IT'S HERE

[radman1]

i am also contemplating trading to the d. i drive over a lot of bumpy roads.

does anyone have any concerns over the durability of the wishbone type front suspension and cv jt? compared to the c solid axle looks less "solid" and is more exposed. i took a good look at the front of my c and it is a solid unit. i am a bit nervous that a good hole or rock could easily bend/break the wishbone or axle. also not sure how it would handle a full bucket of gravel. my c does fine with a full 68" bucket.

thx
ts

I am not overly concerned about the the durability issue with the suspension. Similar suspensions are on 4x4 trucks. Chevy's 3/4 ton diesel 4x4 is not a solid axle setup from my understanding. More weight and hp in diesel truck with less heavy setup. Our farm tractors without MFWD, rest a lot of weight on the relatively small, front tire spindle. It alway astonished me that a large tractor (12-15,000 lbs) with load in FEL (FEL and load over 4000 lb) can support so much weight on a relatively small spindle. Yet they go through ditches, over fields, through mud and survive. (Well most of them!)
Can the toolcat suspension be broken? Sure but it will probably be from abuse rather than normal use. Would you take a CUT with full load in the loader, run it at road speed and drop the front end in a "good" hole and expect it to be OK? It is rare to hear about a front end failure/break on a CUT. The toolcat also has the benefit of some suspension to cushion the blow.
The cv boot could get torn relatively easy exposed like it is. A relativlely simple guard in front may prevent that in brush conditions.

 

[panther1400]

I would hope that bobcat would not make it weaker or have more trouble or dissatisfied customers. It seems pretty heavy duty.

 

[theoshin]

yes, i would hope so. assuming reliability is good the only real downside looks like the loss of 5inches of bed.

panther - does the driver seat have any suspension?

thx

 

[jmfox]

I guess I'm looking for these things to be like tractors not utility carts or even trucks. Has anyone seen the guts of an A,B or C series axle? Are the front hubs of all these variations the same, and has anyone had any problems with CV joints on these previous variations? Theoskin, can you get a similar photo of the C-Series front and rear steering mechanism? Panther1400, can you get a photo of the reverse side of the front steering?

Actually I though it was odd that the TC was featured on the same web page as the Bobcat utility vehicle. It seemed to me like comparing a wheel barrow to my Polaris Ranger. I trust it is just a matter of understanding the benefits of this new design. I'm glad to hear panther1400 describing the drive train as "heavy duty."

jmf

 

[panther1400]

The a-frames are cast iron not just plain steel, the only thing will be the bushings and how tough they are.

 

[jmfox]

Today I had the family wagon inspected and while it was on the lift I noticed the axles and CV joints for the rear wheels. Now understanding that his is a passenger vehicle (Infiniti awd FX35 4,192lbs), the axles and CV joints looked much larger than the ones I'm seeing on the TC. Indeed, the HP is much greater for the motor vehicle, but since the TC is geared to create low speed torque sufficient enough to pull the car backwards uphill, I would expect that this greater force would require bigger axles. I could not imagine putting a combination bucket on the front and clearing, cleaning and grading the back 40 with the family grocery hauler. I trust the engineers at Bobcat know something I don't, so any clues, references and/or experience would be greatly appreciated.

I should add that the axles on the car were larger but also much longer, so possibly this factor is far more significant than I realize.

jmf

 

[panther1400]

I will get some more pictures of the front end and post them.

 

[radman1]

I will get some more pictures of the front end and post them.

If possible, put a tape measure or yard stick in front of the suspension when you take the pictures.

 

[UFM82]

The suspension seat is NOT standard on the D series machine as the bew suspension supposedly eliminated the need for it, but it is still available as an option.

 

[theoshin]

thx for the seat update

ts