Streering out of alignment -TO30

I was mowing with my TO30 yesterday. Hit a small depression with the left wheel that slightly wrenched the steering wheel in my hand. Nothing that seemed even remotely forceful.

It knocked the right and left wheel out of alignment. But I cannot figure out where.

I thought maybe it stripped the key between the spindle and the spindle arm. Nope.

I thought it put the steering sectors out of alignment. Not that I can tell.

Then I thought it somehow wrenched the spindle itself and turned the shaft in relation to the wheel mount portion. But it seems OK and there is no visible/noticeable sign of damage.

Somewhere I'm missing something.

1) both sector arms are parallel and point toward the foot rest mount which I believe is their proper orientation.

2) the drag links don't appear bent and the tie rod ends don't appear changed. They end roughly above the end of the radius rod, which I think is where they were before.

3) But in this position the the right wheel point straight ahead (properly) and the left wheel is cocked right.

Could the spindle be bent without it being noticeable? The keyway is not in line with the wheel axle (which the manual says they are not supposed to be). Anyone know the angle? Should the left and right be the same angle (but opposite)? One appears to be roughly 70 degrees, the other 65, which is suspicious to me. But like I said I cannot see evidence of damage.

How is the spindle constructed? Could the shaft rotate in the bottom portion?

Steering seemed "strong" while driving it back to the shop. i.e. I could turn the steering wheel and the front wheel turned accordingly even when applying lots of force. So whatever happened didn't result in anything being noticeably loose in use.

I'm probably missing something obvious.

Thanks.

OK, so maybe I am going crazy.

I put it all back together so it was "workable" while I thought it over some more. When it was reassembled it was pretty much back in alignment.

So, I looked it over again.

I now think the key between the spindle and spindle arm was indeed the problem. The key looked fine when I cleaned it up so I had initially rejected that as the source of the problem. But... I now note it didn't have a proper key it in (blame a previous owner, not me) and after looking carefully it is well undersized. (I didn't notice at first, as everything was covered in grease.) So, when forced the spindle and spindle arm can rotate several degrees since the key is not large enough to hold them in alignment.

I guess look twice before writing is the lesson.

And I need to get a proper key in there now. At least I didn't need to order another spindle.

That is strange, sound like you've covered all the bases.

I would think the position of the keys on the spindles would be mirror images. I'v never seen one bend or
twist, but have seen them break. Might want to pull that hub, wipe the grease, look the spindle over for
cracks. However, if it has an aftermarket spindle, bending could be a possibility.

Usually the weak point is the teeth on the pitman gears. It can break off a tooth, but then it is obvious,
the arms will be off, and you'll feel the crunch and pop.

I would jack up the front wheels off the ground at center of the tractor under the axle pivot point,
The axle may be worn bad or broken at the pivot point, you also may have broken the bolts that connect the side axle support arms
May not be the correct term (support bracket from in front of your foot out to the axle,

On my TO35 I have had to replace the large steel bolts that go through the connection to the axle, have also replaced the pivot point bearing
sleeve,

If the wheels are now toed out , you bent something, may need to get a buddy to look at it with you,

I have had to do that over the years,
You do not see the problem, another walks up and spies the broken or bent part right off,
Hope it's not a busted steering gear box, they are not cheap,

Note to file: read your manual before you start tighten up the gear mesh in that steering gear box, most are worn in the center ( wheels pointed
straight ahead) but tight at full turn, you can only tighten the gears up based on full turn, must have some play left or you will bust the gear box,

Let us know what you find!