We just had new tires put on our 544 and now it drives like crap. Your speed is limited to the weight of the load. With a set of empty forks, it drives fine. With a scissor lift on the forks, you can't go over 10 without it bucking so bad the tires are almost coming off the ground. With a load of topsoil, you can't go over 3 or 4. The old tires didn't do that but here is the thing - With the old tires, only the rear tires were loaded. The new tires, the shop loaded all 4. Would this make a difference? They look to me like they are out of round when you are driving it too. You can see high spots as the tire turns but the old tires did that too so I don't know. I wanted to ask some people who probably see things like this everyday instead of a tire shop that does mostly big trucks. I wanted radial tires but I could only get bias-ply due to price.
put some wieght in them that might help
Maybe try different air pressures. Keep in mind too that bias-ply tend to ride harder than radials.
is it any better after they "limber up"? I would deffinatly take the liquid out of the front, why did they even put it in there? Pj
What kind of machine is your "544"? Older wheel loaders use to have less air pressure in the rear tires to soften the bounce you get when travaling fast. We never put ballast in the front tires though for any reason.
I would also have a look at the air pressure. Probably there's too much pressure in the tires. I think you could quite easily fix the problem by varying air pressure and weight.
Weight in where, the tires? The tires are loaded, cannot add more weight. The original tires were bias-ply but I wanted the radials for better wear and nicer ride but the price difference couldn't be justified by the higher ups. I knew the rears were loaded for sure and I didn't know about the fronts. When I took the loader in to get the tires replaced I told them the rears were loaded and I don't know about the fronts and to do the same to the new tires. When I picked it up they said the fronts were not loaded and that they loaded them. A 544 is a wheel loader. The tires pressures are supposed to be 40 psi and they said they put in 41. So unless 1 psi makes a huge difference, then I don't know.
So you told them to do the same and they changed it. Max pressure is 40 and they put 41. Sounds like we know who needs to fix this situation.
In no way would I accept even the best tire guy's statement of how much air he put in a tire. Check the pressure yourself. Make sure you put the valve at the top or you'll get fluid in your gauge.
You need to get the ballast out of the front tires to start with. Your drive train wasn't really meant to handle calcuim in the rears and now you got it in the front too! I don't know what the manufacturer says about tire pressures but on that size machine you probably need about twenty PSI higher pressure in the fronts than in the rears to get rid of the bouncing. I also wouldn't trust any slack hammer jocky about tire pressures. Just because he can work a few tools doesn't make him and expert for the tire on your machine. Years ago we had four 773B trucks we had new tires installed on. There are no rim locks in these wheels so what happened after the tires were installed was when the drive stepped on the brakes the wheel would stop but the tires kept on turning. It would break the bead and the tire went flat. It happened three times on three different trucks. I asked bead head if he cleaned out the slots on the wheels before he installed the tires. He told me that wasn't necessary and wouldn't make any difference. I called his boss and had some leverage having just gotten the tires but not having paid the bill yet. The boss came up and had the bead head jack the pressures to 110PSI and run the trucks again. We had three more flats in twenty minutes of running. I told Boss man that we do it my way and if it worked then he installed my tires for free. It it didn't work I would pay his guys time from beginning to end. When the trucks came down bossman and the bead head spent the next two days pulling all apart, cleaning the wheels and going back together. We never had another flat and I only paid for the tires. Don't ever trust a tire jockey unless you know him personally.
The tires are supposed to be at 40 psi. But running 20 psi in the rear seems like it would squat and wear tires out quickly. This is why I wanted AIS Construction Equipment to work on this rather than the Goodyear Wingfoot down the road that usually just does big trucks.
I can't ever remember seeing calcium in a loader tire..... farm tractor yes.... ... I've seen hundreds of flats over the years... but never seen them take out or put in the calcium.
Heavylift, I've put calcuim in rear tires of big loaders quite abit. It's cheaper and safer than welding big chunks of metal to the sides of the frames. It doesn't much matter about the tire pressures as long as you have the ballast in the front tires. Get it out and ride should improve. Good Luck!
Were they the cheapest tires u can Buy Spend the money and buy radials for them it makes a huge difference especialy if u dont have ride control
I have always run lower tire pressures in loaded tires than what is normally recommended for an unloaded tire - usually somewhere around half the normal pressure. This is with the tire filled to just above the rim - air space is now just the upper portion of the tire above the rim. I definitely would not load the front tires of a loader. I have found that with the tires filled above the rim, you don't get as much movement of the flluid when traveling at speed and therefore have a smoother ride. Tires filled about half way seem to be the worst.
I am thinking about taking it back and having them empty the fronts. I talked to AIS Construction Equipment and they said it won't hurt anything but it is not needed and it uses more fuel and takes more power to run. The original tires were Goodyears but aparently they don't make that tire anymore so I think they put a different brand on. Which may be why the price was a lot lower than originally quoted. I don't know how much fluid they put in. I could check it I guess by putting the valve stem and the top and slowly having somebody inch it forward while letting air out and see when liquid comes out.
Dont be afraid to play with tire pressures a bit. On farm tractors it is common to solve some transport bounce issues by varying tire pressures. To visualize this, think of a basketball, and how air pressure affects how it bounces. I also can attest that fluid in the tires can make the tire ride like steel, or dramatically alter how it rides and handles. My opinion...definitely pull the fluid out of the fronts. I don't imagine any manufacturer recommends fluid filled tires these days anyway. It won't hurt loader performance, and it can only help the ride.
yea i have a set of no name cheapies on our 544 and i am not impressed with them we have had them for a couple years and it wears the hinge pins out soo much faster im praying to run over sompthing so i can get new radials
Hello, new here on this post. Own 1993 544g Have book, says 40 psi. Front and back Doesn't say anything about less in rear. I'm going by the book
Does the "book" differentiate in the pressure recommendations for bias-ply & radial tyres.? What do you have installed.?
Radials
Does the manual specify radials when it lists the recomended pressures.?
Michelin radials. What's the difference L2 or L3 . Book doesn't state either or. Just 544g 40 psi
Here's pic of book insert.
Ok here it is again. The book makes no reference to Bias or radial.
So is there something I m missing here,
In the online version of the operators manual ,the last note with the double asterisks at the bottom of the page states , **These radial tire pressures are recommended for optimum traction and tire wear under typical conditions. If a higher rear tire pressure is used, it should not exceed the alternate pressure listed
The book clearly lists recommended pressures for both types of tyres, bias-ply and radial, in that image. Allow me to attempt to explain. Loaders almost always use what are known as wide-base tyres. Squat and fat is probably the best way to describe them. What follows below refers only to wide-base tyres. Bias-ply tyre sizes are written thus - 20.5 x 25, followed by the ply rating. In the three examples in the image below the first two 20.5 x 25 tyre types are 12-ply rating, the 3rd type is 16-ply rating. Radial ply tyre sizes are written thus - 20.5R25, or alternatively 20.5R x 25, where the R in both cases denotes "radial construction". Radial tyres have a star rating for load carrying capacity as opposed to a ply rating which is why the illustration lists "1 Star" in the RH column rather than a ply rating. So for a 20.5R25 L2 or L3 one-star radial tyre the recommended pressures are 30/25 Front/Rear or alternatively 30/30
Nige, thanks for your expertise. So are you telling me that 45 psi all four then isn't correct, and I should go 30/ 30 front and rear ? Since I'm by no means an expert as I'm sure you can tell, please advise me Thanks again, James
According to your manual 30/25 is the recomendation, with 30/30 as an alternative.
Might I ask you this question? I've owned this machine now for over a decade, have never had any tire issues until last month. Right front came off rim. My fault not watching . I then checked all the other tires for pressure, they were all relatively around 40 psi. Haven't had any other issues, so would running them 40 harm the machine or the tire? James
The manufacturer's maximum permitted inflation pressure is around 60psi, so I would say not. However you must bear in mind that the above-mentioned pressure is with new tyres, which I assume yours are not.
Thankyou,
I thought the new tires are bias ply not radial? Interesting is in the manual for my grader the tire pressure is listed as 35 psi for bias or radial. I adapted foam filled tires on the back so I'm stuck with what they are. They work good so far which is a relief. It cost a bunch to adapt them but I'm very pleased with the results. I haven't took it down the road in top gear though. Curious how foam filled tires ride on a loader? I think all 4 tires would be filled the same.
Welder Dave, thanks for input. Having those tires foam filled seems like a solid idea, mind I ask how much it set you back ? I live in Alaska, things are way more expensive here then in the lower 48 James
Foam fill is for tires working in garbage and junk metal. It makes the machine so rough riding that only people that have no other choice will operate it. It's something that only an owner could like.
There are different durometer's of foam fill that affect how rough or smooth the ride is. I bought the foam filled tires and rims at an auction for $2750cad. They were new. I didn't realize they were foam filled when I bought them but made adapters to fit them on the grader. New import bias ply tires would have cost $3000 plus the costs to change them out. The best I can figure is new equivalent Goodyear radials like I bought with new rims foam filled would be around $18,000cad. I haven't noticed any bouncing or rough ride but I haven't gone down the road at top speed. The tires do squat some. Foam filled tires aren't nearly as rough a ride as solid tires. Some people like foam filled tires and some don't. I don't think they ride as rough as some people think. I'd have to run 2 similar loaders to be able to give a proper assesment of foam filled vs air filled. On a grader I think having tandem axles helps limit how rough the ride would be.
Thanks for the input. James
Then again, you own the machine.
I was very glad I didn't have anything noticeably different once I mounted the foam filled tires. I would have mentioned it if I had so someone else wouldn't try the same thing. Like I said earlier I don't think a grader would be the best machine to compare foam vs air filled tires. Going down the road at 25 MPH might have a different outcome.