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The steering tube separated from the box that I'm working on. What are you using or doing to reunite the two? It is a pretty loose fit. I thought about JB. Any suggestions. Thanks. Lance

on a couple of mine I have opened the tube back wide enough so it is a tight fit back in to the box

an exhaust pipe stretcher works good or just some round stock and a hammer

Some guys use JB Weld or you could use 2 part epoxy . The key is to get the steering tube and box grease free and clean to make a solid bond .

I cleaned all the grease off both parts and roughed them up with some sandpaper. I've got some JB. I think I'll try to get the fit tighter before I join them. When I removed it there was some silicone around the joint. I don't know, but it may have been apart before as one of the ball bearings was missing. Just waiting for the new parts to reassemble. Thanks much. Lance

Got my new steering parts installed and used some JB to reattach the tube to the box. Pretty happy with results when I installed it on my 108. The stud was worn some so I got about a third of a turn in which put the not so worn sides in touch with the grooves on shaft. Got to test it pulling the kiddie train at the town family day on Saturday. the kids didn't want ride the carts they wanted to drive the tractor, imagine that. Lance

Hi all,

So I found myself having to rebuild one steering column from parts from three columns. Turns out I have three different lengths, and only one length was appropriate. OK, that means I have to use that steering shaft and tube. Fortunately, shaft was salvageable, with good splines and minor thread damage at the top.

Unfortunately, the housing was in bad shape internally; some bearings got loose and did some serious rubbing on the aluminium housing... (Could only see that after a fair amount of time cleaning the part, of course!) No problem, I have two other housings; one happens to be loose from its tube. Now to remove the tube of the appropriate length from its bad housing. Err; not going to happen!! (Without wrecking it.) So, search this forum and and auto parts stores with caliper in hand...

Turns out that the best option for me was to get 1.5" EMT tube (galvanised metal ridged electrical conduit) at Home Depot. Only had to shave the OD slightly at one end to fit it into the housing, and, a 3/4" ID flanged wheel bearing presses in perfectly for the top of the steering shaft! Since I don't have a lathe, I used the bench grinder to shave the OD of the tube until I got a tight fit into the housing.

I decided to make the steering tube removable, even though I have no plans to do so. I did that by putting anti-seize in the bottom half of the housing and RTV clear silicone on the top half of the tube. Hence, when I press tube into housing, the anti-seize should help with galvanic corrosion, and the RTV at the top should keep moisture out. Won't know if it's a good idea until the day that I hafta disassemble...

As you'll see in the attached pics, the steering column mounts a bit at an angle in the tractor... Not overly surprised; this tractor is being built from two different models; not worried about it at this point.

The 'Super Steer' bearing is not available in my province, and I felt ordering from USA was too expensive. So, the local bearing house suggested a 'needle thrust washer bearing', which I used, but forgot to take a pic of the part. Pretty inexpensive part. It's roughly the thickness of a thick washer. In one of the included pics, you can count three washers; the middle one is actually a bearing. Put one on the other side as well. Very happy with the end result; I can steer with finger.

Cheers,

Nice job Ben!

Good work, Ben!

Thanks; I hope my findings will help somebody else in the future with a steering tube replacement, and wanting a bearing at the top of the steering shaft...

I clean them up really good then rough them up with 80 grit sandpaper. I use red (high strength) thread locker to hold them in.
If I need to replace the tube, 1-1/2" exhaust pipe works great.