Cub steering box overhaul... If it's possible.

[meadowfield 1,900]

As you know, we picked up a very original and very sorry cub 70 the other week.

The steering just about worked, by had a whole turn of slop and made some terrible noises.

Well Ewan removed the steering box yesterday and we were greeted with disappointment!

50 years old, and no grease, just rust and water.

The bearing journals on the column are shot!

It's beyond the overhaul kit at $150, so it's being given a heavy dose of looking at and thinking

[HeadExam 1,783]

eBay may have another complete rebuilt one for not much more than the price of a kit. I believe the 70 and 100 shared that same column, maybe more as well.

[slf-uk 914]

Mark,

The steering box on the Cub is a Ross unit which is the same as used on the Wheelhorse D-series and a number of JD garden tractors. When I overhauled the steering box on my D-series I managed to cross reference the parts to JD parts, which were on the shelve at our local JD dealer and considerably cheaper than buying the parts from the US. I posted the part numbers in a post on RedSquare ages ago, could have been within James's d-series rebuild thread. I can't even remember what my ID is on RedSquare without looking it up.

 

It is possible you may be able to get a complete new column, certainly the JD parts lookup will give you an idea of what it available. If you can't easily find my post I will look up the details for you later as I am in the middle of trying to fit the deck to my Bolens HT23 at the moment, and forgot that a goat needs to be sacrificed first before attempting the task

 

Iain

[Anglo Traction 1,016]

Haven't found Iain's post on RS, but this may be of interest for now-

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/46796-steering-boxes-ross-in-particular/?hl=%2Bsteering+%2Bbox

[C-101plowerpower 548]

the column is still available from parts tree by the looks of it, it is a tad pricy tho

http://www.partstree.com/parts/cub-cadet/mowers-lawn-garden-tractor/70-cub-cadet-garden-tractor/steering-gear-connections/

 

also ccwarehouse has some steering assy's

http://ihccw.com/steering.html

 

and if you scroll down a bit over here

http://gardentractorpullingtips.com/steering.htm

 

there is a list of all CC's that used the same steering assy

[HeadExam 1,783]

A rebuilt one on eBay for auction, at 70.00 now, not sure about shipping to the UK

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-Cadet-IH-Steering-Column-Cleaned-Polished-Painted-Guaranteed-/201345261505?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ee11cdfc1

[meadowfield 1,900]

Thanks for the ideas, links and encouragement.

Desperation saw us start early this morning trying to fix it in order to have it back on the road for Newby in a few weeks.

First part to try make and fix was the upper bearing, I sourced an old headset cup from my bike spares and proceeded to try turn it down on the lathe. Solid chrome is hard stuff!

Sparks started to fly from the carbide insert...

Here's the old and new cup side by side

The old bearing journal was turned off, in order to add a sleeve, made from a CAT 1 to 2 adapter.

Which was pressed over and welded

Before pushing the old headset cone was pressed on and tacked in place

[Ian 2,417]

Ouch! That steering box does look a bit past it's best!  Good to see your cracking and and fixing it Mark

[meadowfield 1,900]

The new cone fit inside the alloy housing perfectly and was pressed into place before assembling the lower bearing with new 5/16 bearings and lots of fresh grease.

Before screwing the end cap into place.

With lots of free grease and fully adjusted up, there's no play, just a little binding at the mid point. But that's normal for a steering box.

[Ian 2,417]

It didn't take you long to get it sorted mate

Thanks, it needed sorting!

Here's a quick test drive video

[slf-uk 914]

Wow, quick work and I guess I am too late help with the post I made on Redsquare. For the record it is at the bottom of this post http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/45316-any-wheel-horse-d-series-in-uk/#entry418417

 

Iain

[Stormin 4,458]

Typical Tyke. Make do and mend rather than spend money.   

 

Well done Mark.

[meadowfield 1,900]

Wow, quick work and I guess I am too late help with the post I made on Redsquare. For the record it is at the bottom of this post http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/45316-any-wheel-horse-d-series-in-uk/#entry418417

 

Iain

Thanks Iain, one for future ref...

Typical Tyke. Make do and mend rather than spend money.   

 

Well done Mark.

Mend, so it's back rolling and ready for Newby! Got enough stuff in pieces....

[Triumph66 1,256]

Always good to see something fabricated and ten seeing it all working as it should. The CC gone to the right home to be pampered.