Hey all, I have a a Craftsman 17.5 Lawn Tractor Model #917.28803 and the steering is not what it should be. As far as use of the tractor goes this is more of an annoyance than something critical as I can still mow the lawn with it, but at the same time I would like to figure out what the problem is and get it fixed before it leads to other problems. My problem is that when I drive straight both wheels are angled slightly to the outside (the left one isn't too bad but the right side is noticeable worse). When I try to turn it doesn't turn nearly as quickly as it did before (the wheels are still out of sync - one will be turned more than the other). Instead of being able to mow around bigger trees with the steering held all the way to one side I now have to use more of a 3 point turn method to mow around big trees. I assume the wheels aren't aligned correctly but I don't know that much about my tractor yet and don't know exactly where to start in assessing the problem. Thanks for your time.
#2
reynoldston
On some mowers the steering linkage is adjustable but I don't think so on yours. It sound to me like maybe you might have bent one of the spindles? Drive the mower straight ahead and when you stop, measure the front and then the rear of the front wheels distance apart and the measurement should be close to the same.
Have you hooked your wheel in anyway? It is possble you have bent one of you tie rods. I am not familiar with your model, but I would look for anything that looks bent. It may be something simple.
I had to totally rebuild my front end of my Craftsman mower. If I remember, I'll post some pics. My axle wasn't vertical anymore. Steering was hard and it turned tighter one direction than the other.
OP.....check out the support for your front axle. Mine was broken.
Thanks all for the helpful advice. Sorry for the delayed response - had some issues with good ol' computer that took longer to fix than I thought it would. My big question now is if something is bent should it be fairly obvious that it's bent. Earlier in the summer I looked at front wheels and some of the steering components (granted it wasn't an in depth look - more the kind of look to see if anything was blatantly wrong with wheels/steering) and everything looked ok then but I am going to take a closer look this weekend.
@fastback-yes I have hooked the wheels a couple of different times and it wouldn't surprise me if something had bent/broken from that. Hopefully that's all it is.
Again thanks for all your time and helpful advice.
I also have a steering problem with my craftsman 917.276020.it will only turn right,when I turn left the steering wheel tries to lock up.it feels like the problem is right in the column.i replaced the "gear sector steering" and the "draglink Vgt", but it's pretty much the same.
