front wheel shimmy, L245H

chogg

New member

Equipment
L245H, L3800, Farmall 140, Farmall cub, mechanical transplanter
Jan 3, 2012
5
0
0
Forsyth, GA
I replaced the 5.50x16 three rib tires with new 6.00x16 three rib tires on my kubota L245H row crop tractor today and when I drove it home on the pavement the front wheels shimmy . I didnt notice this characteristic when I drove it prior to changing the tires. I had an implement on the 3 pt, and no weights on the front. will adding weight to the front help ,I did reduce the tire pressure from 25 to 15 psi ,no help, should I try to toe in the tires or just leave it alone and plow?

comments please!
 

Bluegill

New member

Equipment
L3750DT Shuttle, L3800DT FEL both
Jan 11, 2012
1,560
4
0
Success Missouri
A little toe-in should fix it. My old L245 used to do the same thing on pavement, but not too much on dirt.
 

284 International

New member

Equipment
B6000 with FEL, assorted Yanmar machines
Mar 25, 2011
151
0
0
California, USA
Or toe out. The shimmy caused by toe problems happens because asymmetrical forces (say, a bump or dirt clod) pull one wheel off center. On a street car, these unequal impacts are minor. Toe in means that if the tire is pulled off course, the 1/8"or whatever the toe is means the tire is now pointed straight ahead. If the force pulls the tire past that toe amount, the opposite tire is going to tend to turn more sharply, and the vehicle tends to turn more. Having toe out means that opposite tire is now pointing straight, and will tend to hold a straight course.

At positions close to center, toe in or toe out can cause a self amplifying oscillation. Sometimes one way works better than the other.

When I was fabricating off road race cars we often found the cars handled large bumps better with extra toe out; the large amounts of suspension travel (approaching two FEET) made that combination work
better too.

Having said that, every manual I have seen calls for toe in. Check your steering linkage, bearings, pivots, etc and I bet you can get it driving

true
again. The larger tire probably increased the caster angle a bit too, and the slight extra width may have been just enough to put it over the edge. Let us know what you find. It is also possible that the old tires were "pointier" on the center rib, making them effectively narrower. Narrow tires track straighter, as a rule.
 
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284 International

New member

Equipment
B6000 with FEL, assorted Yanmar machines
Mar 25, 2011
151
0
0
California, USA
Ya shouldnt be driving that fast anyway:rolleyes:
Myself, or the OP? The OP didn't seem to be trying to drive dangerously fast; in fact, it seems like he was trying to make things as safe as he could.

For me, the race car stuff was always on a regulated course. If I offended anyone with commenting that way, I'm sorry.
 

skeets

Well-known member

Equipment
BX 2360 /B2601
Oct 2, 2009
14,558
3,309
113
SW Pa
LOL.. 284 its kinda tuff to offend anybody here especialy me,,and racing well I have done my fair share of ahhhuummm :rolleyes: un-regulated street raceing back in the day when big iron ruled the streets, there was this 37 plymouth coupe that someone slipped a 392 hemi in to,,,, and then the 57 ford with a full house 390,,and a 1970 HEMI Cuda right after I returned to the world,,yeah I know wish I would have kept them all,,, but I dregress,, I think you have most likely hit the nail on the head, though one thing and I dont know if the same wheels were used is perhaps a bent or twisted wheel, I have seen wheels with the inner flange cracked at the weld and at slow speeds not move but at higher speeds they would shake all over.. anyway I was just being a smart Arse
 

284 International

New member

Equipment
B6000 with FEL, assorted Yanmar machines
Mar 25, 2011
151
0
0
California, USA
I just wanted to make sure I hadn't inadvertently said something out of line or come across wrong. Vehicle dynamics gets very complicated very quickly, and there could be a multitude of things going on. Obviously the tires he put on brought out an underlying condition, unless there is something wrong with them. But, given the age of the machine, the logical thing is to start at the wear points: ball joints, pivot pins steering box,etc. Those wear in normal use, so are the likely culprits in my view.

I would have loved to see that Plymouth, skeets! Do you have any photos?
 

chogg

New member

Equipment
L245H, L3800, Farmall 140, Farmall cub, mechanical transplanter
Jan 3, 2012
5
0
0
Forsyth, GA
Update: Okay, actually my 15 year old son was driving my tractor home when I observed (from behind in the truck) the front wheel oscillations and I have learned that he in fact was operating the engine about 500 or so rpms faster than when I drove it in for the tire change. This morning I took it out for a short road test at 1800 and 2000 rpm's and it did drive smooth. the oscillations started at about 2200 rpm's. So the conclusion , slow down some!
Thanks to all.
 
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284 International

New member

Equipment
B6000 with FEL, assorted Yanmar machines
Mar 25, 2011
151
0
0
California, USA
You should probably still go over your steering components, the center pivot, and check your toe adjustment. The tractor shouldn't do that, and it will be easier, safer and cheaper to fix it now rather than wait until something worse happens.
 

skeets

Well-known member

Equipment
BX 2360 /B2601
Oct 2, 2009
14,558
3,309
113
SW Pa
284,, I wish I did have some pictures,, though my Ex had a rather large bonfire when we had a parting of the ways, and a lot of things I had just disapeared, someone even took the flat of my camp ax to my cast iron dutch oven.
Oh well life goes on,, The Plymouth had running gear out of an old Imperial that had been totaled buy a BIG truck. the 392 torque flite and rear end went into it along with some mods to get things to fit,,lol.. that lil old car was'nt made for them kinds of motors. She has 3:23 gears not much out of the hole but by the time she hit 2nd,, all hell broke loose:eek:,, ahhh so much for the old days,,lol and the hotest thing I run now is my bota:D
 

chogg

New member

Equipment
L245H, L3800, Farmall 140, Farmall cub, mechanical transplanter
Jan 3, 2012
5
0
0
Forsyth, GA
I measured the toe in today, it is about 1/2 inch.