2006 x534 Steering Loose?

Check the tie rods nuts, etc. Also check the bolt and nut on the left side spindle were the power-steering bolts to. The later happened to both my X530's with about 50 hrs. Not a big deal but had a huge amount of play before tightening it back up. About the only other thing i think would be to pull the steering wheel cover and make sure the the steering wheel bolt is tight.

Thanks for the tips. I may have an expensive problem based on one of the loose parts.

It seems that 1) one tie rod is bad, 2) one ball joint is bad (?) and 3) one other thing is bad. See the video below. How much play is too much?


edit: it looks like 2 & 3 are both part of the steering cylinder, and especially #3 seems like it's going to be expensive to fix ($400). Are just those ball joints replaceable? Or do I need to replace the whole cylinder?

Also in the rear I noticed 2 tie rods that are loose. It seems like the tie rod replacement is pretty straightforward and inexpensive.

Can someone verify if that steering cylinder is indeed cracked, and that the whole thing needs to be replaced?

On JD parts site, it appears that I will need to get the whole thing.

subdivisionbigdog said:

Not sure if it cracked or just a build up of dirt. I've been fooled before with pics and videos on here. There's a rubber sleeve that fits on it, so maybe pull it back some and clean the area better to tell for sure or not if it cracked. I may be the bolt is just loose or maybe needs some grease.

Click to expand...

Wow thank you! What appeared to be cracked just was indeed dirt build up at the seam. I rubbed the dirt off and things look normal.

pete504pvd said:

This is from my x540 and it may be helpful if parts need replacing.
BTW, I grease the power steering fittings twice a year.

http://www.mytractorforum.com/12-jo...lic-cylinder-boot-cracked-power-steering.html

Click to expand...

I'll take a look underneath. This is very good to know, because JD today said that it's all part of the steering cylinder, but it does look exactly like your photos.

On that part that I thought was cracked (upper video @ 0:50), does that look like too much play? I tightened that castle nut as much as I could with a long wrench, and it tightened about 1/4 turn, but the play still seems there. (maybe less? but is a little play OK there?)

And, check out the play in these tie rod ends. Does this amount of play warrant replacing them? Most of the tie rod ends have this amount of play, but the tractor has 670 hours on it, so maybe it's just time to replace them?

Ok, here's a fun illustration of the out-of-sync front & back tires that seems to be due to the play in the tie rod ends.

Since I got this thing early this summer, I've felt that after each bump, the mower has a mind of its own and seems to want to shift direction. This would make sense if there is indeed play in the linkages between the front & back wheels as shown below.

Interesting finding: My 2006 x534 has "ball joints" and the 2007-current has "tie rod ends" according to the JD Parts page based on my serial number 01xxxx (2006 models are 010001-020000)

Would it be safe to assume that tie-rod ends are an upgrade here? (surely they changed for some reason) If I'm swapping out this whole assembly, should I use tie-rod ends instead?

Did you ever figure it out?
The 2007 and later models use larger diameter rods and joints (14mm vs 12mm) but I believe they fit in the same size holes (12mm).

I was going to replace mine, but I wasn't convinced the play really was too much. What I did was increase the toe-in on the rear wheels. That made it much more stable going straight, but still allows it to turn very quickly when I want.