Steering Knuckle: Bearings vs Not, Exp.

[Ambush]

I’ve got my tractor torn done and one of the things that I’d maybe planned to do was put thrust bearings in the steering knuckles. I have a loader and it is a chore at very low speeds. The benefits seemed to be debated with no real conclusions. Today I set out to see for myself.

You can see my set up in the pics. I tacked a plate to the bottom of the axle where the load bearing would be. Note that is upside down for the tests. I put fresh grease on the surface and loaded one hundred and sixty pounds onto it. Then I used an inch pound torque wrench to measure The amount of torque required to start the turn and also to maintain rolling force.

Next I used an electronic scale to measure the same again.

The process was then repeated with a thrust bearing installed.

[Ambush]

Sure would be nice if we could rotate pictures.

So the numbers.

With the original greased steel on steel:

It took an average 48 inch pounds of torque to start the knuckle moving.

With the scale it took an average of nine pounds of force to start the knuckle moving and five to six pounds to keep it moving. (rolling load)


With the thrust Bearing:

It took an average 20 inch pounds of torque to start the knuckle moving.

With the scale it took 2.6 pounds of force to start and a little less to keep it moving .


I was surprised that the original design turned so easy with 160 pounds stacked on it. That would be the same as having 320 pounds on the front axle.

The thrust bearing took less then a third the force to start and half to maintain the moving load. What that would translate to at the steering wheel is still a guess. I would also guess that as the load increased so would the spread in effort to accomplish the task, as in a FEL equipped tractor.

For me to put the thrust bearings on the CC 149 axle, I have two options. Machine .150" off the lower face of the axle or cut the lower ear off the knuckle and reweld .150" farther from the top.

Would it be worth it in real world effort at the steering wheel? Will the bearings last for several years under the stress of a loader? I have a bit of time to decide with all the other work to do on the tractor.

[finsruskw]

I tried that on my 149 w/DanCo loader and was not impressed.
That was before I installed power steering and different front axle.
That's the only way to go if you are installing a loader on an early IH Cub Cadet.

[darkminion_17]

What he said...