3020 steering play

[gomi_otaku]

I was assessing my steering free play this weekend. My right steering "arm" is mounted so it is really close to the tire, while the left side has more clearance.
I noted that rocking my steering back and forth, the arm moves before the tire- like there is a certain amount of slop.
I unbolted the arm and saw how it it splines, and has a couple of "shims" between the arm and the tube.
No matter how that is tightened, it has some play there. Do I need to replace the arm, or the shaft inside the steering tube, or both? Good way to assess it? Or is it not really a problem? I know I have a little play in that tie rod end as well.
I thought it was odd that I couldn't line up the splines to move that arm farther from the tire without it being REALLY far away. If that's clear without pics...

 

[JD Dave]

You will have to determine if the splines are worn on the knuckle and/or the steering arm. Most likely the worn part is the arm as it's cast iron versus the steel knuckle. Take out the
shims and tighten the arm bolt and then check for looseness and wear. I don't have my tech manual in front of me but IIRC there's a description of how to place the shims and assemble.
Remember that the arms are different left to right. Might as well change out the loose tie rod ends while you're at it.

 

[gomi_otaku]

Yeah, even removing what shims are there allowing the arm to drop further down the splines, it's still sloppy. I've got some wear somewhere. I figured since the splines were ramped that it might snug them up but I think the edge to edge wear of the individual splines is the issue. I bet it was run for a while with a loose bolt.

 

[fdt860]

It sounds very bad to say this, but on two tractors that had worn out spindle splines and worn out arm, I did reweld them and grind them. Never moved after, one tractor did 6000 hours after the fix.

This hurt the tempering, but those were parts I would have had to change to fix properly.
The deal is to add enough metal and then grind enough so you really need to sledge hammer that crank arm in (the best way to remove play) , but without breaking it, most difficult thing is to have even splines and kinda even contact. Good deal is that you have only 4 splines, so they almost auto center.

Origin of the problem is often the bolt coming loose due to the spring washer breaking. Bolt does not have enough stretch, IMHO. Deere should have counterbored the spindle and the connection would have been better. Too short bolts loose tension very easily.

 

[gomi_otaku]

(quoted from post at 16:33:21 03/28/22) You will have to determine if the splines are worn on the knuckle and/or the steering arm. Most likely the worn part is the arm as it's cast iron versus the steel knuckle. Take out the
shims and tighten the arm bolt and then check for looseness and wear. I don't have my tech manual in front of me but IIRC there's a description of how to place the shims and assemble.
Remember that the arms are different left to right. Might as well change out the loose tie rod ends while you're at it.

Well, I replaced my tie rod, got rid of that slop but the steering arm was still wiggling, enough that it would loosen the bolt over time.
So, I made a snap decision based on your recommendation, replaced the cast arm, and it seems TIGHT (Plus it moved the arm a little further from the tire)

So- what is the measurement for setting the toe? I measured the back and front edges of the tires, and currently have the front about an inch narrower than the rear.