Help with front alignment on 314-8

[csvt99 173]

I'm looking to give my 314-8 a little toe in per the manual to improve ease of steering. Right now it appears to be neutral or a little toe out. Do you have any tips other than following the instructions per the manual (see below)?

[roadapples 6,983]

Those instructions are pretty straight forward. 1/8 to a 1/4" will make a world of difference...

[ri702bill 8,638]

Makes sense to want toe-in, as the tractor is "rear steer" meaning the tie rods are behind the spindle. As the tractor rolls forward, the wheels try to toe-out, this compresses the tie rods and takes up any play in them. Front steer is just the opposite.

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,165]

With small tires and wheels it is hard to get an accurate measurement between them.

 

One way to improve the procedure is to jack up one front wheel at a time and hold a sharp object against the tread. Spin the wheel and it will give you a scribe line all the way around the tire if the tread type will allow it. Once back on the ground just measure between the scribe marks left on the tread both front and rear. Realy a 2-person job to hold the tape measure.

 

Another way is to stick a thumbtack about 1/2 way into the tread of both tires. Do this at the front of the tire and the same height from the floor on both sides. Roll the tractor so the thumbtacks are at the spindle height facing forward and measure the distance between the thumbtacks. Roll the tractor back so the thumbtacks are at spindle height but now facing the rear of the tractor and measure again. You can likely hook the tape on the head of one thumbtack making it a one-person job.

Sometimes a shortened common nail can be inserted in the treads solid enough to take measurements from.

 

Not uncommon to see these front wheels wobble 1/4" at the tread when the wheel is spun.  Either way of getting a measurement takes this discrepancy out of the procedure.

 

Garry

 

[ebinmaine 69,371]

Not sure if you can do it on that tractor... My father takes 2 strips of metal such as a ruler and clamps them together. 

Put them between the two tires at the appropriate measuring point.

He sets the clamped pieces at the length of the shortest of the two distances and then the longer of the two is very easy to see and measure.

 

 

Big thing here is to be sure that tractor has a fairly solid steering system.

Check closely for worn parts or your adjustments won't be quite right.

 

[Lee1977 6,898]

Unless your using new tie rod ends you could easily have a 1/8" of play in the four joints.  Then you would need at least 1/4" toe in.  

[csvt99 173]

I put one wrench on the ball joint flats per the diagram and another on the nut adjacent to the ball joint. It wouldn't budge. I oiled it the night before with WD40. Do I just need to force it free? I didn't want to put more force on it before getting your approval as I don't want to damage it. This is the first time I've ever worked on tie rods

[csvt99 173]

And yes, I did remove it from the steering lever....

[Burnerman 759]

I shimmed out my steering slop and had installed new tie rods over the years. I figured why not check the alignment?

 

I have a set of these  Bought them for after fixing front end stuff on jeeps and they work great. Nice to have in hand if you work on your own vehicles. 

[csvt99 173]

Wow those plates are really neat! What a great idea. Thanks for sharing.

[csvt99 173]

Wow those plates are really neat! What a great idea. Thanks for sharing.

[Howie 899]

Take a couple of pieces of plywood and cut slots in them for the tape measures and it 

will probably let you do the same thing. Although one would have to have something

holding them in place.