JD L130 steering

My brother in law has a JD L130 lawn tractor that the front wheels are so towed out in the front that he can't mow with it. Asked that I take a look at it and I couldn't really see where anything was really bent. Got on the internet and googled it and found out that he isn't the only one with this problem. Found out JD has some new steering rods that has a adjustable end on one end of the rod (the originals are not adjustable) so he got a new pair and we put them on. Well to get the front wheels to come back to being inline we had to turn the adjustable end all the way in to make it as short as it would go and it still wasn't enough, so we had to take the lock nut off until we bottomed it out which is just barely enough. Now it turns easy and doesn't scalp the lawn but in lock to lock turns the front tires will hit the steering rods before the steering stops hit. Does anyone know of a rubber sleeve that can be put over the steering stops? Or have a better idea. When they made the new steering rods they should have made them shorter so the adjustment was more favorable to shortening and not lengthening to cure the problem. My old CC 129 has never had this problem. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks...Fred

Why not take aa measurement & cut the rod& then weld it back together. for the right measurement.

They haven't made those in several years. Did he grease the front wheel spindles? If he didn't do it regularly, he probably wore out the bushings in it. How many hours are on the tractor?

Yes he had been greasing the spindles and replaced the bushings even though there was hardly and slop in them because that is what the dealer suggested. This thing was really splayed out, so bad when you did turn it would really tear up the lawn let alone being very hard to steer. JD must know there is a problem because they now offer the new rods with a adjustable end on them. My complaint is they should have put all the adjustment to shortening of the rod. Also as mentioned in my original post the steering stops are not effective in stopping the wheels from hitting the rods when turning as sharp as you can. Was wondering if anyone knew of something that could be slipped over the steering stops to make them hit sooner. Thanks for the reply...Fred

Can you bend the stops in a little ?

I used a long pipe to bend in the stops on my STX38 which, despite being thick, bend easily.