Tire Wobble

Jerome · Jun 17, 2006

I took my Kubota L245DT on the road yesterday and at on point I had significant tire wobble this has not happened before. Was I just going at the certain speed to make the lugs on the tires do this or should I be worried? When I slowed down it stopped.

Doc_Bob · Jun 17, 2006

"Doctor, it hurts when i do this"

Answer: "stop doing it."
Bob

Bird · Jun 17, 2006

I'd be jacking it up and checking the lug nuts if it were mine. And if they're tight, I'd set something close to the wheel and turn it by hand to see if there was any run out or wobble; looking at both the tire and the wheel.

Fredex · Jun 17, 2006

How old are the tires? As other stated, check the lug nuts first, run-out at the wheel rim second. Another thing that can cause this is a broken bead in the tire. That is the cords/wire bundle that reinforces the bead area of the tire. The one that I experienced also caused the ride to be uneven at road speeds.

JoshJ · Jun 18, 2006

If your tractor had sat for a while before hand, you may have had flat spots in the tires which would make the machine wobble (thats a fun ride) and perhaps the tires as well.

Any clue on the condition of the bearings in the tires?

ToadHill · Jun 18, 2006

I had this happen to my old Ford 8N. It was worn tie rod ends, As soon as I slowed down the wobble went away, pick up speed to mid throttle in high gear and the wobble returned.

Fredex · Jun 18, 2006

After a second reading of your original post I'm not sure I totally understand your experience. Is it one tire wobbling? Front or rear? Or are BOTH fronts rapidly flopping from left to right in sync with each other; aka shimmy? Steering shimmy goes in & out with a speed change and is usually a problem in the steering linkage, alignment, or PS unit.
OTOH one tire with a wobble with no movement of the steering spindle would be a lug nut/rim runout/tire bead issue and could happen to either front or rear.

Jerome · Jun 18, 2006

The movement was in both tires/wheels and was transferred through to the steering column. The lugs are tight. It does not happen on gravel. It seems to be the diagonal lugs on the tires.

daTeacha · Jun 18, 2006

What Fred said. It sounds like your steering linkage has some worn parts in it or isn't as tight as it should be. Check your toe in, see if you can grab one front wheel and shake it side to side without moving the other one. You should not be able to do that. It could also be wheel bearings. Jack the front end up and make sure the wheels can move in no direction except rotating. You should not be able to shake them by any noticable amount.

The only other possibility I can think of is that someone has put a washer or something under one or two lugs on each wheel, but that's extremely remote and also the things would not be coordinated in their wobble for very long.

toolshedj132 · Oct 11, 2006

I have an l245dt and mine does this on pavement or concrete.It doesn't do it elsewhere.I have ag tires.

Birdman253 · Oct 11, 2006

On hard surfaces, with ag tires, you can often get a wobble, or kind of like a shimmy, from the lugs on the R1 tires. This was one of the main reasons that R4 (industrial) tread became popular on CUTs.

If lugs are tight, no run-out in rims, steering components seem ok, and unit only does it on hard surface, i.e. concrete or asphalt, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

To check this out, go to a dealer, and "test" drive a brand new unit with ag tires, on asphalt, or concrete. Even at low speed you will be able to detect a "wobble" as you move forward.

jbrumberg · Oct 13, 2006

Jerome:

If you have R-1's the tires themselves could be the culpret. Driving on hard surfaces in 4WD may also be a factor. I get "wobble" when I travel on the highway. It is worse at "higher" speeds. Use your flashers and lights and show your SMV emblem on the highway! Jay

PineRidge · Oct 13, 2006

Jerome said:
I took my Kubota L245DT on the road yesterday and at on point I had significant tire wobble this has not happened before. Was I just going at the certain speed to make the lugs on the tires do this or should I be worried? When I slowed down it stopped.

Just last month I got a call from my neighbor who needed the help of my TC-40D and pallet forks. Seems he was out raking hay when the left rear wheel on his TN70D rig came off. I'm not sure how it got so lose without some warning but nevertheless it still came off. Must have been a real ride as the tractor started down.

Check your lug nuts guys!

RobJ · Oct 13, 2006

could be a bent rim. either way if everything is tight, at 10 mph I would worry. it'll just keep you awake.

Paddy · Oct 15, 2006

I voting with you, flat spots on tires due to sitting. As it gets colder, you'll notice it more. I moved my tractor to a friends a short time back on a cold morning. I felt the bounce. Sure enough I could see the out of round in the tire. By the end of the 20 min ride, it was much less noticable.

Original poster;
For a hoot, next time you park your tractor, mark the inside of the tire just infront of the fender. As you drive you will likely feel the bounce/see your mark at the same time.

Barnboy · Oct 15, 2006

My tractor does not have radial tires. Bias tires will have flat spots until you move. I notice this more often when it gets colder as mentioned.

normde2001 · Oct 19, 2006

Jack the front end up and spin each wheel, looking for a lump on the tread, indicating a broken belt in either tire. That causes what they call "low speed wobble" in cars. On tractors, low speed is all you got.

Jerome · Oct 20, 2006

I tracked the problem down to the angled lugs on the front tires coming into sync when the tires were both rolling over the left facing lug at the same time it would push the tire that way then right on the next lug. It is easily corrected by making a slight turn to take them out of sync