My Craftsman self-propelled lawn Mower (917.377592) began experiencing the front wheel shipping condition prevalent in these and many other models. I read numerous posts here and elsewhere, and began to rule out the usual suspects.

Belts, cable, and engagement level are all functioning properly, so I removed the wheels to see if the teeth were worn smooth. They were still in good shape, but it turned out the pinion on the right was not clamped to the axle. The E-ring was missing, and the pinion was just slid onto the axle. It appears to move left to right as the mower is pushed, causing it to engage with the teeth intermittently.

I got excited and thought that all I needed to do was secure the pinion to the axle with a new E-ring and I would be finished, but the problem is that the axle isn't extending out far enough to clear the pinion and attach the E-ring. I guess over time the gear case and axle assembly worked itself to the left side of the mower, and the e-ring was displaced in the process.

I can grab the gear case and pull it back to the left only so far, which is still not enough to have the axle clear the pinion. Also, it doesn't appear as though I can move the axle through the gear case.

Has anyone seen this before, or can anyone indicate how to move the axle along the gear case so that it can be "re-centered?"