cleat 5,624 #1 Posted January 3, 2016 After finding all of my tractors had at least somewhat worn front axle pivot pins I decided to make new ones. I have made the new pins to use a 1/8" x 1-3/4" cotter key instead if the E-ring as I have no way to cut a slot for the E-ring. Front axle pin plans.pdf I used Stainless steel for the pins and will keep them well greased to hopefully prevent wear in the future. Cleat 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squonk 40,659 #2 Posted January 3, 2016 Nice work cleat. You can still buy the pins from Toro but yours are beefier. not only do the pins wear but the mounting tab is a weak spot. This is what I found on on of my tractors. http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/36043-eeek-ii-check-you-front-axle-pivot-pins/#comment-317485 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikekot3 92 #3 Posted January 3, 2016 Hello Cleat, nice Fabrication work and a drawing of your work. In your drawing it is hard to tell what the Y hole diameter is. I think you wrote .404 inch is that correct? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 5,624 #4 Posted January 3, 2016 2 of mine had broken mounting tabs. Thankfully the E-ring held. That is why I still wanted a second fastener and went with the cotter key. Yes they are available but I am cheap and can make these up for less. Cleat Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MalMac 1,330 #5 Posted January 3, 2016 Yes this is a week spot on the Wheel Horse. The pin was designed to have plenty of grease so the axel would actually pivot on the pin. Most of the time the pin did not get greased or greased properly from when a tractor was new. The owners manual says grease it. First off not often enough and second manual says nothing about taking wieght off the pin so grease could be worked around it. It's not a easy location to get to I am sure it got over looked. The pin gets dry and instead of axel pivoting on the pin. It sticks and the pin trys to rotate causing the tab to weaken and break. That is a high wear, load bearing point on the tractor, especially if a FEL is used. It should of at the lease had grooved bushing in pressed in the axel. The way its designed, you just squirt some grease in there, it takes the path of lease resistance and comes out wherever giving the owner indication it's got grease. In all reality all that happen is just a small portion got grease. Then what happens is after a hour or so of operation the grease was squeezed out leaving more or less a dry pin. I am sure it was a production cost type of thing. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 5,624 #6 Posted January 3, 2016 (edited) 7 minutes ago, mikekot3 said: Hello Cleat, nice Fabrication work and a drawing of your work. In your drawing it is hard to tell what the Y hole diameter is. I think you wrote .404 inch is that correct? Yes, but you could drill to 13/32 hole, size is not real critical as it is just to bolt through. Cleat Edited January 3, 2016 by cleat Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikekot3 92 #7 Posted January 3, 2016 Thank you Cleat for the clarification. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elcamino/wheelhorse 9,225 #8 Posted January 3, 2016 Very nice work , could be a source of extra income from members without the fabrication skills or tools. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AMC RULES 37,070 #9 Posted January 3, 2016 Plus, I think many here would rather keep their money in our community... you're doing some nice work there Cleat. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HokieAg07 129 #10 Posted January 3, 2016 Agreed, I know there would be a market for these pins and the mower hitch rods he made as well! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sorekiwi 761 #11 Posted January 3, 2016 Nice job on those pins. A thicker tab on the back will help things immensely. Another problem that contributes to the tab breakage is that once the tab has broken on the first pin, the pin can wiggle around in the holes in the frame and wear those holes. So even with a new pin the front hole in the frame is now oversize and allows the tab on the new pin to bend. On my 500 Special the front hole was worn oval by .050". How I fixed that it is this thread: http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/7242-1968-500-special/?do=findComment&comment=67501 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,131 #12 Posted January 3, 2016 Good job on the pins, Cleat. I like the thicker tab on the end too. One thing to watch for is some models the lower steering arm flag is close to that tab area. Ive had to tweak the steering flag on some of my repairs as they didn't have much room in that area. Probably one reason why they made the tab was the size it was. Mike makes a good point too. Every one of my older tractors needed frame hole repair as well as a new pin. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Don1977 604 #13 Posted January 3, 2016 Have you installed one, there isn't a lot of room between the tie rod triangle and the axle pivot. Here is one I welded on a 312-8. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,131 #14 Posted January 3, 2016 (edited) 26 minutes ago, Don1977 said: Have you installed one, there isn't a lot of room between the tie rod triangle and the axle pivot. Here is one I welded on a 312-8. Yep Don, thats what I'm talking about. Ive had to put a decent bend in some of my steering triangles. If you go to HD size tierod ends this becomes especially critical here. Edited January 3, 2016 by Martin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 5,624 #15 Posted January 3, 2016 I did the 416 and it went. I think if you turn the gear all the way one way or the other it will just slip past. Cleat Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Don1977 604 #16 Posted January 3, 2016 We were talking about clearance between the tie rods and the pivot pin. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 5,624 #17 Posted January 4, 2016 I have changed the tie rods to this type on my standard duty front ends and they clear. Larger more bulky tie rod ends will indeed cause clearance issues. The heavy duty front ends have much more clearance as shown. View from the front showing the cotter pin. Thanks, Cleat 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JC 1965 1,530 #18 Posted January 4, 2016 Very nice Cleat, you got skills. Thanks for sharing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slammer302 2,155 #19 Posted January 5, 2016 Its funny that you posted this topic as I just made a new one for myself tonight its not as beefy as ur's but I think it will hold up fine on my little 633 I didn't go with stainless though I did think about it but I wanted to keep future wear on the pin instead of the axle I'm thinking the stainless would wear much slower then the pivot points on the axle. I'm probably over thinking it. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squonk 40,659 #20 Posted January 5, 2016 Stainless also like to gall. Ever try to get a stainless bolt and stainless nut apart when the threads are galled? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 5,624 #21 Posted January 5, 2016 I used stainless 316L because that is what was on hand. It may actually wear quicker. I have had lots of stainless fasteners gall but never a rod. Cleat Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pollack Pete 2,273 #22 Posted January 5, 2016 On 1/3/2016 at 8:24 AM, squonk said: Nice work cleat. You can still buy the pins from Toro but yours are beefier. not only do the pins wear but the mounting tab is a weak spot. This is what I found on on of my tractors. http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/36043-eeek-ii-check-you-front-axle-pivot-pins/#comment-317485 I made one this past Summer for one of my well used C-195's.Looked all over for a new one.......NLA for a C-195.I think they're a little different from most of the other Horses???? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc724 924 #23 Posted January 5, 2016 The L in 316L simply means that it is a low(er) carbon grade of stainless. Difference in wear properties is negligible. BTW, Malmac's tip for taking the weight off the front axle when greasing was an eye opener for me. I have had WH's for over 35 years and always had difficulty getting grease into the front pivot area. It never dawned on me why. Two good greasing tips on the Forum in less than a week. MalMac's and Cleat's tip to add grease fittings to the rear hitch area. The L in 316L simply means that it is a low(er) carbon grade of stainless. Difference in wear properties is negligible. BTW, Malmac's tip for taking the weight off the front axle when greasing was an eye opener for me. I have had WH's for over 35 years and always had difficulty getting grease into the front pivot area. It never dawned on me why. Two good greasing tips on the Forum in less than a week. MalMac's and Cleat's tip to add grease fittings to the rear hitch area. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 47,854 #24 Posted January 5, 2016 Took apart the front end on a 246 just to clean out the old hard grease and found I need to do sorekiwi's fix on it but was thinkin about using somthing like this in the front pivot where it is wallowed out. https://www.motionindustries.com/productDetail.jsp?sku=05824903. When it wallows out just put in a new one. I put it back together as is for now but did add one of these https://www.motionindustries.com/productDetail.jsp?sku=05824940 to the front of the pivot to take up some fore and aft slop. Pin was wore so will get one from cleat at a the show....hint hint cleat... Do you have a problem with the heim style rod ends wearing out? No good way to keep them lubed? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 5,624 #25 Posted January 5, 2016 One of mine was worn some on the front Tac-A-Matic but with the new pin nearly all of the front end slop is gone even on that one. As for the rod ends wearing, I guess time will tell. One year of use now and no wear that I can see or feel. Will I make it to the show ? I would like to and also I would like to go to the all Ford nationals in Carlisle but I can't do both. Cleat 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
