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My wife decided to help me mow the lawn as I was recovering from knee injury and in the process she hit a tree as she tried to turn. Now one front wheel is straight and the other one is bent outwards. I am trying to figure out a solution and how to determine which side is bent because when you turn the wheel to the left, the right wheel is straight and the left wheel is facing outwards. When you turn the wheel to the right, the left wheel looks straight and the right wheel is facing outwards. She cannot recall which side she hit and it is extremely difficult to drive forward as one wheel will be facing outwards. I have removed both front tires and cannot figure which one is the bent one. Anyone seen this happen before. My rider is a Poulan Pro Riding mower model # PP19A42

Thanls
Eddie

https://www.poulanpro.com/us/support/owners-manuals/

You may have a bent spindle assembly or other steering component, items 4 & 5 in illustrated parts list. just type in PP19A42 in above Poulan site then click on parts then pdf file at right.

Thank you very much for the reply. I ordered the parts for both Spindles and the knots and washers and hopefully it will fix the problem once I replace them. Waiting on the parts to come in. I will update the thread. Thanks again.

I purchased both spindle arms together with all the washers, bolts etc and also both draglinks and still not able to get the front wheels align straight. This has taken months and I have run out of ideas. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated. Spent a lot of $$$ on parts and yet the front wheels are still not straight. Is there any adjustments that need to be made? Thanks for any advice and help.

The problem could be the front axle not being straight, or possibly leaning in the frame pivot. I have even seen cases where the frame flexed due to stress causing steering issues. I hate the new two arm drag link type systems due to this very issue, and it isn't limited to one brand. The reasoning behind it is they can make them turn shorter.

Well there is one way to get this straighten out but you may not like it. The draglinks will either need straightening or bent more. This can be either the short ones or the longer ones. This will require a hydraulic press and multiple fittings plus most times both sides will need done. It is the only option once new parts don't correct the problem. A lot of these mowers along the Craftsman and Husqvarna versions came from the factory with this problem. Just gets worst with use.

If remember correctly the last one I did was bending them more to get the toe out problem fix.

Normal wear and tear usually causes toe out along with hitting bumps that kick the front tires outward, and hitting stuff with the side of the front tires causes toe in.

Because I can not get after market drag links, I cut the one where the wheel is pointing out at a convienant place and thread both ends.
Then using a thing called a joining sleeve I bolt them back together and lengthen the rod till the wheel is strait.

It s a very common problem particularly with pressed metal front cross members .

Remove the affected tire(s), put a large pipe wrench on the tab where the link bolts on, slide a pipe over the axle (floor jack handle works), then bend the two tools towards or away from each other depending on toe out or toe in, respectively.

Interesting
I am yet to see one where the arm has bent
All of the ones I have done the drag link itself has bent
So we fix a bad part by bending a good part ?

bertsmobile1 said:

Interesting
I am yet to see one where the arm has bent
All of the ones I have done the drag link itself has bent
So we fix a bad part by bending a good part ?

Click to expand...

Hmmm. I had one late last year where both front spindles were bent nearly u shape and the front axle twisted. Just don't know if it was the falling off the back of pickup while going down the highway had anything to do with it or not. Axle was available but spindles weren't. Just told go buy another used mower.

bertsmobile1 said:

Interesting
I am yet to see one where the arm has bent
All of the ones I have done the drag link itself has bent
So we fix a bad part by bending a good part ?

Click to expand...

If it works...yes. It's a fast & free fix which doesn't require a welder, angle grinder, bench vise, tap & dies, etc. A lot of people don't have specialty tools, but a pipe & a big pipe wrench are pretty common. If you have the time, money, & knowledge to do a professional job then knock yourself out. The rest of us are happy with a fast & cheap fix that works & requires minimal tools.

judbgrdmchn said:

If it works...yes. It's a fast & free fix which doesn't require a welder, angle grinder, bench vise, tap & dies, etc. A lot of people don't have specialty tools, but a pipe & a big pipe wrench are pretty common. If you have the time, money, & knowledge to do a professional job then knock yourself out. The rest of us are happy with a fast & cheap fix that works & requires minimal tools.

Click to expand...

The problem comes if the "fix" weakens the parts to the point they bend worse and it becomes a warranty repair at cost to me
Fine if it is your mower and you drive it remembering that you could have weakened the steering
And it costs nothing but time to remove the drag links then bend / straiten them using the said same tools
The arm is welded to the king pin
Welds are nothing more than a casting ( people often forget that ) and castings are by nature brittle which is one reason why welds fail .
So no not a good idea and goes in the pile of "Redneck bodges "
A new drag link is $ 65 down here
A new front axel unit is $ 295 and for some models NLA so that makes it a no brainer