Case 530 - Hopping Down the Road

I have a Case 530 with a WFE and FEL that I bought about 6 years ago. The SN plate is missing so I'm unsure of the year. The previous owner put truck tires (Goodyear Wranglers) on the front end of it and used it with snow chains to move snow.

A friend asked me to pull a hayride wagon yesterday, so I took off the loader and hauled it over. As soon as I pulled the empty wagon onto the asphalt road, the tractor started "hopping". The whole assembly was shaking and it seemed like the front tires wouldn't stay connected to the road. It didn't matter whether I was in 2nd Direct or 3rd Direct gear, as it did this the whole time. My friend said it looked like the front tires were splayed out, and that the tie rods were bent. While they are slightly bent, they aren't as bad as I've seen!


I didn't know if it doesn't have enough weight up front with the loader off, but even when the loader was on, there are times when I have a rotary mower on the rear and I'm trying to steer that it will slide some and I have to use the brakes a little to help with the steering.

Other than possibly getting some farm tractor front tires for it, are there other things I need to check out? Any suggestions or ideas are appreciated!

The first think I'd look at, before the front end is the rear end. Are the rims centered on the hubs? Very common and man do you get a lumpy ride........, which in turn will bounce the front. Sliding on grass is a tire/weight problem with the front end. Car tires will certainly do that compared to ribbed tractor front tires. My 2 bits

sounds like toe-in needs to be set. Could also be had tie-rod ball joints. I doubt it is tire related. Many tractors out there with truck tires on the front.

What is the ply rateing of the front tires? Since you use a loader on this tractor you should have six or eight ply tires on it. Also check for cracks or bends in the wide front.If it is a adjustable wide front it will crack or bend under the extra load of the loader. Especially if you have moved heavy loads in the bucket. The bounceing you have done with the loader on didn't do it much good either.

Tie rods should be dead straight. If it's "almost" straight it's much weaker than straight. Assuming you have the standard type with a straight tube and two ends that screw into it, take it apart and remove the ends, use a straight countertop or glass tabletop to roll it on and ID the high and low spots. Use the hammer on an anvil, not a glass tabletop. Make sure everything else is tight, king pins, wheel bearings etc. Reassemble and find a flat level spot, drive the tractor forward a few feet and let it coast to a stop. You can measure the toe center-to-center, inside-to-inside, or outside-to-outside, whatever's easiest, as long as you're consistent. Check the specs but it should be about 1/8 to 1/4 narrower in the front than the rear because as you move the tires will tend to pull out and thus straight. Also jack up each tire individually and spin it; you may find one that's more square than round. If it's an adjustable front end, you may find someone has changed the beam width without changing the tie rods to match.

If the previous owner mounted truck tires on 4.5x16" rims, chances are The tire beads are not centered on the rim bead. This should be obvious if you look closely. Other people mount truck tires on wider replacement rims that have to be dished out and the spindles will bend and twist from top to bottom. Sounds like if you used some common sense and looked closer at the stance of the front wheels you could solve your problem.
None of us can diagnose your problem without good pics. as we can't see it from here, and you lack a lot of info that would be helpful..
Loren

My 730 will shimmy like a wild thing on the road if the power steering fluid is low. My tractor is a 1964 and the slave cylinder will weep a bit, enough to need to add fluid once a year. Never seems to affect the power steerings ease to steer, but really makes the tractor wild at road speed. Your 530 would have a different power steering system then my tractor, if it even has power steering. But if it does in fact have power assist, you might check the fluid level.