was verbal from the dealer but the info about fluid filling the front tires is in the Kubota owners manual. I would never fill a tire more that 75% full. I didn't write it I am just repeating what I heard and read. If you have a warranty issue and you have your front tires filled you may have a problem getting it paid for.

 

[Soundguy]

my point was that if it specifically says in the kubota manual that the reason you can't fill the fronts is because water won't compress.. then the guy writing the manual missed some school days.

I also only fill 75%.. Most ballast charts i see reccomend 75% fill. thus there is an air space.. thus you have compression.

i was not contending the point that you can or can't fill a kubota tire based on their warranty issues. no argument there.. just with their faulty science..

soundguy

 

[brain55]

I have written many Kubota warranty claims. The only way Kubota would ever know that you had any kind of fill in your tires is if your dealer told them. If I were asked about filling front tires I would give the same disclaimer. If you brought a machine to me with front end issues under warranty and the tires were filled, I would still send in the warranty. But, I would also let you know that if the same failure happened again the repair would be on you. Of course your dealer may vary.

Brian

 

[art]

my point was that if it specifically says in the kubota manual that the reason you can't fill the fronts is because water won't compress.. then the guy writing the manual missed some school days.

I also only fill 75%.. Most ballast charts i see reccomend 75% fill. thus there is an air space.. thus you have compression.

i was not contending the point that you can or can't fill a kubota tire based on their warranty issues. no argument there.. just with their faulty science..

soundguy

What you are saying is the air can be compressed not the liquid?

Now will the air be in the proper spot to absorb or be compressed as to the wheel rotation at three or five miles an hour?

Or will the bump be gone before it can compress the air?

How much traction will you possibly loose from the lack of a good foot print on the ground?

 

[rjkobbeman]

What you are saying is the air can be compressed not the liquid?

Now will the air be in the proper spot to absorb or be compressed as to the wheel rotation at three or five miles an hour?

Or will the bump be gone before it can compress the air?

How much traction will you possibly loose from the lack of a good foot print on the ground?

Air compresses, liquid does not.

The liquid will always be at the bottom of the tire. When the tire needs to compress due to a bump in the road, the liquid just moves up and compresses the air at the top of the tire.

The liquid is not solid like foam, it still is fluid. The tire will still "flatten out" into a footprint. The air pressue in the tire will affect how much of a contact patch you will have.

The ratio of liquid to air will change some of the characteristics of the feel/handling of the tire, but it will basically compress like it is supposed to.

 

[DiezNutz]

The liquid will always be at the bottom of the tire. When the tire needs to compress due to a bump in the road, the liquid just moves up and compresses the air at the top of the tire.

Yep. :thumbsup:

I also heard an argument somewhere that "centrifugal force" forces all the liquid to be pushed up against the inside of the tire. The two problems with that theory are (a) these tires simply aren't spinning fast enough to act as a centrifuge, and (b) they're not actually spinning at all, they're rolling... which is a different behavior.

If you have a front loading washer, fill it with water and no clothes, and watch it during the wash cycle. The water will slosh any time there is a change in speed or direction thanks in part to friction, but when the tub turns at a constant speed, there is no acceleration in any direction except down (gravity) and the water basically lays in the bottom not much different from when the tub is still.

 

[Soundguy]

Yep.... the guy writing the manual must have missed that day in school.

soundguy

 

[rjkobbeman]

Yep. :thumbsup:

I also heard an argument somewhere that "centrifugal force" forces all the liquid to be pushed up against the inside of the tire. The two problems with that theory are (a) these tires simply aren't spinning fast enough to act as a centrifuge, and (b) they're not actually spinning at all, they're rolling... which is a different behavior.

The funny thing is, even if that argument were true (which it isn't for the reasons you state), the air will still compress!

 

[Soundguy]

yep.. the air is in constant contact with the water and the tube.. when the watr moves.. and the tube moves.. the air looses volume.. that's al that matters..

maybee in japan the air is thicker?

soundguy

 

[art]

This is where we have seen greater tire life in farm tires where they are working in the fields and they get extended life by not having fluids in them.

We've seen the farms double the life of their tires do to the delay in the flex they are actually beyond the undulation before the tire contracts causing less traction.