# Sears Professional Series 54 steering arms bend



## donwollum (Sep 29, 2015)

Has anyone experienced extreme tow out of front wheel alignment? My tractor needed 2 right side steering arms replaced to correct severe tow out conditions before I could get both wheels straight ahead. How bend happens is when front wheels turned over 30 degrees already ( rounding a tree) encounter exposed tree root, the front wheel gets caught by root, the little tire radius has no ability to hold 30 degrees, the little front wheel does not climb over the limb at 30 degrees, so with the forward momentum, the little wheel that is now pinned against the 4 inch tall root, flops fully over to 90 degrees. ( there is no limit stop out at axel/kingpin ). 
The only limit in the steering system, is in the fan shaped and saw toothed steering ring gear. So when the steering ring gear get turned too far, it is stopped by pegs with nylon covers riding in semi circular slots in the ring gear, one stop on either side . When the little wheel is wedged against a root, The steering link is then pulled longer ( the few bends as it was designed to clear belts, etc). after 2 occurrences of front wheel turning to 90 degrees, and replacing 2 $45.00 parts, I took a flat piece of steel, 1"x3", drilled 2 holes 1.5 inches apart, then put the distance correction piece out front in between where track arm swivel and steering idler arm meet. A bigger wheel, and/or a kingpin steering movement limit peg needs to be added. This has to be a product design defect for many tight turn convention riding mowers like this Sears Professional series. Replies/ideas welcome. Don


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