commando 8 front end

[rjg854 11,362]

I've just purchased my 1st wheel horse, it's a '68 commando 8.  The first thing I had to do was rebuild the motor because a ring had broken on the piston and was hammering on the the head. The transmission seems in good shape, all the gears work and she drives smooth.

 

With that done now it's time to work on the front end steering problems.   The tie rods are worn pretty bad, the tires toe out at the bottom quite a bit, and the spindles rock back and forth in the front axle.  So my question is what is the best way to fix all these issues? Would changing the tie rods be enough to get the wheels to stand up straight again?  Would changing the whole front end components be a better solution?  And if that the case what other models would be compatible with the commando 8?  In my searches It's hard to find much for this model.  I'll take any and all advice all you experts at rebuilding the machines can come up with, Thanks.

 

The rest of the tractor is in real good shape, someone repainted it and painted over the decals, but you can still read what they said.  I'll probably leave it like it is for now.  I may want add either a snow thrower or a dozer blade to it after making sure the rest of the tractor is in good shape.

[Ed Kennell 38,178]

  For being a supporter Ranger and  .

 

If you do a search under forums, you will find several posts on the Commando 8.

I have a rebuild of this tractor in progress now, and had to rebuild the steering system also.

My main issue was excessive wear in the steering shaft bushings. You can find my rebuild in my post.

The tie rods can be tightened with some careful peening around the ball socket or they can be cut off and the ball socket end can be replaced with a suitable new one from McMaster Carr. You would need to thread the ends of the cut off rods.

Used spindles are readily available from vendors on this site... place a wanted ad in the classified section.

 

Oh BTW 

[Racinbob 11,081]

Welcome to the forum. 1st post and already a supporter :handgestures-thumbupright:

It sounds like you have several problems. The tie rods won't make the tires stand up straight again. There must be wear in the spindles and/or bearings. New tie rods are easily made. Check out Ed's rebuild, download the manual here and just take it one step at a time by repairing each location that has excessive play. Yes, yes, yes, definitely post some pictures. That's a forum rule

[pacer 3,171]

Welcome to the horsey bunch!

 

Steering - Several factors are involved in the steering on our tractors. Your problem with the wheels splayed out at the bottom is almost certainly spindle wear in the axle. The shaft that goes in the axle gets a lot of use and with greasing maintenance often overlooked they will wear pretty quickly. Pull the spindles and clean the pin and inside the axle of all the old - possibly hardened - grease off/out and check the fit of the spindle in the axle. You can probably see the wear on the spindle pin when cleaned up. Put the pin back in the axle all cleaned up and check the slop, It is probably gonna be a lot. If it is a lot you likley will benefit from replacing the spindles and axle. The pin in the center of the axle will possibly have wear also. As mentioned the tie rods wont correct this, but they still will have to be repaired or replaced - they can contribute to slack in the steering along with wear in the fan gear section (which may also need attention)

[rjg854 11,362]

Thanks for taking the time to respond, I just took some pictures to add to my post.

[rjg854 11,362]

I got another headlight bucket and lens from Kelly here on the forum.   I've found but haven't replaced the steering wheel with the correct one yet.  Then I'll replace the seat.  These are all minor things.  The steering is the main issue right now.

[pacer 3,171]

Not a bad looking tractor, it looks like it'll come around nicely.

 

Looking at your pics seems you might also have some 'toe out' which could be caused by the worn tie rods. Another possibility on the slanted wheels is worn wheel bearings - this would be noticed as soon as weight is off the wheels and they would wobble around noticeably.

[slammer302 2,155]

I think most of the toe being out is probably from the flat piece were the tie rod connects to the spindle gets bent from hitting things over the years

[Ed Kennell 38,178]

                                                                            

 

      In the frontal pic, you can see the right tie rod end is higher than the left one.  This in effect shortens the active tie rod length causing the toe out.

The same bar was bent up so  much on my Commando 8, it would not even turn at full right turn.  I used the left one as a guide and bent the right one  down to match.

[rjg854 11,362]

I'll start by trying some of the suggestions, and see if I can it any better.

 

Yesterday I did get the light bucket in and a hood ornament on.

 

I tried changing the steering wheel, I managed to get the roll pin out but the wheel is stuck on pretty good, any suggestions on how to get that off with out breaking something else

[rjg854 11,362]

Welcome to the forum. 1st post and already a supporter :handgestures-thumbupright:

It sounds like you have several problems. The tie rods won't make the tires stand up straight again. There must be wear in the spindles and/or bearings. New tie rods are easily made. Check out Ed's rebuild, download the manual here and just take it one step at a time by repairing each location that has excessive play. Yes, yes, yes, definitely post some pictures. That's a forum rule

no problem being a supporter, I'm sure there's much I'll be able to glean from this forum, seeing I'm new to Wheel Horse's in general.  I rebuilt and old Bolens Huski gardener.  And now I wanted to try my hand at something I could actually ride.  And I've always like the look of a Horse.

 

Here's a couple pictures of the 1947 Gardener

Edited December 16, 2014 by ranger13148