Steering on cub
- Thread starter SteveN.D.
- Start date
staninlowerAL
501 Club
Corn head grease.
Is that hard to find? Thought I might have to flush the gearbox first with something, drain it and then fill?
Don McCombs
501 Club
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Bill Hudson
501 Club
You're in North Dakota and your best bet is to go to a machinery dealer (John Deere, Case IH) and they should have plenty in various quantities, tubes to something a whole lot larger.
Hi,
The older Cub manuals say to use 80 or 90 weight gear oil in the steering gear.
The bottom seal has to be good to use that.
I have seen on here that they say to use the corn head grease in the steering gear if the seal leaks, so it doesn't run out fast.
If it leaks, and you would rather replace the seal, you have to take the steering gear apart to do that.
Below is a picture from TM Tractor Parts of where the lower oil seal is, it is the shiny round part, where the lower shaft goes.
TM Tractor Parts has new seals, and bushings, if the bushings are worn. They are near the bottom of the Forums page.
I sent you a message, you get to it at the upper right of the page.
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Thanks Don. The picture helps, was in TS this evening but couldn’t find it, now I know what I am looking for!
Ok Bill, will try ourJD dealer, he is right up the road.
Is it a lot harder to turn one way vs. the other?
No, it’s really hard to turn at all. I can see a slight bend in the steering rod when looking at it from the front. But after pulling the plug and looking in the steering gearbox and seeing no oil, just rust, I wonder if my issue is there.
staninlowerAL
501 Club
You can try lifting the front tires slightly off the ground and see if that makes any difference. Also disconnect the tie rods from each wheel and try turning the wheels both ways manually. The spindles (vertical connections) to the front axle needs to be greased also. Some liquid lubricant like KROIL or PB BLASTER applied to the moving joints might help free things up if they haven't been kept greased. Try to get some grease in all the zerk fittings. Stan
At this point, that seems probable. If so, just adding corn head grease won't have much immediate effect. Lube it with something thinner, maybe with kerosene or Diesel fuel. If that helps the steering, crank it back and forth for a while then drain the Diesel fuel. If the Diesel fuel shows signs of a big leak (leave it filled over night to check) and you don't want to replace the seal, refill with corn head grease.
The bend in the steering rod may be due to the support arm being bent. Try unbolting the support arm bracket from the support arm (up by the steering wheel). Then see if the steering is any easier when you hold the steering wheel so the rod is straight.
Thanks Stan-I do have the wheels up with jack stands under the axle. No joy there. But I haven’t tried disconnecting the tie rods so that will be on my list.
Great idea Jim. I will give it a shot. Ty
The part held on with 2 bolts, with the long steering shaft going through it, is a bearing, and the holder for the oil seal. The bearing fits snug on the shaft. The shaft is a bigger size, in the bearing.
They have said on here before that it can make the steering turn hard if the long shaft is bent, it makes binding in the bearing.
The shaft should be straight, sighting down it, while sitting in the seat.
Below is a picture from TM Tractor Parts of the lower end of the shaft.
If you take the shaft out, there should be a thick washer, or spacer, at the lower end, it can fall off the shaft, into the housing. Be sure it is in place before putting the shaft in again.
If the nut at the bottom of the steering gear, that holds the arm on, is too tight, it can make the steering bind. See if the arm and shaft move up and down any. Usually when they wear, they get so the arm and shaft move up and down.
There should be as little up and down movement as possible, but not so tight that the arm binds when turning from side to side.
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My Cub steering was quite hard to steer after restoration. Spindles were then greased with synthetic grease instead of common lithium grease and it helped immensely.