Steiner front axle weak point

[Raw Dodge]

I know I've said it here a few times in different threads but I figured I would show a few pictures to illustrate exactly what happens to the Steiner 410,415, 420 ,425 and 430 series. Having owned this machine for 25 years all of which it has been run hard and put away wet we have found out what breaks and what doesn't. this is the third time I have had to do this to this machine. if I didn't constantly check the bolts it would be needed every two years... When I started using this machine in the spring for pushing back snow banks I noticed something was wrong right away a quick look down showed that all of my safety wire was loose as were a half inch - 13 bolts. again I'll say it these housings are very soft aluminum and the bolts, steiner frame. and actual shafts are all mild steel, so we know the threads in the aluminum are going to fail first. I believe this setup is a problem mostly due to the constant pressure and vibration placed on those three bolts because it is in the center of the pivot between the front lift and the lift cylinder, in addition all the pressure from the entire machine goes through those three bolts on each side and then through the axle housing to the front attachment. This means when you're pushing hard whether it be a plow blade a rake or a mower deck the entire weight and traction from the rear of the machine goes through these three bolts and outward to the actual housing where the forward load is transferred to the front arms.. The rear and uses the same exact setup and the same exact axle shaft and housing and they never have an issue. here are some pictures of what the problem is and this repair is not exactly rocket science however it's not easy to do either , the parts are heavy the fit is tight, there are a lot of hydraulic fittings and connections that must be kept clean and there are a lot of little things in the way of it coming out.

 

[Raw Dodge]

In the picture of the aluminum side case you can see the three top threads are all stripped out a helicoil will be used to make the repair however this must be done very carefully and if the helicoil is put in at an angle you will not be able to start the bolts when you're all done because the bolts have to go through the frame of the Steiner and then through about an inch and a half long section of the axle housing and then they go into the aluminum housing and threads, I will put up better pictures later on right now I'm trying to locate the seal for the axles and believe it or not heli coil inserts seem to be hard to find locally anymore, it's a very common size too.

 

[Raw Dodge]

 

[prs]

I have trouble locating heli-coils too; seems like real hardware stores are about extinct. However, check out Time-Certs. Seems to be a better insert and you can get them on Amazon PDQ.

prs

 

[prs]

You found some! Good thing the case did not crack. Its taken a licking for sure. Is Steiner pretty good about getting parts (seals) to you?

prs

 

[Industrial Toys]

Darn, I just gave all my helicoild stuff to a friend as I figured I would never need them.

Is there any way to prevent this from happening? Extra brackets or something?

It amazes me that Steiner didn't correct this obvious design flaw some time ago, after all, the basic design remained unchanged for a very long time, or am I mistaken?

I cut apart a burned 430 last summer and was impressed how massive those components are! I guess things are only as strong as the weakest link.

 

[Raw Dodge]

Heli coils will be here tomorrow grainger has them, they are less than 10 minutes down the road from me.I ordered a few extra also ordered 1.00 inch and .75s...there's over an inch of depth there the deeper into the case the better. .
I think Steiner just used what was there, IMO it's plenty strong IF the bolts are kept tight and you just use it for mowing and other light duty tasks. I don't believe sun strand designed it from the beginning to carry that much weight and pressure from a hydraulic cylinder at the same time. Add the loads coming thru horizontally everytime, you push against the front arms, and it just eventually loosens things up..because there is so little area to mount the steiner frame to the front axle, I don't believe there is a way to fix it for good without new axle housing castings similar to a ventrac, where the frame sets on top of the axle and bolts to it, and the front pivot is in the frame not the axle housing.This last time I cross drilled the bolt heads , put it together and torqued everything down, ran it for a few hours, heat cycled everything, retorqued, (it did loosen a little), and wired the nuts with safety wire..this worked about 6 yrs..and approximately 2500hrs...wire never moved, bolts just slid right out after working loose recently.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

These work great.

HeliCoil® Inserts compared to Acme | Heli-coil® | Keensert | Keysert®

 

[Raw Dodge]

Kyle those inserts are nice but they require more meat around the worn threads than I have available ,it would require a really large drill bit and tap .

 

[Raw Dodge]

All opened up and still waiting for the heli coil inserts i ordered, they were supposed to be in today. ..oh well.. I can't put it together yet anyway I have to wait for my buddy to tig weld one of the rear mounts back on,the other side stripped out, this side snapped, this is the second time it's broke off.That is a 600 dollar plus empty case half so I'll just get it welded again. Its nice to have a friend whose TIG experience and expertise is the best around...