Hard steering 124
 

Hi, the steering on my 124 has gotten so tight I can hardly turn the wheel. Greased the box up this evening and it helped some, also greased the front end. Any suggestions?

Cam follower pin could be bad/warped-

If you disconnect the link from the steering box to the front axle and it's still hard to turn the wheel then you know the box is the problem.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...1.gif~original Process of elimination to isolate the problem :beerchug:

Dried grease doesn't help them either.

Sometimes the spindles will take grease but still be tight. I like to take everything apart, clean out the old grease (good time to check for wear) and re-assemble with new. Harder to do since the drag link likely still has a roll pin but you can start with the right side and see how bad it is.

Cleaning out the steering box is a good idea too, just harder to do. If you decide to take the box out and go to remove the wheel use the search on how to remove it before beating on the threads and ruining it. Also check the cam plate for warpage while it's apart.

Sounds like it's time for a rebuild.
When your finished, it'll be just like new again...:beerchug:

Tires super low to the point of almost being flat???

Guys, thanks for helpful info. Ended up being the left knuckle locked up. Steering gear moves smooth as silk as well as right knuckle. Got it beat down a little with a pickle fork got it soaking in kroil now. Glad it wasn't the gear wasn't looking forward to that project with the limited time I am home

Wow thought this was going to be a walk in the park but that knuckle doesn't want to come out. Got it down about an inch. Thinking about taking axle out and taking it to get pressed out

I have used an air hammer with a rounded point "chisel".

Drop a couple of 3/8" grade 8 nuts in the bore and put the point of the chisel in the nut so the chisel doesn't wonder to the edge of the spindle and mushroom it out and so the chisel doesn't beat the spiral pin hole flat.

You also may need to put a LONG pipe on the spindle and have someone turn it back and forth while "chiseling".

Good luck, they can be a challenge.

I had a similar thing happen; I rebuilt the steering column and couldn’t figure out why it got progressively harder to turn. I unhooked the drag link to find out the left knuckle was real hard to turn. I had to do as Yosemite Sam suggested, put a pipe on it and worked it back and forth while someone sprayed it with Kroil and tapped with a brass hammer. It eventually dropped out. I had greased the zerks but apparently some old grease decided to harden and bind.



Good luck,

Thanks for replies. What I ended up doing is taking the axle out and taking to my buddies press. Was a real bear. Wish would have done it some ways suggested but oh well. Had to rob the spindle from the 126 just to get me by (ruined original) that came out in about 5 mins. Put anti seize on everything

If the spindle was that tight, it wore down the pin in the steering box.

Unscrew that pin (1/2" diameter), reshape it with a grinder to eliminate the "flats"
put it back together.

1/2 or more of the remaining steering play will be GONE!! :biggrin2:

Easy-Peasy,, well worth the little time needed to do