Is this steering lever bent?

[JoshGuitar]

I recently bought a 154 from a friend of mine pretty cheap, and I'm fixing up all the minor issues and taking care of some deferred maintenance. It had a bent steering knuckle, which I bent back. Now the turning radius is normal-ish, but it still takes a little extra effort. I also had to shorten the drag link as far as it would go to get the steering somewhat centered. The steering lever on the front axle doesn't sit level. The left side is lower than the right. Is it supposed to be like this, or is this probably the reason my steering isn't quite right yet? I didn't want to heat it up and bend it then find out it was supposed to be that way

If it is bent, then how is it supposed to look? Completely level from left to right?

20140405_085619 small.jpg (248.34 KiB) Viewed 238 times

[tmays]

Mine is level

[Bob McCarty]

Josh, Welcome to the Forum. One of our sponsors at the bottom of the page (HamiltonBobsCubs) carries new and used parts for the numbered LoBoys. If you anything, you might want to contact them.

Bob

[Eugene]

I don't know about bent, that's one hefty piece of metal.

Don't know where the problems is, but before you purchase any parts, check the other steering system parts. Could be as easy as missing or loose bolts in the steering lever support bracket.

[JoshGuitar]

Thanks, I'll look things over. At least now I know it's not supposed to sit at an angle like that. I don't know how somebody could bend that like that without doing other major damage either, it's pretty beefy. At least the steering knuckles are pretty thin.

I actually already ordered some other parts from Hamilton Bob - I've been lurking here for a few weeks and saw him recommended a lot.