1948 B John Deere slack in my steering...need advice

pugsy

Member
Is their anywhere I can buy a new steering shaft gear and the half moon steering sector gear that goes with it? I have a bunch of slack in my steering. Bearings seem fine. When you travel down the highway the narrow front end goes back and fourth rapidly wearing out the tires. I have jacked up the front end and I can move the tires right and left about 2 inches both ways and the slack seems to show up between the worm gear and the steering sector gear at the top. Letting some of the air in one tire out helps, but that just wears out tires quickly and is not a fix. 1948 John Deere styled B. I also tightened the nut that holds down the half moon gear very tight...no slack there. Tightened the bearing cap at the end of the steering shaft. It makes the steering wheel harder to turn, but still leaves the slack in the steering. Mechanic said half moon gear had a key in it, but it seemed just fine, gear not loose on shaft. All looseness seems to be where spiral gear and half moon gear meet. Please help...tore apart now.
 
In the steering pedestal there are eccentric bushings that can be rotated to bring the 1/2 gear closer to the worm . maybe someone can post that proceedure...
 
I don't think that excentric bushing is available from deere anymore. The wear is usually in the center teeth of the gear. It's a simple procedure to adjust it but when U do the steering will be tight at the end of the stroke. The bushing is probably ok. I think your best bet is to find a better segment gear than the one that U have either from a tractor grave yard or maybe from one of the advertisers in green magazine.
 
Take the nose/medallion off, take the steering gear cover off & scoop out the goo.

Under the sector gear opposite the worm you should see underneath the sector gear a round ring with notches in it going around the vertical steering shaft. That is the top flange of a big bushing that has a hole in it that is off center. The "eccentric bushing" someone else mentioned. You may have to turn the wheels one way or the other to find it but one of those notches has a big Fillister head screw in it that keeps the bushing from rotating with the wheels as you steer. If you remove that screw and rotate the eccentric bushing under the sector to another notch, it will change the lash between the worm & the sector gear. Rotate it so there is less lash by making it move the vertical shaft towards the worm. Once you make an adjustment, TEST it from stop to stop. You MAY find a point where it is still loose when the wheels are straight but it binds up near the extreme left or right stops! You don't want to find that out while moving!

One other item to check... is the horizontal center of the sector gear in line with the center of the worm? That is..... looking in the front of the gearbox there should be the same amount of tooth on the sector BELOW the center of the worm as there is above. This is an indicator of wear in the lower pedestal bearing. This is not a real critical dimension but if your sector gear is so high the bottom of the teeth are in line with the center of the worm and the castle nut & cotter are grinding on the sheet metal cover... that's a problem in the lower pedestal thrust bearing!

Beyond this adjustment and/or new parts, about all you can do is keep the pressure up in the left front and let the right front be a bit low. That lets gravity push the sector over towards the worm.

Hope that helps.
 
thank you very much. I will take off that steering gear and look for that bushing beneath it.
 
Man... thanks so much! You really broke down the procedure for me. I appreciate it. I have some hope again of helping it. I can't wait to get into it. Does that sector gear have a key in it, or is it splined?
 
Hey buckeye al. I saw the shim and the adjustment screw. I put the widest part of the shim toward the worm gear. It was in the 3rd hole from the bottom on the right side of the adjustment. I moved it to the very bottom hole on the right of the shim. Was that the right thing to do? It did make a little difference, but you still turn the worm gear some before it makes the sector gear turn. I really didn't see a lot of wear on the sector gear teeth.
 
one other thing, I have the 5.5 x 16 tires. How much air would you put in the left tire and how much in the right tire. That is sitting in the seat looking forward to determine left from right.
 
Putting the thick side of the eccentric bushing towards the worm pushes the sector gear AWAY from the worm doesn't it?

I'd have to look at it to be sure but isn't when the thick wall of the eccentric bushing is away from the worm when the sector gear is pushed closest to the worm? I could be misunderstanding you but sounds to me like you have given it all the play possible instead of tightening it up.

I don't understand your mention of 3rd hole from the bottom. You should be up above the tractor looking straight down into the steering gear chamber. I've had days when I didn't know up from down. This may be one of 'em!
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top