New Design Tie Rod Guards For The NX Series Tractors

[JimR]

I finally made the new guards for my NX4510HST. I couldn't find a local fab shop to bend me up two pieces of 1/8" thick by 4.5" wide steel plates to match the contour of the original design. I bought a piece of 1/8" x 1 1/4" x 36" steel. Using my bench vise and a 2 1/2" OD socket I made up 8 pieces. Next task was to weld them all in place one by one. I also had to fill in the original angle cut in the guard. All edges were beveled for a better weld. I then cut 3/4" off the final length. Overall length now is 13 1/2". The ends have 2 45 degree angles cut. Top one 1.25" long. The bottom one is 1.5" long. If you don't cut these you will hit the steering knuckle on the top and bottom of the guard. These will work on all of the NX series tractors. The pictures show the wheel with a full turn in and full turn out. The tie rod rubber is now protected. Next project will be to make a piece to cover the underside. That should be simple and just a 90 degree bend full length and screwed to the face of this guard at the bottom edge. More on that when I get around to it.

 

[JimR]

I finally made the new guards for my NX4510HST. I couldn't find a local fab shop to bend me up two pieces of 1/8" thick by 4.5" wide steel plates to match the contour of the original design. I bought a piece of 1/8" x 1 1/4" x 36" steel. Using my bench vise and a 2 1/2" OD socket I made up 8 pieces. Next task was to weld them all in place one by one. I also had to fill in the original angle cut in the guard. All edges were beveled for a better weld. I then cut 3/4" off the final length. Overall length now is 13 1/2". The ends have 2 45 degree angles cut. Top one 1.25" long. The bottom one is 1.5" long. If you don't cut these you will hit the steering knuckle on the top and bottom of the guard. These will work on all of the NX series tractors. The pictures show the wheel with a full turn in and full turn out. The tie rod rubber is now protected. Next project will be to make a piece to cover the underside. That should be simple and just a 90 degree bend full length and screwed to the face of this guard at the bottom edge. More on that when I get around to it.

Update, the left side tie rod hit on the inside of the extended shield when turning the tires to the right. I modified both to fit. The top angle was cut to 1 5/8" long. The bottom angle was changed to 30 degrees and the cut was 2 5/8" long. I also added two 3/8" washers behind the guard for a little more clearance. What was weird is that the right side guard would have cleared without the added alterations. It appears to be welded to the mount slightly off from being square. This offset was enough to clear the outer tie rod. Oh well I had already modified them both. Here is the left side mounted with the tires pointing straight forward.

 

[Kioti Dave]

Looks good Jim. Have been thinking about doing this for a long time. My new tie rods should be in soon. May look at doing something like this.

 

[JimR]

Looks good Jim. Have been thinking about doing this for a long time. My new tie rods should be in soon. May look at doing something like this.

I consider it as very cheap insurance to save the tie rod boots. My originals got ruined due to the lack of protection. Sad part is Kioti is too damn money hungry to supply these boots for sale separately.

 

[Kioti Dave]

I was quite surprised that despite my tie rod boots being in good shape, there was a lot of play in the tie rod under the boot. At least 3/8"! Waiting for the new tie rods. They must be under a lot of stress with heavy loader work. Hope the new ones last longer than 900 hours.

 

[JimR]

I was quite surprised that despite my tie rod boots being in good shape, there was a lot of play in the tie rod under the boot. At least 3/8"! Waiting for the new tie rods. They must be under a lot of stress with heavy loader work. Hope the new ones last longer than 900 hours.

Are you running a 900 - 1000 pound ballast in the rear? Try only turning the wheels when the tractor is in motion when the loader is full.

 

[Kioti Dave]

Are you running a 900 - 1000 pound ballast in the rear? Try only turning the wheels when the tractor is in motion when the loader is full.

Hey Jim. I usually have my 7' tiller on the back. I think it's around 900 lbs. And yes, I usually only try to turn when in motion. I do use the loader a lot, so the front end steering often under strain. My son built a pretty big motocross track. Moved a lot of dirt. If that is all that needs replacing, I can live with that!!

 

[JimR]

Hey Jim. I usually have my 7' tiller on the back. I think it's around 900 lbs. And yes, I usually only try to turn when in motion. I do use the loader a lot, so the front end steering often under strain. My son built a pretty big motocross track. Moved a lot of dirt. If that is all that needs replacing, I can live with that!!

I found that I have one wheel hub seal slightly weeping. The wheel itself is tight with no play in it. I think a piece of brush may have caused this leak. I'm keeping close watch on it in case it starts dripping. If it does I'll tear the wheel hub apart and replace the seal and bearings. I have 1280 hours on it now. I always have weight on the back end of my tractor now. I built a 1000 pound weight barrel recently. That ballast weight makes a really bid difference in the weight distribution. Normally I have an implement on the rear but they are in the 600 - 700 pound range. I move a lot of wood around and logs. I was moving a few boulders for my access road but not anymore. I installed a gate there. I think the boulders are what did my tie rods in. When you install your new tie rods make sure the tires are slightly toed in. Otherwise when driving down the road your tires won't know which way to go and wobble back and forth when going straight.