Getting Slop Out of MTD Steering

[Robin Williams]

Robin,

I'm looking Teretonga Park, near Invercargill, on Google Earth as I write this. Thanks.

The reason I'm speaking to the wheel bushings is that there is inherit slop in your wheels contributing to the allowable amount of play in the steering wheel and all the slack from wheels, king pins, tie rods (4 of them), flat gear, pinion gear, steering shaft behind the dash. All that becomes aggregate................Thus, Clown Car Deluxe and that is not desirable to me. Probably not you.

Have fun with it.

Max

Yes you are right about the "kingpin bushings".
And if I order the bushings online, I will be getting them all at the same time, freight is a big part of the cost for us when we get items from overseas.

Glad you liked the look of Teretonga, I raced there a few weeks ago, in the WET, WET, you can see it online via You tube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOylCXvUFXw&t=460s

Go to 1 minute for the move out from the grid, 5 minutes for race start, a crash at turn 1 then we end up behind the safety car and a restart.

I have only just started racing, thought I would take it up in retirement to give me a new challenge and a new hobby.
Racing again this coming weekend at Teretonga.

The whole area out there, once you are over the bridge is a recreational area,
All the sports you mention, and heaps more.
Powerboats on the river, canoeing, shooting, horseriding, Jet sprinting, mountain bike rides, rugby, the list goes on and on.
The only commercial enterprises are the Cabbage Tree, and the camping ground, houses can not be built there, but there are a few "beach houses" further out that got there before the council made the rules.
All the land is leasehold, and so far any attempts to freehold it have failed.
Long may it continue, otherwise the lifestylers who want to build there will mess it up with their penchant for changing the rules after theyget there.

That has happened all too often in NZ, and in particular around race tracks of various kinds.
Western Springs, Ruapuna, Levels, are just some, of course one of our iconic tracks is Manfield, in Feilding where the NZ Grand Prix will be held this afternoon, the final meeting for our TRS season.

We were involved in that in a small way in 2014.
But now we are concentrating on F1600/Formula Ford is the old name.

Enjoy the video.

 

[Robin Williams]

Just ordered the parts you guys have given me the links to.

Fingers crossed I got it right, will look forward to getting this old Ride on a bit more ship shape!
I really quite like it.

Fixed the transaxle mounts last week, they were a mess and the transaxle was all out of alignment, causing the drive belt to jump off.

Now I will be able to order and fit the proper belts instead of the "B" v belts I have been using.

Next is to get he blade brakes working properly, and a nice shiny paint job to go with nice shiny paint job I did on the bonnet.

 

[Robin Williams]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PINION-GEAR...552898?hash=item43e4ddd842:g:0o0AAOSw9mFWNJmP

Mmm, not sure about this part fitting my White.
The seller was not able to be contacted prior to purchase, so after purchase, (and dispatch, which happened quickly), I made contact with the seller to confirm it was the right part.

He tells me it will not fit, and that I need White Outdoors 717-1700.
I can not find a listing this item, and the seller does not stock it.

Maybe he is wrong and you guys are right and this part he tells me will not fit, will fit.
I will wait and see, in the interim, I am about to make my own modifications.

Robin

 

[Ronno6]

Those parts fit my MTD; not sure about yours.....

 

[mhavanti]

I was told it wouldn't fit mine either. However, it is on mine and working fine. Hopefully it will take care of yours without modifications.

 

[Robin Williams]

I was told it wouldn't fit mine either. However, it is on mine and working fine. Hopefully it will take care of yours without modifications.

Fingers crossed, it will do the job for me too.
I thought I had a photo of the gear. but when I looked it was not there!
However, My gear is not straight cut, (as the one I bought appears to be)
but has a spiral shape, it can not be reversed as there is only one threaded end.

However, the plastic bush was kind of oval, so I cut a plastic shim and pushed it in around the inside of the bush.
Then pushed it on to the gear, it is tight, I thought too tight, took it off, put some lubricant on it and forced it on again.

Refitted it, and fitted the sprockets, the centre bolt was quite loose, it is tight now!

Voila, hey presto,

all seems so good for now, no slop like before, does not wander like it used to, I can only imagine what it will be like when I replace the kingpin bushes, and get a proper bush for the steering and a new gear.

During winter I may make a new insert for the bush to make it like new, not oval!
That is if I can not get the correct bits, but I will have a hunt.
Perhaps go back to Shanks.

Robin

 

[mhavanti]

Glad you have made good progress. Keep us all informed.

 

[Robin Williams]

Good service from the Ebay supplier that you guys supplied the the link to.
Thank you.

Kingpin bushes put in today, not slop in the Kingpins now, it changed the toe out with no other alteration.
Now it does not wander like before.

The gear I ordered will not work, so it is for resale if anyone wants it. It is straight cut, mine is curved.

Now I need to replace the front wheel bushes, but they only have a little bit of slop.
Next job, is to take one of the top King pin bushes and put my "sleeve" in it for the steering gear bush.
Should make it even better.
I need to figure exactly where to place the gear so the most worn teeth get the least wear, about 2 of the teeth have more wear than the rest.

A few of my "chassis rails" has realigned the trans axle not the pulleys run on the same plane, the whole unit runs more quietly now.

I am happy.

Now to see if I can source a new steering gear.

For those interested:
I posted another video of motor racing, in the dry!

 

[mhavanti]

Robin,

Glad to hear the changes are bringing the old loved one back to life once again. I had to make a slight change to my old YardMan the other day after my lock nuts had backed off from the alterations made several years ago. While apart to check the teeth on the flat gear and being loose had caused excessive wear on my steering column gear. I pulled the gear, rotated it 180 degrees, as well as flipping it down for up or in other words, flipped it upside down.

The plastic used to remove the space between the flat gear and the flat gear retainer was replaced for a new piece and this time I didn't make it quite as thick. The little ole YM now has a very smooth turn once again, and the best part, the lovely bride noticed it is back to the one hour slack in the wheel which is less than the quarter turn it had when new in '96. I checked the cola bottle shims in the spindles and lost one. I'll have to replace it although it isn't noticeable that badly.

I apologize about the shaft gear as the photos I cam up with on my end shows the same gear I'm running which is straight. I'll see about helping you find the twist gear.

Max

 

[Robin Williams]

I have been hunting, but Shanks say it is no longer available.
As does the MTD website.

I am having a think about how I can "refurbish" the gear.
I will take it out tomorrow and take it to an engineer friend.
It may be able to be metal sprayed not sure.
It would be quite tricky to get a new one made, and expensive I guess.

I can only keep hunting in the hope of finding new "old stock".
Sometimes I have been lucky with car parts.



You can see my gear, sitting in the bush.
It is spiral, and has a bolt that screws up the centre of the spigot that is in the bush.
Beside my "worn" gear, is the one I ordered in error.
You can see the "wear" in the gear of mine.
I may be able to "reposition" it slightly with some washers and spacers, but sadly I suspect not enough to be entirely happy with it.