John Deere 1971 3020 Steering Problem

[mgnowell]

Just bought a 1971 JD3020 Diesel the right front steering arm is worn badly but the spindle splines look ok so I ordered a new right arm (R47765) it fits the splines ok but it's touching the inside of my front tire if you move it to the left its It's 3" off can't afford to adjust steering rod because the left side will be way off. Looks like the spindle is off but splines are not worn and the new arm fits them tight just to close to tire. I see no way for spindle to slip and cause misalignment to arm.

 

[crsutton81]

Just bought a 1971 JD3020 Diesel the right front steering arm is worn badly but the spindle splines look ok so I ordered a new right arm (R47765) it fits the splines ok but it's touching the inside of my front tire if you move it to the left its It's 3" off can't afford to adjust steering rod because the left side will be way off. Looks like the spindle is off but splines are not worn and the new arm fits them tight just to close to tire. I see no way for spindle to slip and cause misalignment to arm.

We recently went through something similar with our new to us 3020. In our case, someone had installed a left hand arm on the right side, so it was waaaay off. I ordered a new spindle thinking it could be partially twisted, but mine wasn't. It sounds like yours possibly could be though. If it was me before ordering anymore parts, I would pull the spindle out of the axle knee and inspect it for any signs of being twisted and go from there. A left and right spindle carries the same part number of AR 55180 for a row crop model. Standard, Utility, and Orchard variations utilize a different steering arm and spindle than the row crop models.

 

[Tx Jim]

Sounds as if spindle shaft that arm fits on is twisted as crsutton mentioned.

 

[WTW]

Just bought a 1971 JD3020 Diesel the right front steering arm is worn badly but the spindle splines look ok so I ordered a new right arm (R47765) it fits the splines ok but it's touching the inside of my front tire if you move it to the left its It's 3" off can't afford to adjust steering rod because the left side will be way off. Looks like the spindle is off but splines are not worn and the new arm fits them tight just to close to tire. I see no way for spindle to slip and cause misalignment to arm.

Make sure tractor has correct front rim with correct offset. People put wagon rims on JD tractors that cause this same condition because of wrong wheel offset. JD tractors have a unique offset on there front rims.

 

[mgnowell]

Finally fixed my steering problem as mentioned in the above post, I have ordered 2 steering arm's for my 1971 JD3020 from 2 different vendor's in the USA. neither one would work one fit the splines but was way off for linkage connection the other fit the splines but would no go all the way down on the splines and also wound not line up with tie rod linkage either. My brother had an old front end off early model JD4020 removed the right front arm still wouldn't line up, finally removed left steering arm on 4020 it fit perfect on my JD3020 works like new now. Thanks to everyone with input.