My Tractor Forum banner

YTH22V42LS steering bushing

18K views 26 replies 5 participants last post by  OutyHusky 
#1 ·
After only 3 years (127.6 hours)of lawn mowing I found my steering was getting loose. Upon inspection I discovered a badly worn out steering bushing at the very end of the steering column. It appears to be plastic or nylon. Was wondering if anybody improved on this very poor design? I ordered a new part in september and it's still back ordered.



 
See less See more
2
#2 ·
Rather than wait forever for your replacement plastic steering support, you might try making one yourself out of some long lasting type of metal, instead of plastic. You might try your local bearing supply house for Pillow Block/Flanged Bearing, that you may be able to adapt.

https://www.autodoner.com/media/ticc/products/2012/7/2/136_080.jpg this pictures something that I would try to adapted to your application. Once you get something like that in there, consider it 'good' for a long time after that.

One thing is for sure, your lawnmower mfg. is well known for using plastic in hi-stress areas, and often requires years & years of waiting around for a decent fix...just ask anyone that has a sears riding mower.

wwxx
 
#3 ·
That is why I asked, ("wondering if anybody improved on this very poor design?") I didn't want to re-invent the wheel if somebody already has a fix. Don't know how much from the tip of the shaft can be milled before it becomes too weak. The picture you posted looks like it might work.
 
#4 ·
I suppose there are a million different ways you could do it. I would consider to make the flange somewhat 'adjustable' (elongated bolt holes) so that you can keep the pinion gear teeth fully engaged with the sector gear.

Gear wear/skipping/breakage will be 'the next' problem if you don't get a decent bushing in there soon. That is the way I see the 'planned obsolescence' of the plastic bushing in the first place, the mfg. not only sells the plastic bushing, but usually a set of gears is not far behind the bushing failure, they like selling gears.

On the older sears steering gears, I replaced a bunch of plastic nyliner bushings by simply tacking used ball bearings in it's place, the repair was affordable, durable, & it repaired existing wear on the shaft too.

I don't know for sure about your plastic bushing, but it may be possible to simply drill or file the hole out larger and push a thick metal sleeve bushing into it, might be something you can do at home. Or possibly melt the existing plastic bushing with a hot ball bearing, embed it deep into the support...then remove that hot one & stick a new bearing in it's place...before the plastic cools off! hahaha [that fix could be tricky] But those plastic ears on flanged bushings sometimes crack with age/heat...so it would be best to have an 'all metal' one to replace with, similar to the pillow block type, perhaps.

Ok just for fun, you could make one out of scrap aluminum cans or whatever, Melt your aluminum and pour it into a mold made of clay or sand (use your worn support to make the imprint in the damp clay mold) You could even provide for a ball bearing to be inserted later perhaps for 'smooth steering'. That would make for an interesting read here on MTF, if ya provide pixs!

I think a few phone calls to various local repair shops should reveal if anyone is willing to make one for ya. You will probably have to remove the worn support to 'hand' it to them so they can see what they are making.

wwxx
 
#6 · (Edited)
Took my steering apart today to have a look at what I could do about the loose steering. Here's the bushing with the oval hole.



Brought the steering shaft with me and went to my Husqvarna dealer to get a new bushing thinking I wasn't going to re-invent the wheel. When he gave me the new one I tried it on, it was tighter but still had a bit of play, way less than the old one but still had play. So I asked if they would happen to have a brass bushing that would fit over the shaft. The guy went out back and 30 seconds came out front with a brass bushing that fit really tight on the shaft, but couldn't push it all the way down because of a burr on the shaft. I bought the bushing to see what I could do with it. When I got home I filed the burr on the shaft and the bushing slid right down to the gear.



Then I decided to try and fit that hexagonal shape into the old bushing so I reemed it out to ⅞" then proceeded to melt six equadistant notches in the round hole, to my surprise after about 5 minutes the bushing was in place. Didn't even have a chance to take a picture without the bushing because the last time I tried for fit it ended up real snug into place so there it stayed.



So put everything together to see how it would fit and bam! As tight as a walrus in a seal. Now I just have a little bit of play at the top bushing near the steering wheel. It doesn't affect the steering per say but does rattle a bit.



I'm a happy camper, I'll be able to mow my lawn in a straight line again.
 
#9 ·
Took my steering apart today to have a look at what I could do about the loose steering. Here's the bushing with the oval hole.



Brought the steering shaft with me and went to my Husqvarna dealer to get a new bushing thinking I wasn't going to re-invent the wheel. When he gave me the new one I tried it on, it was tighter but still had a bit of play, way less than the old one but still had play. So I asked if they would happen to have a brass bushing that would fit over the shaft. The guy went out back and 30 seconds came out front with a brass bushing that fit really tight on the shaft, but couldn't push it all the way down because of a burr on the shaft. I bought the bushing to see what I could do with it.



When I got home I filed the burr on the shaft and the bushing slid right down to the gear.



Then I decided to try and fit that hexagonal shape into the old bushing so I reemed it out to ⅞" then proceeded to melt six equadistant notches in the round hole, to my surprise after about 5 minutes the bushing was in place. Didn't even have a chance to take a picture without the bushing because the last time I tried for fit it ended up real snug into place so there it stayed.



So put everything together to see how it would fit and bam! As tight as a walrus in a seal. Now I just have a little bit of play at the top bushing near the steering wheel. It doesn't affect the steering per say but does rattle a bit.



I'm a happy camper, I'll be able to mow my lawn in a straight line again.
This site won't let me edit my 6th post, I added a picture of the bushing which I meant to post but omitted to post for some reason.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Hey OutyHusky, Well I would think your repair is absolutely 'acceptable',,,I would say well spent $5!:thThumbsU

I looked at your 3 second video, and I'm not sure what that loud clicking noise is, but something sounds wrong...did it click like that before the bushing repair? You should make sure your hybrid-ized plastic bushing is not cracked/flexing under load. I'm guessing you trimmed/shimmed your brass bushing to proper dimension so that the sector gear teeth are 'centered' with the pinion gear.

As you have probably found out already, if you track each & every pivot/lube point in the steering (including the wheel bearings themselves), a bit of lubricant can vastly improve the ease & use of everyday steering.

wwxx
 
#13 ·
The loud click you hear is the half moon serated gear that the 2 tie rods tie in. It is kind od a floppy design to and is my next project because I believe that is where the rest of the play is. It needs a shim or a washer to stabalize it. Ends of it where the tie rods are attached moves up and down about a quarter of an inch when you turn the wheel side to side.
 
#19 ·
Tackleling the sector plate backlash was a piece of cake. Removed the shoulder bolt (item # 58 in parts list) the washer #59 and the flange nut #60. The sector plate #35 then just drops down held by the 2 tie rods.





I then measured the shoulder at .252 " and the sector plate @ .22". So giving me .03" inches of play. Couldn't find shim stock .03 couldn't find a washer that thin with a 1" I.D. but to my surprise a 1-1/16 outside "C" clip's I.D. was exactly 1" and thickness was .032. Hoping all my measurements would be a little forgiving I decide to try the clip as spacer.







So greased and re-assembled the shoulder bolt through the sector plate then "C" clip then washer through the frame then screwed the nut. To my amazement after pulling everything tight the play in the sector plate is all gone and my steering is as tight as can be at the bottom. Now the only play left is at the top bushing near the steering wheel.

This turned out a lot better than I expected.
 
#20 ·
Outy.. When I seen your post about steering and you had the steering bushing mount egged out.
I looked up the part number on my mower and its the same as yours.
I have no play or problems in my steering, but in time I'll be on the same road like you with the wearing bushing. Mine is 3 yrs old and about 300 hrs.

I followed your posts and the bushing insert is a good idea. Then you added the bushing insert number. Cool.
So I found the bushings on Amazon cheaper then eBay.

Just before I was going to order them. I checked my lower bushing mount and I found no movement play at all. But it looked weird. It looked like metal or aluminum. So being its hard to look or touch in there, I X it with a sharp screwdriver.
It's aluminum.
If I had to fix it and buy a new one, the replacement now is plastic. Bummer. But I have a long time before it egged out .
 
#21 ·
My property is at a 6° slop so I'm always fighting gravity, I believe the premature wear on this bushing was caused by the constant pressure when mowing. Aluminum would wear even faster than nylon plastic so it must have a brass insert.
 
#26 · (Edited)
I think TXsteve said the Sears part# is the same, so the 'older?' pillow block type bushing has become superseded by the 'newer?'--all plastic version.

Either way if you keep the thing regularly lubricated, wear out should be reduced. In dusty dirty conditions as the pinion bushing has, you guys might try a 'dry silicon spray' applied every-so-often, dry silicon spray, sometimes known as 'mold release' works well at lubricating while not attracting as much dirt & grit.

As for OutyHusky's snap-ring fix, I think you have the thickness right, but as your out shopping around, you definitely want to find proper shim, the larger OD the better. The small OD & sharp edges of the snap ring will eventually wear an un-necessary groove in the sector gear, where a proper flat shim, of say...1.75" OD would probably prevent flexing of the sector gear & improved wearing characteristics. (2) really thin shims would be the optimum way to shim it, instead of a single shim. I'm sure they left .03" tolerance to account for the normal dirt build-up, so don't be too surprized if the steering could eventually become 'too tight' due to dirt build-up. If your performing your daily spray lube of dry silicon, don't forget to squirt that sector shoulder bolt/shim area.

I was kind of glad that the mfg. had the same thought I had for an 'pillow block' type bushing, but once they 'go plastic' they seldom ever return to what actually works well.

wwxx
 
#27 ·
I have no intention of leaving the outside "C" clip in there. It was just an experiment to see if it would take care of the backlash. I have ordered thes spacer washers # A370-895-20 1.5" OD x 1" ID x .020 W 316 Stainless steel. It will leave me with a bit of backlash which I can live with.

 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top