Simplicity Legacy steering issue

[jdgreg]

I've had my Legacy since '99, and it's been a great mower. But starting to notice the steering wasnt quite right when I turned full left. If felt like sometimes I could turn sharper than other times. Last night I jacked the front end up and took a closer look at what was going on. Turns out, with the wheel full left, this allows the pivot point of the tie arm (tieing both front wheels together) to be close enough to the axle line, that the left wheel can flop back and forth about 3 " or so. So far I cant see what could be causing this, I dont think there are any bushings in the axles (there is some play, not sure if it's excessive), possibly the axles themselves are worn. There is no excessive play in the tie rod or hyd cyl rod end. Any ideas?

 

[Ductape]

I would suspect you must have gotten a little slop in your steering over the years. Perhaps its a little play all the way around, and not one particular component. Do you have the ability to adjust the steering stops? If so, adjusting the stops to give you just slightly less turning radius may keep that wheel from reaching the point that allows it flop around.

 

[jdgreg]

Thanks for the suggestion, you are probably correct about the amount of wear from multiple components. I dont believe there are any steering stops, will check again tonight. If not, I may just fab some.

 

[neverenough]

As a general steering reply, not specific to your model, too much toe out can give you this problem too. You might be out of alignment. Just a thought.

 

[jdgreg]

As a general steering reply, not specific to your model, too much toe out can give you this problem too. You might be out of alignment. Just a thought.

Thanks for the thought, but unfortunately there is no adjustment, the tie rod between the front wheels is solid. The only adjustment is where the buckle screws into the power steering cyl rod. I adjusted this a little, and it gave me more turn to the left which got the left ft wheel to the turn stop. But there is still a lot of slop in the front axles, which seems to be causing this issue. I'm afraid I've been too hard on the poor gal, and it's beginning to show.