D17 Hard to steer

Hey Eric,

What type of front end does it have, Wide or Narrow??? First thing I would do is raise the front end of the ground, and block it properly. Have someone sit on the tractor and steer the wheel back and forth, and look for what binds or moves freely. Since it's manual steer, there isn't much to bind before the rack and pinion, but check the steering shaft were is goes through the bell housing, for free movement, caked on dried grease, also check the u-joint, to see if it is stiff. After that it's either internal to the front pedistal on a narrow front possibly a lower support bearing going out, or on a wide front, it could be a stiff ball joint, or a the drop shaft running down to the tire. Ususally on a D-17 things are kinda worn and loose on the steering, so while the driver moves the wheel back and forth, you should bairly quickly see what is moving and what isn't. Ass far as parts, I go to AGCO for anything internal to the front pedistal, tie rods I get from vendors on this site.

Still in use:
HD7 WC C CA WD 2-WD45 WD45LP WD45D D14 3-D17 D17LP 2-D19D D19LP 190XTD 190XTLP 720 D21 220 7020 7030 7040 7045 3-7060
Projects: 3-U UC 2-G 2-B 2-C CA 7-WC RC WDLP WF D14 D21 210 7045 N7

Jack up each front wheel and grease each spindle liberally so grease is coming out top and bottom. Remove the grille screen ahead of the radiator and make sure the front support has got oil in it above the gear you can see. I'd use gear oil but any type of oil is better than nothing. Also air up your front tires pretty hard, say 35 to 40 psi. Your perception of steering effort being high, just might simply be the way it is.....that's why 95% of them have factory power steering.

is this something that just happened or has it been slowly getting worse?

Dad bought this D17 not very long ago and it was hard to steer from the get-go. My thought by posting here I might find out if this is somewhat common or typical with this model. We have several other A-C's with manual steering that work fine. Thanks again everyone for your time.

When I got mu D17 with power steering it steered very hard. I soon found that the top bearing on the steering column just under the steering wheel had gone and allowed the whole column to drop. I replaced the top bearing and now it's fine.

Originally posted by Pat the Plumber CIL

Pat the Plumber CIL wrote:

Our Ser I D-17 we had back on our farm did not have power steering.Cultivating with the front mounted cultivators would make a man out of you fast

oh man !!

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