YM1500D Front Wheels

[Anonymous Poster]

The wheels on my 1500D are currently reversed which puts them in the wider orientation. I understand from previous threads that this is bad for the front axles. The problem is that the valve stems, which are currently pointing outward, would point inward if I correctly orient the wheels. I have tried this, and the stems hit the front gear hubs when the wheels rotate.

 

[EFC]

It is bad to have the front wheels turned out. When turned in, the center of the tire is directly over the center of the main hub bearing. If they are turned out it is like putting a cheater bar on a wrench. Valve stem hole should be on the outside of the wheel....Did the previous owner drill a whole on the other side?? I would take them down to the tire shop and have them swapped around. Good time to put in some new tubes..

 

[oldgrizzlybear]

My 1500D front wheels are not turned and my valve stems are on the outside. Take a good look at the rims. Has a second hole for the valve stem been drilled?

 

[normde2001]

Is it possible some enterprising welder/hotrod mechanic has reversed the rims like they used to do on hotrods to get a wider stance? Look for signs of re-welding or rivoting, and if new valve holes were drilled, the old ones would have to be welded up.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

The stems are from an inner tube. Do these all have inner tubes? I have looked at and carefully felt the rim surfaces for any sign or clue of an old valve stem hole on the opposite side of the rim and cannot detect anything. I am going to pull the tires off and check internally.

To be clear about this, the rims are dished or bowl shaped. I believe that the open dish side, or concave side, should point inward toward the tractor where as they are currently pointing outward. The stems are currently on the concave side and pointing outward.

 

[normde2001]

They may or may not have tubes, the valve stem would be oriented the same way. You are correct, if mounted and constructed correctly the concave side is in, the convex side, with the valve stem is out. I just looked at my wheels. The rims are attached to the wheels by 8 spot welds, and could be fairly easily drilled out, reversed, rivoted and re-welded, hotrod style. I'll bet this tractor didn't just come straight from Japan. I doubt there are a lot of rice paddies on steep slopes. Attached are pics. of both sides of wheel.

 

[normde2001]

Maybe now.

 

[normde2001]

Other side of wheel.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Those are definetly the same rims as the ones on my tractor but the valve stems are on the opposite side. My next step is to pull the tire and look inside for any sign of welding on the inside of the rim. Thanks for the pictures, that helped!

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I pulled the tire off of the rim and it is clear that these rims have not been modified. The valve stem is on the opposite side of the rims shown in the previous email attachments from normde2001. The inside surface, exposed by removing the tire, is the orginal white paint along with rust spots. There is absolutely no sign of any old hole or any signs of any welding of an old hole on the opposite side. Could these rims be from a different model?

 

[Soundguy]

There's a possibility. On my YM1700, the two front rims are of different manufacture, ( but the same seat size, hub,etc.

I'm sure it was a non oem replacement by a former owner.

Soundguy

"Could these rims be from a different model? "

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I have determined that these rims were originally built for a different tractor. There are a total of eight holes in the center section. The original four hole pattern that was cleanly punched into the center section was for a larger bolt spacing. The other four holes that roughly align with the matching holes in the front hubs were drilled out by hand. These drilled holes are closer together than the punched holes. I say they were drilled by hand because the holes are not clean and straight and they are not perfectly aligned with the hub holes. Also, the location of the dilled holes with respect to the punched holes is different between the left and right rims. This is another indication they were modified manually.

There is no doubt they are reversed. I have removed the tires and tubes and have welded over the existing valve stem holes. Next I will drill new holes on the opposite side for the valve stems and have the rims powder coated. I compared the orientation of the rims on my tractor to that of the pictures on this message board and older pictures I have seen and I am convinced they need to be corrected. It also corresponds correctly to all of the threads I have read about front tire orientation and the pitfalls of having them turned out in the wider stance direction.

 

[BTI]

Ask the dealer you bought the tractor from about the wheels.
BTI