# Hard steering



## Donnyg (2 mo ago)

Hi All. Just got a ym220d a while ago. I've notced that it steers hard. Thought i probably had a worn steering box so i removed it for rebuild and it appears to be in pretty good shape internally. Someone has had it apart before and instead of using the gasket shims they stacked metal shims behind the upper bearing race. i removed one and could turn the steering shaft easily by hand with no slop. Put it all back together and still have hard steering. Front wheels were towing in about 1/2 inch so adjusted to neutral and no change is steering. I've got other manual steer tractors that steer much easier. Is this just the nature of the beast? I can steer it to stops in both directions but I have to 2 hand it. I do have a loader on it so it has some weight on the front end. Took the bucket off but it did not seem to make a difference.


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## winston (Aug 19, 2008)

Have you seen these from Hoye? Yanmar steering shaft repair (hoyetractor.com) 

Scroll down to bottom of page here for a couple of video's on it. How-to Video Section (hoyetractor.com)


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## Donnyg (2 mo ago)

Hi Winston. Yes I have seen the videos from Hoye. Very well done and informative. I took the steering column right out and figured that i would probably be ordering a new one from them. Prior to disassembly I could not turn the steering shaft by hand . it turned rather easy with the wheel on but i did feel some resistance. I did notice the shims were not as Hoye had described so i assumed the PO had come up with stacking metal washer type shims behid the bearing race instead of using the gasket type shims the video describes. After taking one of the shims out and reassembling the column the shaft turned smoothly and easily with just the slightest amount of up down play. I figured I had solved the problem but if there was any difference at all in steering it was negligable. 
My first time ever taking one of these steering boxes apart. The worm gear was smooth and the bearing cage thing was tight and smooth and appeared to be in new condition. The bearings were good too and there was still gear oil in the housing. The only potential problem might be the bushing for the splined end of the cross shaft was slightly sloppy. I did put a new seal on and it doesn't leak.


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## winston (Aug 19, 2008)

Have you made sure your front steering components are not binding? How is the steering with the front end lifted off the ground?


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## Donnyg (2 mo ago)

winston said:


> Have you made sure your front steering components are not binding? How is the steering with the front end lifted off the ground?


It actually steers easy with the front end off the ground. All the joints are greased and move freely. I had a leaky seal on one side that I replaced. Front end had fluid in it but black . I put fresh fluid in and it does not leak anywhere now. I can steer it but it just seems harder to turn than it should be.


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## winston (Aug 19, 2008)

Sure sounds like loader weight is just the culpret. My old 2002D with loader had power steering so I have no reference to just how hard your model would be without power steering. Maybe some others with same setup will chime in.


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## Donnyg (2 mo ago)

Thanks Winston. You may be right. My Kubota l275 turns easier than this and it has a loader. But the Yanmar is a different animal. It has a beefier front end drive system than my Kubota so it may just be normal for this tractor.


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## Vigo (Oct 8, 2021)

I would suspect whatever the steering knuckles pivot on as the main culprit. Not familiar with that tractor so that might be a very involved thing to ‘inspect’ without having near certainty that you ‘need’ to take it that apart. But in general when things start to bind during rotation they often do a fast ‘stuttering’ or grabbing and releasing instead of moving smoothly. If you can have someone else work the wheel while you go and either put your hand on/near the front hubs or use a stethoscope around those areas, if you feel or hear anything while turning it would be a good clue. Other thing which you could do alone is lift only one front tire at a time, leaving that side of the axle on a jackstand with the tire barely clear of the ground and leaving the other one on the ground with a more or less normal amount of weight on it, and see which side is much harder to steer than the other. Basically only putting vertical force on one side at a time to see which side steers harder.

This is because you already know that removing the weight loading from the front end makes it steer easy. Therefore the problem is in whichever part holds the weight and turns. A lower ball joint, the thrust bearing in a kingpin setup, or i think a tapered roller bearing on the bottom side of the knuckle, depending on what kind of front end it is.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Vigo said:


> I would suspect whatever the steering knuckles pivot on as the main culprit. Not familiar with that tractor so that might be a very involved thing to ‘inspect’ without having near certainty that you ‘need’ to take it that apart. But in general when things start to bind during rotation they often do a fast ‘stuttering’ or grabbing and releasing instead of moving smoothly. If you can have someone else work the wheel while you go and either put your hand on/near the front hubs or use a stethoscope around those areas, if you feel or hear anything while turning it would be a good clue. Other thing which you could do alone is lift only one front tire at a time, leaving that side of the axle on a jackstand with the tirebarey clear of the ground and leaving the other one on the ground with a more or less normal amount of weight on it, and see which side is much harder to steer than the other. Basically only putting vertical force on one side at a time to which side steers harder.
> 
> This is because you already know that removing the weight loading from the front end makes it steer easy. Therefore the problem is in whichever part holds the weight and turns. A lower ball joint, the thrust bearing in a kingpin setup, or i think a tapered roller bearing on the bottom side of the knuckle, depending on what kind of front end it is.


Since his model ends in D, it's 4WD. YM220D.

All it takes is for a load bearing to go bad.


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## Donnyg (2 mo ago)

Yes. That's my front end. I'll have to take a closer look at that shaft bearing. I had one side apart to change the seal and didn't notice anything with no weight on it. I'll jack up the other side and see if I can detect any slop in it. It looks like it's not too hard to dismantle to get a visual on the bearings. Thanks for the suggestions.


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