Understanding the Core Parts & Components in your Hyundai Wheel Loader

1. Understanding the Core Parts & Components in your Hyundai Wheel Loader You may have seen websites that sell Hyundai loader parts and marvelled at how many there are. There are literally thousands of Hyundai wheel loader parts and Hyundai machinery parts that go into a single Hyundai wheel loader. To most, this can be extremely overwhelming. In this article, we cover what each part of a wheel loader is and what their function is. This context is key to understanding how to navigate the purchase of replacement and spare wheel loader parts. Wheel loaders are a common piece of heavy machinery on construction sites. They are capable of moving huge volumes of material in a bucket on their front. This bucket is lifted and tipped with the use of boom arms and z-bar linkages, both of which are powered by hydraulic cylinders. Also powered by hydraulic cylinders is the articulated steering which is common to many wheel loaders. And, of course, there is an engine that powers the drivetrain, and a cab for the operator to sit in. These are the main Hyundai wheel loader parts and their functions.

2. Firstly, the ground engaging equipment is an important component of the bucket. This can be bucket teeth or a bucket cutting edge, which are attached to the bucket with adaptors that are welded on. These teeth or cutting edges come in contact with the material and wear away with use because they have to withstand high forces during operation. The bucket itself is lifted by boom arms. These arms are on either side of the bucket and are powered by hydraulic cylinders. There are several pivot points here, both where the bucket meets the arms, where the arms meet the loader body, as well as where the hydraulic cylinders meet the arms and loader body. These pivot points rotate around pins as well, usually, as bushings or bearings. It’s important that these pivot points don’t seize up as a result of wear or corrosion, so replacement pins, bearings, and bushings of the right size and design for each pivot on each machine are sold by equipment suppliers. The mechanism for tilting the bucket is a z-bar linkage. This linkage is designed to reduce the stress on the hydraulic cylinder because the mechanism is designed such that, when the cylinder expands, the bucket tips backwards. (And when the cylinder contracts, the bucket tips forwards). This is because it can be ‘easier’ (require less force) to tip the bucket forwards when it is full as the load being carried ‘wants’ to fall down and out of the bucket. Whereas, it takes more force to lift the material up when tipping the bucket backwards. So, it makes sense to use the increase in pressure to the hydraulic cylinder which pushes it open to do the lifting and the decrease in pressure when it closes to do the dropping. This is the purpose of the z-bar linkage. Hydraulic cylinders have a tube and a piston, with the piston moving in and out of the tube. The key to a functioning cylinder is to make sure that the piston is moved without hydraulic oil leaking or otherwise losing pressure. This is achieved by seals to keep the oil in as well as bearing bands to keep the piston moving straight and true. Another component is the wiper which wipes off the piston as it retracts into the tube, making sure to keep the hydraulic oil as clean as can be expected. Each of these components can be replaced and should be if they no longer function to keep the hydraulic oil where it needs to be and at the pressure it needs to be. Not only are these hydraulic cylinders used in the bucket manipulation mechanisms, they are also used on wheel loaders which use articulated steering. Articulated steering is where the loader is in two separate halves, joined only by a pivot point and two hydraulic cylinders on either side of the pivot. The two sections are usually broken into the cabin, engine, back wheels, and counterweight at the back, and the bucket and front wheels at the front. This steering is good because it allows these huge machines to still be manoeuvrable. It works by the cylinder on one side expanding while the other contracts, so the front and back rotate against each other and pivot around the large pivot in the middle. Each of these cylinders, as well as the pivot (including the pin and bearings) can be repaired and replaced.

3. If you do replace these huge pins though, you have to make sure you are sufficiently supporting both the front and back halves of the loader when the pins are removed. Otherwise, the machine will collapse on itself and could easily squash anyone who got in the way, as well as damaging the machine in the process. Another component that is less visibly obvious in wheel loaders is the final drive. There is a final drive on the wheels and it is essentially a gear reduction through planetary gears which increases the torque the wheels can exert. Converting the force from the drivetrain into torque this close to the wheels means that there are fewer components which have to withstand the strain of this high torque between the engine and the wheels. The engine in a wheel loader is huge, needing to be big enough to push around not only the wheel loader but the heavy loads it needs to carry in its day-to-day operations. This engine is usually in the back of the machine and while there are the usual levels and gauges for engine oil and coolant, there is usually in this compartment as well the hydraulic system. The next section is the cab which can easily be overlooked. However, there are critical safety and comfort features in the cab which have a big impact on the operation of the machine. These include the seatbelt as well as lights, air-filters, air-conditioning, the seat itself (including shock-absorbing suspension) and all of the buttons, knobs, dials and controls needed to keep the machine operating to the best of its ability. These components are usually a lot easier and less messy to change out than the others, thankfully. So, there you have it. That is a brief overview of the Hyundai machinery parts, which ones are replaced or repaired, what they do, and how they do it. Hopefully this article has been useful to you and provided a fairly broad understanding of wheel loaders that you can take forwards and expand upon as the need arises.