Steering Problem

[Anonymous-0]

Well, here we go again..Today I was breaking some ground and went to turn and its as if my tie rods broke (they didn't). Tractor wanted to steer itself. The steering wheel will literally unscrew itself(actually the shaft will back out about 1inch when you turn it to the left. Tractor will turn right as it seems your tightening something when you turn it to the right? as far as going straight or to the left I had to drive it back to the barn with my feet on the tie rod ends. Its manual on a 1973 Ford 2000..Any help or insight? Thanks,,,,Ricky P.S. I did not hit and ruts or anything hard, and it has always been hard to turn to the left, turning right in the past has been very easy. Only had the tractor about a month....

 

[souNdguy]

the upper thrust bearing has finally let go.

before when it was merely hard to turn, it was telling you it needed attention.

replace the thrust beairng and get the remnants of the old one out.. relube with a 0# or 00# ep grease, and go.

adjsut sector backlash.. etc.

soundguy

 

[Michaels Dad]

(quoted from post at 11:42:54 09/03/11) Well, here we go again..Today I was breaking some ground and went to turn and its as if my tie rods broke (they didn't). Tractor wanted to steer itself. The steering wheel will literally unscrew itself(actually the shaft will back out about 1inch when you turn it to the left. Tractor will turn right as it seems your tightening something when you turn it to the right? as far as going straight or to the left I had to drive it back to the barn with my feet on the tie rod ends. Its manual on a 1973 Ford 2000..Any help or insight? Thanks,,,,Ricky P.S. I did not hit and ruts or anything hard, and it has always been hard to turn to the left, turning right in the past has been very easy. Only had the tractor about a month....

The top bearing in the steering gearbox is wiped out.
Soundguy beat me to it.
When mine let go I had to drive about 1/2 on hilly winding trails using right and left brake to get it to the barn........that was fun.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I assume this is the bearing you are talking about. I pulled the steering shaft out and this is what I found...

 

[Anonymous-0]

Trying to upload a photo??? It ask for a handle? at the bottom? Whats this cant seem to get photo to upload.....

 

[souNdguy]

if you are not registered and in as a guest it may not let you upload.

soundguy

 

[Anonymous-0]

I finally got the steering shaft out of the box.The steering shaft has a 2-3in gear which spins when you turn the steering wheel. One side has straight cut gears and the other side has what appears to be a couple of ball bearings that are held into place by 2 7/16 bolts? Is this the part that is bad on my tractor? I just got it tore down right before dark tonight so I need to clean it up tomorrow so I can see better. I'm signed in as far as I know as its letting me post this, don't know why I can't post a picture. Ask for (A handle0? I assume its my screen name rw3al3...thanks..Ricky

 

[mike1972chev]

That is EXACTLY what happened to my steering box.Top bearing exploded,even ate apart the metal ring holding the ball bearings toghether.(Probably from going years with the lube level in the box high enough to reach it ???)

 

[Anonymous-0]

Now that I have my steering shaft out does the 4 bolts that actually hold the box to the frame actually act as reservoir for the oil? Basically can I unbolt it and flush out all the old oil and inspect the steering gears.All you had to replace was the part I described (the 2 bolts holding the bearings to the shaft? Ill be at the tractor mans Tuesday just wanted a lil heads up..About how much did it cost you in parts..thanks...Ricky..Cant upload pic's for some reason...My e mail is [email protected] if I can send you a picture that way and you can tell me if what I'm showing you is the same bad part

 

[souNdguy]

please, please get a service manyal for your machine.

the lil thrust bearing sat on top of that shaft you yankd out. that shaft assy is a ball nut that rides a worm gear.

the parts and service manual will give you the name sof these parts to help us help you work on them.

soundguy

 

[Anonymous-0]

Yea soundguy your right I do need a service manual. I was hoping to get a lil basic run time on the tractor before I really needed the manual but looks like that ain't gonna happen. I'd rather for everything to go wrong thats going to while its still warm, my barn isn't heated and I really don't want to be working on it in freezing weather.I'm off Wednesday so I guess I'll finish tearing it down and go from there. One question, steering wheel nut is so rusted that I'm gonna have to use a cold chisel to cut the bolt off. Is it right or left hand threads? I'll let you know the out come..Ricky in North Carolina

 

[souNdguy]

the acorn nut is regular thread.. righty tighty, lefty loosey.

yep.. always good to have a parts and service manual.. never know when something is going to go out.

i was backing a tractor off a traielr that I had just bought.. had JUST got home.. steering went out AS i was backing off.

'stuff' happens.

in any case.. these mechanical boxes are super easy to work on.. i've had plenty of them apart

soundguy