Fixing Toe Out on John Deere Tractor

[Don52]

This week we fixed a John Deere tractor for a local church, which had toe out on the front steering. The toe out made difficult to steer straight and wore off all of the tread on the left front tire. It looks like while in service the tire hit something and most likely bent various components including the tie rod. The tie rod was a complex bend with an angular orientation between the two ends, so I chose to shorten the shaft by cutting off ½” in the middle and welding it back together in a straight portion of the shaft, instead of bending it in two places to make it shorter. Before cutting I scribed a line along the shaft so that I could align it after welding. The tractor with the repaired tie rod is shown in the last picture.

[exwldr69]

This week we fixed a John Deere tractor for a local church, which had toe out on the front steering. The toe out made difficult to steer straight and wore off all of the tread on the left front tire. It looks like while in service the tire hit something and most likely bent various components including the tie rod. The tie rod was a complex bend with an angular orientation between the two ends, so I chose to shorten the shaft by cutting off ½” in the middle and welding it back together in a straight portion of the shaft, instead of bending it in two places to make it shorter. Before cutting I scribed a line along the shaft so that I could align it after welding. The tractor with the repaired tie rod is shown in the last picture.

nice repair, should hold up well. alot cheaper than trying to find & buy a new one.