YM240 spindle and steering repair

[284 International]

My project YM240 has revealed another area needing major work. This one, unlike the engine issue, is kind of my fault for missing in my inspection. On the front axle, the spindle is supposed to come up through the axle tube, in a bearing, then have a Woodruff key that splines the spindle to the steering arm. Some seals, clips and washers go in, and then a nut caps it off, retaining the spindle in the tube and the steering arm to the spindle. This is what I have: the left front spindle has been welded onto the steering arm:





There are no washers, and if the bearing is there, it's completely shot. It's obvious from the 2 layers of weldment that it has been "fixed" in this shoddy fashion at least twice. There is a lot of slop in the steering gear when it is operated through the steering wheel. There is just under 1/3 of a turn on the steering wheel if slightly tensioned on one side when turning one side to another before tire movement begins. The sector shaft coming out of the steering box is some of the play (It is movable by strongly shaking it; it acts as if its bushing on the steering box is worn out.)

The actual box feels fairly tight, there is simply too much slop between the sector shaft and the tire to move any until the steering wheel moves 1/3 of the way around. I measured this by turning the wheel one direction until the tires ALMOST move, then marking where a steering wheel spoke is. Then I turned the steering wheel the other way until the tires just barely moved. It was 2 inches on the steering wheel rim less than to the next spoke, and I have a 3 spoke wheel.

This thread will catalogue my disassembly and repair of these issues, hopefully being useful to other people who have similar issues later on. I have preferences against doing it, but there's nothing normally "wrong" with farm-expedient repairs. However, steering gear and spindle retention is the kind of safety issue that makes people be injured or killed-and frequently not the person who "fixes" it! I could not in good conscience sell, loan, or use this tractor around anyone else or their property, so it must be fixed. I didn't see any similar threads, so decided to record my experiences. I'm going to disassemble the front end and then diagnose and order parts at the beginning of next week.

 

[normde2001]

Yanmar Tractor Parts, Sales, Service, and Delivery.

 

[bowinelk]

I just rebuilt the steering box on my 240. Try adjusting the sector shaft adjustment to get rid of the slack in your steering wheel. The Video Normde2001 posted link to explains how to do it in part2. Try that and see if it helps with the slop in the steering wheel.

 

[Gary Sweat]

I made this little tool to replace the top spindle bushings. It really makes the job easy. I used a press but it could be done with a hammer too. Had to replace the right spindle because the top bushing area had worn to much.

Also, check the wear on the center pin support for the axle. This will cause front to back movement on the axle when they start wearing out. Pretty easy to replace the bushings.