wdchyd
Elite Member
cstamm81, that was me saying "... can't do everything for". Here's what I was told a few yrs ago: The 'obsolete' steering box hasn't been made or supported for years. There was no source of replacements or parts available even to them at the time. They were able to supply a face (thrust) seal to resolve a leak. I was cautioned by the svc mgr against disassembling the old-style (offset) steering box to replace the seal without experience or somehow-unavailable technical info/manual as being a nightmare of parts flying. I spoke to another guy who insisted that I ring him back when I was ready to be guided step by step and safely do the least necessary to change the seal. btw: For this I spoke well of TerraQuip's service a time or two ...
The seal is an odd size not easily found at the supply houses in the size required (~ a US Quarter), tho' I'll continue to search for another source if wear might shorten its life. Here's the bit that'll get a few nod's of acknowledgement. The parts was $62, shipped in a 9x12 bubble envelope, and for another $14 Fed-Ex dropped that into the US mail for them. (well-deserved F-E bashing forgiven, as always)
I was assured that 'upgrading' to the newer style column wasn't possible. (??) I doubt I'd want to pay their rates for one for sure, but at this point I'm beginning to wonder if I'm considered to have two left feet & ten thumbs, and getting over-cautioned advice. T-Ms are enough like giant lawn tractors that there's room to tinker under the dash. After having R&R'd the guts & gears of a DeWalt 18v hammer drill not much would scare me. I might be in that box with the new seal already, but .. (don't laugh, ok?...) I'm still pickling the steering wheel's hub in Kroil to get the !%$@ thing off the shaft in one piece without setting up an electrolysis rig to de-rust it. :-/
Mebbe I went to far too soon with the steering drama, but believe me .. if it's all that much, I'd love to be the guy that figures out & shares for those of us with T5Cs' older steering boxes.
Maybe I haven't read all the facts yet, but what you describe is a steering valve......with these steering valves you need to use OEM kits to reseal them, yes the parts are not common generic parts, but are repairable if you have the right seal kit
Another factor is if you need parts other than a seal kit (shaft, geroler, valve plates) then fugitaboutit, buy a new unit, the same displacement and matching steering collumn/wheel
As far as being obsolete I'd say that maybe the case for the dealer but seal kits are available at hydraulic shops and are not obsolete for them with the right model code tag
Beware resealing one of these is not for the faint of heart, it requires expertise to retime the internal gears and valve plates for a successfull repair and a bench test to check integrity of the repair
Another thing, if the steering unit is found to be faulty after troubleshooting, then replace it......a seal kit will not fix a mechanical problem internally.....these are very fussy units
Do you guys have pix of the steering units on these Terramites??