Repairs Steering problem for craftsman 917.257720

[hotdogstick]

my tractor 917.257720 steers more to the left than the right. Is this normal? Most of the time when I go straight then left I can feel something hit under my left foot and the steering jams for a second. There is a fair amount of play in the steering too. Any comments would be handy. THANX

 

[Gearjammer]

Check the gear at the end of the steering post. If its all chewed up, it may have jumped a few teeth. Gearjammer

 

[HughDaHand]

my tractor 917.257720 steers more to the left than the right. Is this normal? Most of the time when I go straight then left I can feel something hit under my left foot and the steering jams for a second. There is a fair amount of play in the steering too. Any comments would be handy. THANX

It is normal for it to turn a little more to the left than the right. I think that is because of the deck discharge being on the right.

I just fixed this problem on my gt6000 a few years ago.The sloppy steering was caused by worn out bushings on the sector gear and steering shaft. Due to the design of the steering on these when you turn left the sector gear gets pulled away from the gear on the bottom of the steering shaft, while turning right pushes them together. This it what causes the steering to lock up when turning left as you have just enough play to ALMOST let the teeth jump, at least in my case. The first time this happened to mine I let it get so bad that both steering gears had to be replaced along with the support that they bolt into. I now have a regular schedule for replacing the bushings.