Steering, Lots of play

[miamifarmer]

Hi all,

My name is Moses and I am a 28 year old organic farmer in Miami Fl. I recently bought a Farmall Super A to cultivate our farm. It runs fantastically. The only issue is the steering. There is a huge amount of play in the steering wheel. I cannot even drive in a straight line, let alone cultivate our fields.
Is there any advice you have for us? We really need help

[staninlowerAL]

Welcome to the FORUM. After your second post you can access and download the manuals for your tractor from the Quick links tab at the top left corner of this page. Open the pdf manuals folder and look for A, Super A folder. Suggest you support the front end at the axle tubes so you can examine each part of the steering to determine which parts have the free play. You can then tighten all the steering linkages. The steering gear assembly has some internal parts that could need replacing. Check the parts manual for more information.

[BullDAWG]

stan is correct, after 2 posts look in top left corner for the 3 line icon and click on it and then scroll down till u see the pdf files. then look up the super a section. some quick checks is to support the front and then grab a tire and twist left to right and see if slack is in the tie rod ends or not. also twist tire on top n bottom to see if bearing are bad. this will see where else to look for problems. If not mistaken there also is a way to tighten the worm gear in the front assembly. if that doesn't do it then like he said it may be you need to replace parts in the worm gear assembly. but most of the loose steering I've encountered were #4-7 or #15 in the diagram below. once you post again look this up and reference the parts to actual IH part numbers to get replacements for whats needed.

[Super A]

Hi all,

My name is Moses and I am a 28 year old organic farmer in Miami Fl. I recently bought a Farmall Super A to cultivate our farm. It runs fantastically. The only issue is the steering. There is a huge amount of play in the steering wheel. I cannot even drive in a straight line, let alone cultivate our fields.
Is there any advice you have for us? We really need help

Most of your play is most likely in the steering gear box. The gear itself, and the center arm coming out of the gearbox wears on the shaft and can move back and forth. Usually replacing the bushings, bearings, woodruff keys, and sector shaft/gear will take care of it. Usually the steering worm gear is fine. When you get it all back together you have to make absolutely sure that the gear and the center steering arm do not move on the shaft.

CaseIH still offers the parts you need but they are EXPENSIVE. Steiner Tractor parts offers a kit with everything you need but the sector shaft and gear, they sell those separate. There are a few variations of gear and shaft over the years so it helps to know exactly what you have to get the right stuff. I've not done a steering gear rebuild since they started offering these parts so I can't comment on the quality, but I'd give them a try for the price--you can spend $1000 on the gearbox easily if you buy all caseIH parts! https://www.steinertractor.com/IHS1800- ... --seal-kit

There are also a few shortcuts. Some guys will weld the steering gear to the shaft, usually you have to grind on the inside of the steering gearbox to make it fit unless you do a really good job of grinding down your weld. Again you still have to make sure the center arm doesn't move on the shaft. I've not tried it but I have wondered about drilling the center arm and shaft and inserting a roll pin to help hold it still. If you know a good machine shop they may be able to help you out and save you some money on parts. Regardless, replace the bearings and bushings.

It's not a terribly difficult job. Post back if you have questions. Loose steering is a very common problem on these tractors as they age.

Al

[Slim140]

You can also take your shaft and gear to a machine shop and they can cut a bigger keyway in both. I've done several 140's and Cubs like that and it helps a lot.