Steering wheel removal on a D

[1maidenfan 202]

"ihodge71

"its good it didnt come off with 24000 pounds of force on it, it probably would have burned up on re-entry"

:ROTF: :ROTF:

[wheeledhorseman 574]

Ok guys - so how do you rate my chances?

Hmm... not good I guess but then that was why I've worked round it so far.

The puller set arrived today and I began the soaking process. In view of the amount of rust I decided there was no point even taking the air wrench to the nut at this stage.

Andy

[JamesBe1 82]

Ok guys - so how do you rate my chances?

Hmm... not good I guess but then that was why I've worked round it so far.

The puller set arrived today and I began the soaking process. In view of the amount of rust I decided there was no point even taking the air wrench to the nut at this stage.

Andy

For an lesser mortal, I would say your chances are slim to none. But in your case . . .

Dunno why you wouldn't take an impact driver to the nut. It's so rusted, what do you have to loose? I don't see what other options you have besides a socket and a breaker bar.

Just remember, don't use the blue wrench. There's too much plastic in proximity, and it will probably melt. I think Jeff has some pics of a PO's attempt at that.

[rmaynard 15,407]

Chances? On a scale of 1 to 5, I'd say 3. The nut does not look like it has been abused, and a good soak with something like PB Blaster will start to loosen the rust on the threads and the shaft. I'd much rather be taking my chance with that than to try to get a rusted roll pin out of a C-series. At least with a nut, if it doesn't loosen, you can always split it with a chisel.

[Hodge71 664]

Ok guys - so how do you rate my chances?

Hmm... not good I guess but then that was why I've worked round it so far.

The puller set arrived today and I began the soaking process. In view of the amount of rust I decided there was no point even taking the air wrench to the nut at this stage.

Andy

For an lesser mortal, I would say your chances are slim to none. But in your case . . .

Dunno why you wouldn't take an impact driver to the nut. It's so rusted, what do you have to loose? I don't see what other options you have besides a socket and a breaker bar.

Just remember, don't use the blue wrench. There's too much plastic in proximity, and it will probably melt. I think Jeff has some pics of a PO's attempt at that.

Oh yes I do James...I dont know how they thought the rubber steering wheel wasnt going to melt before the wheel came loose but they still tried it

[coldone 35]

I have faith in you! Pull it! :D

[1maidenfan 202]

Ok guys - so how do you rate my chances?

Hmm... not good I guess but then that was why I've worked round it so far.

The puller set arrived today and I began the soaking process. In view of the amount of rust I decided there was no point even taking the air wrench to the nut at this stage.

Andy

Thats how both of mine looked and after the soaking with pb blaster the nut came off real easy with my impact. That is not your main issue though, getting the steering wheel to free its self from the splined shaft is the FUN part.

By the looks of what you posted...well not a good sight. Like I said thats how mine looked and neither would come off.

Good luck to ya :)

[JamesBe1 82]

Assuming that one actually gets the steering wheel off, what would be everyone's recommendations as per keeping it from sticking in the future?

[312Hydro 474]

I put never seize on anything I want to take apart later. In the early '80s I put up a 24' round aluminum swimming pool. The owners of it now had no problem taking anything apart because of the never seize. I put on my steering wheel roll pin, just in case. :)

[JamesBe1 82]

I put never seize on anything I want to take apart later. In the early '80s I put up a 24' round aluminum swimming pool. The owners of it now had no problem taking anything apart because of the never seize. I put on my steering wheel roll pin, just in case.

I hear that's good stuff. But I have to admit to never really using it before. I wonder if it would be good to put on roll pins.

[Tap53 57]

Ok guys - so how do you rate my chances?

Hmm... not good I guess but then that was why I've worked round it so far.

The puller set arrived today and I began the soaking process. In view of the amount of rust I decided there was no point even taking the air wrench to the nut at this stage.

Andy

Andy, I rate your removal 100%

Ok guys - so how do you rate my chances?

Hmm... not good I guess but then that was why I've worked round it so far.

The puller set arrived today and I began the soaking process. In view of the amount of rust I decided there was no point even taking the air wrench to the nut at this stage.

Andy

Ok guys - so how do you rate my chances?

Hmm... not good I guess but then that was why I've worked round it so far.

The puller set arrived today and I began the soaking process. In view of the amount of rust I decided there was no point even taking the air wrench to the nut at this stage.

Andy

ANDY, I rate your chances100%

[wheeledhorseman 574]

I didn't realise that one photo would generate so much interest.

I have faith in you! Pull it!

ANDY, I rate your chances100%

I hope you guys aren't putting any money on this!

The nut would probably have come off with the impact wrench but having read the reports about stripped threads and mushroomed shaft, I decided to let it soak overnight first. It'll also give me a chance to see if the treads got penetrated.

Thats how both of mine looked and after the soaking with pb blaster the nut came off real easy with my impact. That is not your main issue though, getting the steering wheel to free its self from the splined shaft is the FUN part.

By the looks of what you posted...well not a good sight. Like I said thats how mine looked and neither would come off.

Good luck to ya

I'm not under any illusions here, and I was resigned to living with it 'as is' until I watched the video which kind of made me think that I'd have to at least give it a try.

Will keep you all posted.

Andy

[meadowfield 2,570]

I've got a siezed wheel on the C-121 and the GT14... I'll await the results with baited breath Andy :)

[pfrederi 17,634]

The nut will be teh easy part...the splined shaft...not so easy... but with soaking and patience....

[JamesBe1 82]

I don't think taking the nut off with an impact wrench will cause the mushroomed shaft or sheered threads.

The mushroomed shaft was caused by seating the puller in the steering shaft and tightening it. The fix for that is to put the nut partially back on and place a socket over the shaft that contacts the nut. Then seat the puller in the socket end.

That's where the stripped threads come in. If you tighten it enough, either the steering wheel will come off, or the threads on either the nut of the shaft will sheer.

Anyone taking bets on this yet?

Also, once you get the puller as tight as you feel comfortable with and the steering wheel still won't come off, I am wondering where/how is the best place to whack it with a hammer to possible jar it loose.

[coldone 35]

Also, once you get the puller as tight as you feel comfortable with and the steering wheel still won't come off, I am wondering where/how is the best place to whack it with a hammer to possible jar it loose.

Directley on top of the puller shaft.

[wheeledhorseman 574]

:omg: There's loads of people looking at my !!

Ok so here's what I've done so far.....

Yesterday, scraped off as much of the rusty crud as I could with a sharp scredriver, particularly round the top of the thread and round the base of the nut. Added a splash of acetone to some diesel (not sure that the acetone would make a whole lot of difference but worth trying) and applied it round the top of the thread and base of the nut with a soft artist's paint brush. After half an hour it had mainly gone in so applied a little more and, as usual with pentrating fluids of most types, the absorption rate got slower. Made a final application at the end of the day and left overnite.

As has been suggested, my impact wrench that runs off the compressed air line would have taken the nut off straight away without soaking in fluid - it's never yet failed to remove those badly rusted nuts that hold the blades onto deck spindles but soaking the nut first was a kind of test.

In the morning the fluid had disappeared somewhere - the acetone would have evaporated but there was nothing left to see.

Decided not to use the air operated impact, opting for the cordless battery one that's a bit gentler than 'old faithful' and with a rat-a tat-tat the nut was off. The encouraging thing was that the whole of the thread was 'wet' with a black rust and fluid mix and the nut would spin up and down the thread by finger tips without any cleaning so there's hope for the splines yet!

The diesel had made it down as far as the top of the splines so I cleared out the softened crud sitting in the recess before the splines start using a small craft knife. Once removed, I could feel the tops of the splines as the tip of the blade ran across them.

After a couple of applications I've left a little pool in the recess to soak in overnite. I suspect slower progress re soaking in down the splines so it could take a couple of days but I left a clean sheet of white paper wedged between the bottom of the steering wheel boss and the foam washer thingy to let me know visibly if anything's got through by the morning.

Thanks for all the hints and tips guys, I'm a little more optimistic about the chances of success than I was at the start but I'm not going to try to 'pull it off' (as the saying goes) until the fluid's reached the other end of the splines. I'm also very aware that some of you have already given this job your best shot and failed to budge it so I don't think it's worth betting on my chances either way at this stage.

Andy

[JamesBe1 82]

So far so good, but that was just the opening act. I hope you don't make the evening news trying to get it off!

BTW, it might be a good idea to rap it with a hammer whenever you happen to wander by. Not saying to make an effort to do so, but a bit of mechanical vibration now and then might help the fluid to penetrate quick and further. Just my opinion.

[Hodge71 664]

BTW, it might be a good idea to rap it with a hammer whenever you happen to wander by.

I used to do that to the ex wife when we were still married......

[wheeledhorseman 574]

Ok, so no pressure on me then.......

The diesel had been left to soak in for about 24 hours but nothing had come through onto my piece of paper (discovered the reason later). I had intended to apply some more and leave again but temptation got the better of me so out came the puller set that I'd got off a well known auction site. Cost me £20 + shipping.

Assembled the necessary bits in place around the steering wheel...

The nut on the steering wheel shaft was adjusted to be flush with the end of the shaft and a bolt with a couple of washers on it placed into the hollow centre to the shaft.

The two halves of the puller were not done up tightly, just adjusted to be a snug fit round the steering wheel boss without clamping together on the shaft.

So with everything lined up squarely....

Tightened the puller bolt using a hand wrench till it was a tight as I could get it.

Before anyone says 'he's mad - use the impact wrench!' - this was all a bit of an experiment so I wanted to try avoiding too much brute force unless it was really needed.

Anyway, a couple of sharp taps squarely on the end of the puller bolt with what was actually a fairly small hammer and I heard the note change. Sure enough the puller bolt could be turned using the wrench and the splines were on the move.

Slackened off the puller enough to remove the bolt with washers and the steering wheel nut then replaced the bolt with its washers so that the puller could be used again. Using the hand wrench it was fairly stiff but on the move and......

Off came the steering wheel. Sorry about the quality of photo here, didn't notice what the auto focus had locked on to. I'll get the hang of my camera one day!

You'll see that the diesel had made it down to the bottom of the splines. The reason it didn't leave a tell-tale mark on the piece of paper was that the splines actually only go about half way down the steering boss so that they're tucked up out of the way where rain can't get to them. I was also fortunate I guess that the foam washer thingy had remained intact and had done a good job of stopping too much damp geting up there. The rusting on mine had occurred from top downwards I guess.

So there it is - if you did put any money down on this then I hope you won. It's hard to say whether acetone /ATF would have been better but the diesel certainly did the trick for me. It's obviously impossible to say how badly rusted the splines were on mine compared with other cases but I still had the impact wrench if needed so I guess they could have been worse and still come off with that.

I know from many past experiences that it only takes a very small amount of rust to lock splines in solid so without doubt there will always be cases where it's a lost cause but to my mind if anything will get the surfaces to slide again then diesel has to be up there with the front runners when it comes to penetrating fluids.

Obviously I'm real pleased that it came off, though of course I won't think too much about the time I spent working round it during the resto. It also restored a bit of faith in the video that put the idea into my head that I ought to at least try - I did wonder if it had been staged, particularly when I saw the state of the steering wheel nut etc on my tractor.

Andy

[meadowfield 2,570]

good news Andy!!! I'm at the stage where I can't get the rolled pin out of our c-121.... it's starting to break the wheel :(

[JamesBe1 82]

Woohoo! Drinks are on Andy!

And what a great writeup. I was kinda questioning the use of the washers, but who cares, the steering wheel is off.

When I get around to doing mine, I will certainly be rereading this thread.

BTW, that's the same cheap puller set that I got off of the same site. Cheap but effective.

[meadowfield 2,570]

My brother bought one of those last weekend at the show for the same price... to replace the one he broke pulling the bearing out of a transit front wheel hub !

really usefull bit of kit!

[coldone 35]

Told you i had Faith. Good job Andy.

[Horse'n Around 22]

Way to go, that has to be a huge load off your mind. I have a steering wheel for a 702 that I need to remove. The bad thing is in addition to the pin being very stuck, a PO had alread been worked it over and the pin is very mushroomed. Theres a small piece of plastic missing from the bottown side of the wheel surrounding the flange/shaft area. I'll worry about that later. If I can get it removed I imagine I can always repair it with a resin or something. I hope that when all is said and done the outcome is as good as you had with yours.

John