IT14G structural cracks

[grease dog]

Hello guy, I'm new to this site. I am new to posting on the internet to solve problems. I hope some of the experience on this site will be able to help me out.

I am working on and 1998 cat IT14G tool carrier with a serial number 1wn00927. there appears to be some cracks appearing around the welded bushings that pin the steering cylinders to the machine. I am planning on grinding out the cracks and re-welding, but before I do I was hoping some one could tell me if this is a common problem on these machines due to the size of the plate metal, or am should I be looking for something that is causing the cracks like a sloppy pin/bushing in the articulation joint?

any info would be a great help, I have some pictures I will try and figure out how to post them soon.
Thanks

 

[heymccall]

 

[Nige]

A few thoughts off the top of my head.

Hitch bearing play and/or wear.
Steering system pressure not within spec.
Badly adjusted steering (frame) stops.

 

[Welder Dave]

Lack of grease on the pins?

 

[Nige]

Post some photos. Let's see where the cracks are.

I have some pictures I will try and figure out how to post them soon. Thanks

Posting photos. Provided you are working on a PC or laptop....
1. Open the photo you want to upload.
2. Open the Windows snipping tool.
3. Using the snipping tool select all or part of the area of the photo.
4. Paste the snip to the post where you want to upload the photo.
Simples........

 

[grease dog]

Here are some pics of the cracks

 

[grease dog]

There was some welding done on it before but I don't believe the crack was groved out and it was just layed ontop of the crack. Now it looks like it's continuing past the old weld.

 

[Nige]

Do you have any photos taken from a bit further away to give it a bit of perspective.?

 

[grease dog]

I don't have any, I was going to take a few but my phone died. I will try and get some tomorrow.

 

[grease dog]

Here are some pictures one from a bit further away

I removed the steering cylinder and cleaned it up a bit

 

[Nige]

Excellent photos, and the first one raises a question. Is there any evidence of a rubber or hard plastic face to the steering frame stop mount (the one with the threaded hole in the centre) seen in the upper part of the picture.? What about the other side of the machine.?
I'm guessing the answer will be no. If that's the case there's the reason why you have cracks in the frame. The steering has been banging the front and rear frames hard against each other when the machine is at full turn angle.



Are the cracks limited to the upper bracket where the steering cylinder pin fits, or do you have cracks in the lower bracket also.?

 

[Welder Dave]

They are odd cracks that don't appear to be caused by normal steering action. Slamming the steering metal to metal seems likely. If it was a problem with the pins I think there would be cracking along the edge of the welds. Is it possible the steering hyd. pressure is too high? I don't know if loaders slow the speed when nearing the end of travel like the swing on backhoes do. If not having having some kind of rubber/plastic stop to cushion the blow would make sense.

 

[Nige]

From the Parts Manual. Those pads are at least 2" thick including the backing IIRC.
IMHO the impacts caused by the forces on the steering cylinders and the frames hitting metal-to-metal are what has caused the cracking. YMMV.



No loader has any sort of pressure/speed control on the steering system during the cylinder stroke other than how fast the operator turns the wheel or how hard he holds the joystick over. Larger machines have a hydraulic neutralizer to cut the steering hydraulics before the frame stops hit each other. Extremely baaaaad things happen on big machines if the two frame stops hit one another.

 

[grease dog]

There is a rubber mount in that location on the opposite side of the machine. It has seen "better days" though.

Should there be two on this machine?

Does anyone know where on the internet I could obtain a copy of the parts manual and a service manual?

I uploaded a picture of the mount on the other side also

 

[grease dog]

Both the upper and lower bushings that the pin goes through are cracked.

 

[Nige]

There is a rubber mount in that location on the opposite side of the machine. It has seen "better days" though.

Should there be two on this machine?

That's it, and yes there should be one of those on both sides. If there is no cracking in the steering cylinder mounts on the left side then you have found the reason for the cracks on the right side mount.

To completely replace both the stops you will need the following parts: -

2 x 112-0885 Pad As - Resilient
2 x 129-8087 Spacer
2 x 7X-7729 Hard Washer
2 x 8T-4196 Bolt

 

[Nige]

Does anyone know where on the internet I could obtain a copy of the parts manual and a service manual?

Have a look on the usual internet sites for the following: -

Parts Manual - SEBP3126 (New Price $155 in paper form, $110 on CD)
Service Manual - SENR6760 (New Price $865 in paper form, $465 on CD)

Be aware that internet sellers can be very proud of their used manuals, so much so that they ask higher than new prices for them - like this Part Manual. It's only $155 new for the latest version (v56) and yet they are asking $200 for one (v11) that's almost 20 years old...!! https://www.ebay.com/itm/CAT-CATERP...ARRIER-PARTS-MANUAL-SEBP3126-11-/223899712910

This Service Manual, on the other hand, could be a better deal - https://www.ebay.com/p/8026180773?iid=321211428635

When buying used paper Service Manuals online, the key question to ask the seller is "Is it complete?"
If they don't know, ask them to list all the separate sections that the manual they have for sale contains, then post them up here. It's easy enough to check if anything is missing or not.

 

[Nige]

Both the upper and lower bushings that the pin goes through are cracked.

I suggest that you pull the RH steering cylinder apart and check the condition of the piston & the bottom of the cylinder barrel. With that pad MIA it’s likely that the “stop” when steering the machine full to the right has been the piston in the RH steering cylinder hitting the bottom of the barrel.

 

[grease dog]

This is the bottom of the steering mount on the side that still has a little rubber left on it. It has a crack that looks like it's following the weld around the bushing. Not sure what the top looks like yet as the pin is covering it.

Do you think the stops could still be the culprit?

 

[Nige]

The cracks on the left that has the remnants of a stop are nowhere near the extent of those on the right which does not.

My vote would be the lack of stops in good condition being the root cause of the cracks.

To confirm, why not pull both steering cylinders apart and look down the hole. Compare what you see between the RH & LH sides. Take photos.