jeepdan's 1989 312-8 Restoration & Modifications

[jeepdan 321]

Hi all,

I'm starting the repair, restoration of my 312-8 with some modifications to fix some of the short comings that I have discovered over the 30 years use.

Starting with the worn out steering, I replaced the stamped steel bearing holding the front of the lower shaft with a greasable ball bearing.

With no room for a larger unit in it's original location, I moved the new bearing unit to the front of the crossmember and turned out & shrunk fit a "snout" on the lower shaft in order to extend it through the crossmember.

I made an adaptor plate that bolts to the original frame holes.

 

I sourced a "very nice" 520 lower steering shaft from Shuboxlover for this, as I'm adding a 520 swept axle with no steering reduction.

Edited February 19, 2022 by jeepdan

[JCM 9,129]

Nice job on that. Great model too. This one has been around for 33 years, longer than my ex wife of 20.     

[TJ5208 1,824]

4 minutes ago, JCM said:

Nice job on that. Great model too. This one has been around for 33 years, longer than my ex wife of 20.     

Oh man what did we just get ourselves into.

[roadapples 6,983]

@JCMlooks like you got the best of that deal...

[ebinmaine 67,131]

6 hours ago, JCM said:

Nice job on that. Great model too. This one has been around for 33 years, longer than my ex wife of 20.     

 

 

6 hours ago, roadapples said:

@JCMlooks like you got the best of that deal...

 

 

I was thinkin' that's likely a good thing...

😜

[peter lena 8,567]

@jeepdan  love those flanged bearings , as you build up , build out chronic problems , firm up all your linkage spots , or change over to HEIM JOINTS  on threaded rod points, use lucas x-tra heavy duty chassis grease every ware , read the specs , makes bearing issues go away . would also bolt on ELECTRICAL LUGS , to frame for wire connection runs , ensuring solid ground points . lots more areas to correct , make your wire runs , smooth and easy lay out , use cable wrap , and nylon hangers to support , dielectric grease every connection , enhance battery ground bolt to frame , as main tractor ground point , very easy and it works , consistently, connect it to those electrical lugs . good luck with it , question ?  just ask , pete 

[kpinnc 11,844]

On 2/18/2022 at 2:27 PM, JCM said:

This one has been around for 33 years, longer than my ex wife of 20.     

 

Would that be 33 A.X.? 

[jeepdan 321]

Today, I had time to turn out a new axle pivot pin, with a heavier mounting tab that I pressed and welded on to it.

The two 3/4" holes for locating the axle pin, that are in the cross member and the front hitch plate weren't worn hardly at all, very pleased about that.

I had to clearance notch the triangle shaped 520 pitman arm in order to be able to install/remove the new pivot pin.

Pretty excited to test fit the NOS 520 swept front axle beam   Thanks again Bill

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by jeepdan

[jeepdan 321]

Today

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by jeepdan

[giddyap 1,569]

On 2/19/2022 at 8:57 AM, peter lena said:

firm up all your linkage

I just fortified my steering column a couple of days ago. It's now part of the frame and well worth the effort

[ebinmaine 67,131]

27 minutes ago, giddyap said:

I just fortified my steering column a couple of days ago. It's now part of the frame and well worth the effort

 

That's a great modification I may very well put to use.  

[peter lena 8,567]

@jeepdan  nice job on the overbuilding , what a concept !  you are so far off the norm now , you don,t have to worry about conforming . when you get into a possible spring pull point , swap a 3/8 or 5/16 threaded eye bolt ,in place of a bolt , like on dozer blade lift assist . the way you are going , sure you will come up with a lot of  what if I do this ? good job on that , keep it going  , keep it  lucas greasy , pete 

[Bill D 1,891]

17 hours ago, jeepdan said:

Today, I had time to turn out a new axle pivot pin, with a heavier mounting tab that I pressed and welded on to it.

The two 3/4" holes for locating the axle pin, that are in the cross member and the front hitch plate weren't worn hardly at all, very pleased about that.

I had to clearance notch the triangle shaped 520 pitman arm in order to be able to install/remove the new pivot pin.

Pretty excited to test fit the NOS 520 swept front axle beam   Thanks again Bill

 

Nice pin.  You should sell those.

[jeepdan 321]

Thanks guys.

Originally, the wide front axle wasn't in the plans, but here it is. 

I'm brainstorming using 4.00-8 tri rib Deestones on maybe custom spindles that place the tires as close to the kingpin as possible.

Hoping to keep the outside tire width to around 37".

I realize that a more wider stance would be a real benefit in my yard for stability, but I have a 36"RD deck and the 36" tiller.   Any thoughts?

Edited February 22, 2022 by jeepdan

[ebinmaine 67,131]

1 hour ago, jeepdan said:

Thanks guys.

Originally, the wide front axle wasn't in the plans, but here it is. 

I'm brainstorming using 4.00-8 tri rib Deestones on maybe custom spindles that place the tires as close to the kingpin as possible.

Hoping to keep the outside tire width to around 37".

I realize that a more wider stance would be a real benefit in my yard for stability, but I have a 36"RD deck and the 36" tiller.   Any thoughts?

 

The first two things that come to mind for me:

 

Do you need to mow close to the side of anything that the wide stance would interfere with?

 

Does it matter to you (or family) if the front tire line is just at the mowing edge?

 

If either one of those is a yes then obviously the front tread width would need to be as close to 36 as possible.  

 

 

[jeepdan 321]

After finishing up making the spindles see  520 swept axle spindle geometry and dimensions - Wheel Horse Tractors - RedSquare Wheel Horse Forum

I now have the Deestone 4.00-8 Tri ribs installed. Wow, they really give the "big tractor" feel. 

Should steer easily, and only 36.5" wide.

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by jeepdan

[jeepdan 321]

Upgraded the upper steering shaft bearing. I tried keeping the new bearing support as simple as possible, in order to not take up too much room.

 But not satisfied, too much slop down below at the support bearing block. Going to add another bearing down there.

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by jeepdan

[jeepdan 321]

I overhauled the lift bar with a new pin, shaft and bushing. I also made provisions to be able to grease it with zirk fittings.

Also replaced the worn shaft on the clutch idler arm and fitted ball bearings to it.

Edited May 2, 2022 by jeepdan

[ebinmaine 67,131]

6 hours ago, jeepdan said:

replaced the worn shaft on the clutch idler arm and fitted ball bearings

Excellent 👍

[jeepdan 321]

I sandblasted all of the parts that are to be painted black, then I welded up the cracks in the hoodstand, and added doublers to each side to help strengthen those areas.

Edited June 5, 2022 by jeepdan

[jeepdan 321]

Now on to transaxle. I ditched the old one.

With the help of several great Wheel Horse parts venders, I have gathered all of the parts to put together an, 8 pinion, 1 1/8" axle unit.

I turned out a family of bearing installers & pilots for the press, and then started putting things back together.

Edited June 5, 2022 by jeepdan

[jeepdan 321]

Not a surprise to most members here, but as a newbie, I was impressed with the extra heft of the heavier duty 1 1/8" unit.

Edited June 5, 2022 by jeepdan

[jeepdan 321]

 I spent an enjoyable day assembling my "kit" of NOS parts together, creating a completely new 36"RD.

Edited June 22, 2022 by jeepdan

[davem1111 2,027]

On 3/26/2022 at 5:38 PM, jeepdan said:

Upgraded the upper steering shaft bearing. I tried keeping the new bearing support as simple as possible, in order to not take up too much room.

 But not satisfied, too much slop down below at the support bearing block. Going to add another bearing down there.

 

 

Dang, man, that is beautiful.  I wish you had been on the original design team for the wheel horse steering system. This and what you did to the front bearing are the way this should have been in the first place, if you ask me. Bravo! 

 

I recently did some welding on this upper part on my GT-1848, and it's so ugly I won't post pictures.  I would have gone with a flanged bearing like this if I could have gotten the steering wheel off without cutting it, so I took an easier route. But... it helps a lot. My steering wheel was moving about an inch in all directions, and the fan gear was slipping teeth. Doesn't do that now, so hopefully it holds up for a few years. 

 

 

 

[jeepdan 321]

My rear fender/seat pan was twisted from the flip over, so I bought a used one off of ebay. 

The ebay replacement turned out to be not good along the rear edge.

So, after getting the rear edge fairly straight, I cut a panel from my original and overlayed it over the replacement fender doubling the thickness.