Idiot needs help recovering from ruined front wheel

[kw22614]

Have you tried Kubota.com's website to look up your model's exploded parts diagrams? They usually show much more detail than the user's manual.
Ooops I see now you used the workshop manual - should be as detailed, if not more than an exploded parts diagram.
Has it ever been worked on by someone else, maybe they didn't put the studs back in right or used the wrong ones?
Maybe take a trip to your closest dealer and take a look at a new model. Tell them you had lug bolt/wheel probs before and before you even think of buying a new one you want them to remove the wheel and check how it's done direct from the factory. Then take your new found knowledge back home with you and tell the dealer you'll think about it.
I work on lots of old air cooled VWs and aftermarket wheels for them most all use threaded lug bolts. I always use blue colored permatex bonder (not the red as you'd need to fight the devil to ever get it back out) and get them super tight when they hit the end of the thread. The thread that goes into the hub is always shallower than the end the nut bolts to.
Let us know how it turns out. Good luck, KW

 

[Gary Fowler]

You are going to have to deal with those elongated holes. I have seen folks drill new holes in the rim in the middle of the original holes when this happens. You could take it to a welding shop and have them weld them up and redrill. Since it is filled with water, you shouldn't have to remove the tire but keep the rim cooled off between welds. Any heat build up above 200F should be eliminated. Pyrolysis of the tires rubber due to heat build up can cause rather severe explosion. I watched a video of this where they welded only an inch long weld on the rim in the same relative location as the valve stem and within 30 seconds the pressure built up so fast from the burning rubber that the tire exploded and this was with the valve core taken out.

 

[cowski]

lugs were loose.check other side

 

[bitseeker]

Have you tried Kubota.com's website to look up your model's exploded parts diagrams? They usually show much more detail than the user's manual.
Ooops I see now you used the workshop manual - should be as detailed, if not more than an exploded parts diagram.
Has it ever been worked on by someone else, maybe they didn't put the studs back in right or used the wrong ones?
Maybe take a trip to your closest dealer and take a look at a new model. Tell them you had lug bolt/wheel probs before and before you even think of buying a new one you want them to remove the wheel and check how it's done direct from the factory. Then take your new found knowledge back home with you and tell the dealer you'll think about it.
I work on lots of old air cooled VWs and aftermarket wheels for them most all use threaded lug bolts. I always use blue colored permatex bonder (not the red as you'd need to fight the devil to ever get it back out) and get them super tight when they hit the end of the thread. The thread that goes into the hub is always shallower than the end the nut bolts to.
Let us know how it turns out. Good luck, KW

Thanks KW,

The Workshop Manual - should be detailed, yet I find no detail.

Only the selling dealer has worked on it. I had never had the wheels off.

The closest (and selling) dealer is a 160 mile round trip. Their service is TERRIBLE. They probably caused the problem, yet they always disclaim responsibility when problems have come up. When they removed one of the hydraulic system filters to "fix" a problem, I decided that was the last service they would ever do on the machine.

I planned to use the red. Thanks for the advice. Blue it is!

There is no "end of the thread" on these studs. They are right-hand threaded 14 mm X 1.5 mm the full 57 mm length (photo attached). There is no apparent thread difference from hub-end to lug-nut-end. The lug-nut end is a nicely formed hemisphere and the hub-end is squared off. Maybe the studs have (had?) a taper, like pipe-threads, on the hub end.

I ran a 14 X 1.5 tap through the hub to minimize the chance for galling on re-install. The Threads are definitely right-hand 14 X 1.5, and not tapered to hold the stud that way.
The local Les Schwab dealer has a new wheel coming tomorrow morning and the studs are to be there this afternoon. I will clean the studs and hub with acetone to ensure the blue locker works and let that sit overnight.

BTW, there is no evidence in the paint on the back side of the hub that there were jamb nuts installed there.

I will let you know how it turns out.Thanks to all for the help and ideas!

 

[bitseeker]

Re: Idiot needs help recovering from ruined front wheel - FIXED!



The wheel exchange went very smoothly and was much less expensive at the Les Schwab dealership than it would have at a Kubota dealership. The new wheel cost $109. Just that part would have been over $250 at the dealership.

Les Schwab assumed incorrectly that they would have the six studs in stock, and discovered that they did not when it would have been Friday before they would receive them. I therefore drove to a Kubota dealer to buy both studs and lug nuts. The six studs and six nuts cost over $60.

The attached photo of the new stud and nut demonstrate what probably happened. The un-threaded part was not apparent on the ruined studs I removed from the hub, so I thought there was nothing to stop or retain the stud in the hub. As you can see from the new part, there is a full-diameter and un-threaded place between what threads into the hub and the part the lug nut threads onto. I'm guessing that the Kubota factory or the Kubota dealer, whoever first installed the studs, did not properly torque or did not apply locking compound to the stud.

After installing the new wheel, I will remove the opposite side wheel and studs and torque those with locking compound.

Thanks for all the help and ideas!

 

[kw22614]

Re: Idiot needs help recovering from ruined front wheel - FIXED!

View attachment 347893

The wheel exchange went very smoothly and was much less expensive at the Les Schwab dealership than it would have at a Kubota dealership. The new wheel cost $109. Just that part would have been over $250 at the dealership.

Les Schwab assumed incorrectly that they would have the six studs in stock, and discovered that they did not when it would have been Friday before they would receive them. I therefore drove to a Kubota dealer to buy both studs and lug nuts. The six studs and six nuts cost over $60.

The attached photo of the new stud and nut demonstrate what probably happened. The un-threaded part was not apparent on the ruined studs I removed from the hub, so I thought there was nothing to stop or retain the stud in the hub. As you can see from the new part, there is a full-diameter and un-threaded place between what threads into the hub and the part the lug nut threads onto. I'm guessing that the Kubota factory or the Kubota dealer, whoever first installed the studs, did not properly torque or did not apply locking compound to the stud.

After installing the new wheel, I will remove the opposite side wheel and studs and torque those with locking compound.

Thanks for all the help and ideas!

When you install the short end into the hub with a little blue threadlock do it by hand as far as you can then put 2 lug nuts on to thread it on good and tight. Take the nuts off and install the wheel with 1 lug nut, I usually use pneumatic driver to get as tight as it'll go.
The specs call for up to, I think, 135 - 140 ftlbs of torque, check your manual to make sure. After you get them on use your torque wrench to make sure they're at least that tight. Good idea to check the other side and rears too. I've found that if they're a little tighter than specs you'll be ok but never leave them looser. Very important also on your trailer(s). Hope this helps - good luck & don't eat too much turkey or you'll never get it done!! :laughing: KW

 

[Danno1]

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Well, you've probably done this job by now, but anyway... I think M14 is too large for blue Loctite (# 242) to be effective.

I would use red (#271). If you need to dissassemble in the future, brute force would get 'er done. Or you could heat the stud with a heat gun or torch for a few minutes and it would easily come apart.



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[bitseeker]

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Well, you've probably done this job by now, but anyway... I think M14 is too large for blue Loctite (# 242) to be effective.

I would use red (#271). If you need to dissassemble in the future, brute force would get 'er done. Or you could heat the stud with a heat gun or torch for a few minutes and it would easily come apart.

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Thanks for the tip. I will remember to consider the fastener size in the future.

Unfortunately, you are correct, I have done it with blue. I really drove the un-threaded part of the stud into the hub. I also put a little anti-seize on the lug nut end of the stud so removing the nuts will have less tendency to unseat the stud from the hub. I have a feeling that the stud will hold in the hub, and you can bet I will keep a more critical eye on all the fasteners.