Anybody know why newer dozers ride so rough?

[turbo8781]

Is it just me or do the newer cat dozer ride really rough? My buddy has a 2008 D6T XL VPAT and it is the roughest riding cat I've ever been on. if you run over the slghtest little berm it feels like you dropped off into a canyon and if you're walking on anything other than fill dirt it wants to shake your teeth out and before anybody says "its because its wore out and loose or has a worn out seat",I assure its not this cat has right at 3k hrs. on it and is extremely tight .
The 1996 D5M XL rides pretty rough but not nearly as bad as the 6T.
The 1992 D4H TSK grapple cat rides like a Cadillac and the 1961 D8H also rides like a Cadillac.

So does anybody else notice this too. Is there a difference between manufacturers ?. I cant imagine they would send such an expensive piece of equipment out thr door that way or is that the reason for these fancy new air suspension seats lol.

 

[shaggy650]

What kind of undercarriage is on it? System One or SALT tracks. I've noticed on system one when the front of your tracks is on a hill, say approaching a slope to go up, the machine is very bouncy because the front idler is riding on the pins not the rails.

 

[turbo8781]

What kind of undercarriage is on it? System One or SALT tracks. I've noticed on system one when the front of your tracks is on a hill, say approaching a slope to go up, the machine is very bouncy because the front idler is riding on the pins not the rails.

The 6 has system one end the rest are old style. I think they need to take a stroll down memory lane and take some measurements off of some of the older tractors when they designing the undercaraige . possibly the spacing between the rollers and or the distance between the pivot shaft and the hard bar?

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair. . . .

turbo8781. I never ran a hi-track and always understood they ran smoother than the old oval track machines.

One thing I can see is the geometry of the hi-tracks is such that about a third of the track frame is behind the pivot.

On most oval tracks the track frame pivots about the centre point of the idler . . . who knows if it makes any difference . . . and it doesn't explain why the hi-track D4 runs smooth. (big grin)

Cheers.

 

[D6c10K]

Do taller grousers make a machine ride rough on hard ground? I welded grouser grouser bar on my D6c to get it back to factory height and now any time I'm on hard packed gravel it bucks the front end quite a bit. I'm guessing that when the tall grousers roll off the front idler and hit the ground they kind of flip as they go under and make the front end buck.

With the comparatively small front idlers on high tracks it may make the problem worse as the track plates turn quicker rolling off the smaller diameter idler.

 

[BuMach]

are the tracks worn out a bit? with the system one you can take out the adjuster plates from the front and rear idlers. that helps centering the track and the idler to each other.
it could be that the track is running a bit to much on the front and rear idler, it does run like crap when its like that.

You can take the bolts out off the brackets that hold the idlers and knock that plate out there. it should run smoother then. Also if the idlers shown signs off wear (usely it starts to get dimples)


and if the tracks get a bit older they will show a little dimple in the track it self, this way every little dimple with make the track shake..
new system one will run smooth as silk.

 

[turbo8781]

Sorry guys, my internets been down.
This one is pretty new 70- 75% i would gues. I like the idea of taking out that spacer I can see how that would make a difference.

"Yair. . . .

turbo8781. I never ran a hi-track and always understood they ran smoother than the old oval track machines.

One thing I can see is the geometry of the hi-tracks is such that about a third of the track frame is behind the pivot. "
I'm sure the D8's and up ride very smooth with the bogie setup. I can tell you it takes all the enjoyment out of running cat and makes it hard to blade with

 

[old-iron-habit]

Newer machines tend to be worked at a faster pace than the old machines as well. Speed could have something to do with it.

 

[nicky 68a]

Old Iron.
I have noticed the speed things too on these modern kitchen. They allways seem to be flying about.

 

[ih100]

Top speeds aren't much higher, but I definitely think System One are a bloody rough ride compared to SALT. Is it me or are the pin spacings wider on S1 size-for-size? I was on a brand new D6K on S1 and every time you turned, the chains tried to ride onto the idler, and yes the tension was correct. Damned awful machine until I changed the rollers for the older, larger type.

 

[Nige]

Second that. Every machine I've ever been involved with that was equipped with System One undercarriage rode so rough it would make your teeth rattle.

 

[walkerv]

We have a D6N with S1 on it and very wide pads seems to me to be comparable to all our other dozers D8T,D8R, D7E , could be the terrain though the trash pile is pretty soft they all ride rough going at a moderate speed when I road them to the shop on occasion unless you go flat out or dead slow in them they all seem to smooth out to me but I also dont run them much just fix them .

 

[turbo8781]

Glad to hear that its not just me. I was worried that I was really just getting soft.
Going to be taking the new to me 6H out pretty soon to play in the shale pit so we'll see how she measures up.

Nige, If its not to much trouble I would love to get a copy of the publication for fixing the cracks in the cannon/track frame you know the cracks that make them leak oil out the roller and rock gaurd bolts.

 

[Nige]

Send me your email address via PM and you're welcome to a copy.

Speaking about that it must have frightened the other guy I sent it to, remember the guy with oil coming out of his track frame. We've never heard back from him......

 

[turbo8781]

Send me your email address via PM and you're welcome to a copy.

Speaking about that it must have frightened the other guy I sent it to, remember the guy with oil coming out of his track frame. We've never heard back from him......

PM sent and thank you.
Ya, I was hoping to get a play by play and pics of his progress befor I started on mine. I'm not going to get started right away, I need to get it out in the dirt and see if its going to be worth its salt.
How common is the track frame issue ? I've only heard of 2 and I own one of them.

 

[Nige]

By the sounds of it, and you'll see this when you read the document, it was pretty common on early machines. The repair procedure is split into 2 groups. For the first group the repair procedure is to fix the cracks then add reinforcing in certain places to the track frame, for the second group the procedure is simply to repair the cracks you find. So it would appear that after a certain date the track frames were beefed up.

 

[turbo8781]

By the sounds of it, and you'll see this when you read the document, it was pretty common on early machines. The repair procedure is split into 2 groups. For the first group the repair procedure is to fix the cracks then add reinforcing in certain places to the track frame, for the second group the procedure is simply to repair the cracks you find. So it would appear that after a certain date the track frames were beefed up.

Sounds very interesting, cant wait to read it.

So I took the new to me 6H out for the first time today and scratched around in the shale pit and bladed some road and all i can say is wow. It rides like a Cadillac and is a very easy to hold a grade with, very impressed so far