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sandra1969_gw

Craftsman 917.28828

sandra1969
10 years ago

Front wheels both turn out. What causes this?

Comments (12)

  • mownie
    10 years ago

    According to the Sears website, your model number comes up as 917.288280.
    If you have one wheel that DOES NOT RESPOND when you turn the steering wheel............one of the steering "drag links" has fallen off, either at the WHEEL SPINDLE (not deck spindle) or at the Sector Gear.
    If you can navigate through the parts illustrations at the Sears Direct website you can view these items online.
    Sector gear is item # 35, left and right drag links are items # 61 & # 62, left & right wheel spindles are items # 4 & # 5.
    Good luck

  • sandra1969
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Wow. Thanks for responding. Yes, it is printed without the last 0 on the owner manual, though the repair parts manual does end in 0. Hmm

    The drag links are connected. The action is when I center the steering wheel, both front wheels turn out pretty much evenly. I imagine something is bent or out of alignment though i can't see any obvious cause. I sense if the turning assembly were pushed back the wheels might come into line and I am trying to get a handle on it so i can
    work with the man who is willing to try.
    I have been trying to find a clear diagram to use as a check of what should be.
    Thanks,
    Sandra

  • mownie
    10 years ago

    If you are looking straight at the tractor from a vantage point that places you about 10-15 feet in front of the tractor..................and you notice a very slight "toes out" orientation in the wheels.........you may be seeing the effects of a little wear at numerous points in the steering linkage parts. Each individual connection/pivot point may have a slight amount of looseness from wear. While the "free play" in each place is not much, the SUM of ALL looseness in the moving points adds up to enough lost motion for you to see.
    The points where wear may occur are: Wheel bearings or bushings, wheel spindle knuckle bushings (a.k.a. king pins), and drag link ends.
    Now, if you are actually seeing 1 wheel skid while the other wheel rotates normally in tight turns, the wear may be too severe.
    But, some other factors can also contribute to this:
    Tires over-inflated causing them to present too small a footprint for optimum traction.
    Soil/turf conditions too wet.
    Operator leaning off to one side (or the other) in sharp turns causing the tractor to become much lighter on the opposite side, which can cause the tire on the light side to skid instead of rolling.
    It is also possible that one wheel spindle has been bent BACKWARD by an impact with a substantial object.
    To investigate that you would have to remove the wheels from BOTH sides of the steering axle and compare their shapes.
    It make no difference which side is bent back, if that happens either wheel could skid in sharp turns.......depending on the direction you are turning.
    The aspect of having tires pointing outward on the front of the vehicle is called "toe out".
    "Toe in" is the opposite aspect. Vehicle of all types that utilize this genre of steering system design the steering system and configure it to have a small amount of TOE IN so that when you are driving straight forward, the rolling resistance in the tires tends to push the tires outward and they assume a nearly straight ahead (zero toe) aspect.
    Having this engineered into the system prevents the steering from having a jerky and wandering feel when driving.
    So..........if you are seeing your tires point out in front, you definitely have something wrong.
    In the other thread you hijacked you implied (or I inferred) that only 1 wheel was responding when you steered the tractor.
    I would concentrate on wheel bearings and king pin bushings as the likely suspects because typically, when drag link ends wear that much........they nearly always begin to fall off.

    This post was edited by mownie on Tue, Jun 4, 13 at 11:36

  • Joe53
    10 years ago

    I'm betting someone centered a tree or curb so hard with one tire that when she turns the steering wheel to try to find center..it appears visually that both are toed out..

    I'd guess only one draglink got hammered.

    I only know this because I ummmm had a mishap like this myself.

    (in fairness, I think my wife was yelling at me at the time)

  • tomplum
    10 years ago

    The boys are probably right with a solid hit to the front. These cast axles do tweak rearwards if hit. if you do a comparative look and see one side is bent back as opposed to the other king pin being more perpendicular to the ground- the safest bet is to order the drag link , spindle and axle on that side.

  • JohnY13
    10 years ago

    My used lawn tractor had that problem and it was the TIE ROD, which is behind the wheels and should be straight. When bent (shorter from end to end) it pulls at the back of the linkages making each wheel trun outward. 18.00 and I am good to go. See the pic of the bent and new rods attached.

  • ed1315
    10 years ago

    It is a bent tie rod like John says or a wheel hit something and bent a spindle. This is most likely as craftsman steering spindles are soft metal the good news is they dont cost much.

  • wheely_boy
    10 years ago

    I would save that and use it as a deck hanger on a Cub. Sort of looks like a stout clothes hanger.

  • ed1315
    10 years ago

    Not putting down craftsman but the steering spindles are weak along with tie rods and drag links. my new spindle should be here monday.

    Order details
    In stock items
    Part # and description Quantity Unit price Price

    161848
    RIGHT-HAND S 1 $ 19.35 $ 19.35

    193195
    PULLEY.V.IDL 1 $ 29.41 $ 29.41


    Item Total $ 48.76


    Shipping $ 10.99
    Sales tax $ 4.03
    Order Total $ 63.78

  • rcbe
    10 years ago

    No, no, no, no, no, no, roller girl... you need to keep thet for the cracked batt in yer lean green riding machine....

  • wheely_boy
    10 years ago

    rcbe,
    You are more predictable than a failed K46 hydro.

  • rcbe
    10 years ago

    Why, tnx for the constructive compliment, roller girl... surely wish you could do same in all yer posts.

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