SLT1554 Steering Repair

Merlin2014 · #1 04-18-2016, 12:51 PM

What is the most practical way of replacing the ring (big) steering gear on the SLT1554. I have replaced the pinion gear, and the bearing-hex flange, before but as of yet have not figured out how to get to the bolts for the ring gear. Is there a trick to it, or maybe a special tool, or is it just a matter of disassembling half the mower? Thanks in advance for everyone's assistance. Maurice

Sam Mac · #2 04-18-2016, 01:36 PM

I've never worked on one but it looks like you get to as you said take 1/2 the mower apart.

Merlin2014 · #3 04-19-2016, 07:58 AM

Thanks for the reply Sam-Mac it definitely looks like a complicated repair to me. I was hoping someone on the board had actually made that repair and had some insight into a method other than disassembling the entire mower. Thanks,

Sam Mac · #4 04-19-2016, 10:32 AM

Like I said I've never worked on one but it looks like the whole steering assembly comes out from the bottom. Pull the deck, steering wheel and unbolt the plate that holds the steering from the frame. I could be wrong. The part you want to replace looks like it is only held in place by two 3/8" bolts.

Crimsonred04GT · #5 04-24-2016, 10:00 PM

I have actually done this repair in the past due to mowing my mole invested back field with my SLT1554. It isn't too bad to do and you don't have to take half the mower apart. Only about 1/4....

Only kidding. Once you undo the tie rod ends and remove the cheap, crappy nylon bushings which almost always wear out after one or two seasons if you have a rough area to mow, you can then undo the hex nut. The steering shaft and steering wheel will just push up out of the steering gear plate. Item # 20 will almost certainly need replaced as well since it is your bronze bushing and they wear out as well. The last thing you'll most probably need to undo is the entire plate the shaft goes through and everything connects to. The two bolts on the left side and two on the right side. I don't recall if I just removed two at the front end and loosened the other two and tilted it down or if I removed them completely. I believe this should get everything to where you can replace all your worn parts. It has been a few years since I did this particular job but it's not too bad once you get in to it. Hardest part for me was getting it all aligned so it turned evenly left & right again with the steering wheel centered. Hope all this helps.

Merlin2014 · #6 04-26-2016, 07:14 AM

Thanks to everyone for their insight with this repair. Yesterday I decided to just go for it and dropped the deck, lifted the front of the mower up and began the process to getting to the two bolts that hold the big steering gear in place. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I had envisioned. It was a somewhat tedious process to keep a wrench on the bolt/nut on the top side of that plate but after removing the PTO I found I could get that accomplished without unbolting the plate. So I was able to replace both gears, the two bushing on the big gear, the nylon bushing for the tie rods, and the bushing on the lower end of the steering shaft which was badly worn. The whole process only took a couple hours and it all went so well that I was surprised (pleasantly so) at just how well it went. It went so much better than I had expected that I have been bothered ever since I got it all back together that I must have forgotten to do something. Anyone else here ever get that feeling? Anyway, it steers as smooth and tight now as it use to a long time ago. Needless to say I'm very pleased with the outcome. Thanks again to everyone for their assistance.

Sam Mac · #7 04-26-2016, 08:14 AM

Thanks for the update.

Crimsonred04GT · #8 04-27-2016, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merlin2014

Thanks to everyone for their insight with this repair. Yesterday I decided to just go for it and dropped the deck, lifted the front of the mower up and began the process to getting to the two bolts that hold the big steering gear in place. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I had envisioned. It was a somewhat tedious process to keep a wrench on the bolt/nut on the top side of that plate but after removing the PTO I found I could get that accomplished without unbolting the plate. So I was able to replace both gears, the two bushing on the big gear, the nylon bushing for the tie rods, and the bushing on the lower end of the steering shaft which was badly worn. The whole process only took a couple hours and it all went so well that I was surprised (pleasantly so) at just how well it went. It went so much better than I had expected that I have been bothered ever since I got it all back together that I must have forgotten to do something. Anyone else here ever get that feeling? Anyway, it steers as smooth and tight now as it use to a long time ago. Needless to say I'm very pleased with the outcome. Thanks again to everyone for their assistance.

Glad to hear it went well and everything is working well. I didn't recall it being too much of a hassle when I did mine other than the alignment issue. Mostly noticed it when I backed up. I had the pleasure of ordering new nylon bushings again the other night for mine. They don't hold up well due to mowing my back field.

Merlin2014 · #9 04-28-2016, 08:28 PM

Crimsonred how many sets of front wheel bearing flange have you gone through? I've replaced mine several times and this last set I grease almost every time I use the mower and they are already showing wear. I noticed earlier this week when I lifted it to do the steering gears that the front tires wobbled some as the weight was being lifted off of them.

Crimsonred04GT · #10 04-29-2016, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merlin2014

Crimsonred how many sets of front wheel bearing flange have you gone through? I've replaced mine several times and this last set I grease almost every time I use the mower and they are already showing wear. I noticed earlier this week when I lifted it to do the steering gears that the front tires wobbled some as the weight was being lifted off of them.

None yet but I haven't really inspected them to see what shape they are in this year. I've ordered two new sets of nylon bushings for my tie rods again this past week. Steering linkage bushings are always my issue. Going to try to see if I can come up with a set of bronze ones that will work instead of the cheap nylon ones. Will take a look at the steering flanges early next week and see what shape they are. I'll get back with you and list what I find. I did manage to change oil & filter last night along with cleaned the underside of the deck then installed new Extreme blades. Attached a couple photos showing the blades and my workhorse SLT1554.