Steering wheel slop

   / Steering wheel slop #1  

wings515

New member
Joined
Aug 1, 2012
Messages
2
Location
newfoundland PA
Tractor
Farmall A
I want to see if I can reduce the slop in my 1941 Farmall A. I have about 90 degree slop in the wheel. Can someone provide some guidence in what gets removed first. This A has a wide stance front end. Do I start by jacking the center of the A and removing eveything I can see to get into the steering box? Or is there a preferred procedure to inspect and repair the steering assembly.
Thanks,
wings515
 
   / Steering wheel slop #2  
90 degrees is a lot... I'd suspect the steering arm is loose where it attaches to the vertical shaft coming out of the steering box. The arm is split on the back side where it attaches. There is an approx. 3/8" bolt that snugs it around the shaft. It is also keyed on that shaft, so you may want to remove it and check for wear there too. Could be the steering knuckles need adusted too.

Might not hurt to check for slop in the vertical shaft the arm attaches to, if you have the arm off.

Hopefully some external snugging and adjustments is all it needs.

An I&T manual gives a pretty good description of how to rebuild the steering box, without removing from the tractor.
 
   / Steering wheel slop
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Thanks for the reply. I disassembled the front end and removed the bottom of the steering box. There was some slop vertically in the sterring sector so I replaced the bearing at the top. While I was at it, I also replaced the bearing at the end of the steering shaft. Both bearings were New Departure 3304 and 3305 so I was able to get them from my local NAPA dealer. I actually got SKF bearings as replacement GM wheel bearings.
There is a significant reduction in wheel slop with the new bearings.
When I took the bottom of the steering box off there was a lot of water along with the grease in the box. I suspect it is coming in through the shaft seal. When I can get some extra $ I'll see about replacing the leather seal. It looks like I can remove the seal by taking the shaft out of the box after removing the new bearing I just put in.
In hind sight I guess I should have done all at the same time but I wanted to put this back together so I could put my vehicle back in the garage. We have had some big storms with hail so I wanted my van inside and just cover the Farmall.
Thanks again,
wings515
 
   / Steering wheel slop #4  
Good deal..!!
 
 
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