D series steering (Ross steering)

[pacer 3,174]

I recently purchased a D-160 - among several problems was the Ross steering had the bottom of the housing broken out (a common occurrence apparently) Having just spotted a unit for a D-180 on ebay offered by Joes made me more comfortable about buying the 160 - which I did, and also ordered up the D-180 unit from Joe assuming the 180 would be the same as the 160 (as seemingly every thing but the motor is the same). I knew I would want to take it down and do an inspection and do the bearing kit replacement. The unit came in and was in decent condition with the 2 bearings being only so-so, so ordered up the $15 kit. Got every thing cleaned and reassembled leaving the steering column tube off til the last waiting on a flanged bearing to replace the plastic bushing.

 

Soooo - luckily I did a dry set-up, slipping the tube in the housing and setting the steering wheel on to "get a feel" for my rebuild -- whoa! theres a heck of a gap between the wheel and the tube!! Grabbed up the old 160 tube and its a full 1" longer than the 180 from Joes in length! I had an old corroded/rusty Ross off my 180 that had blown out the bottom out back so went and got it - its the same length of the 160 - what the *#&*^!

 

So I have a 160 and 180 Ross columns that are the same, with the 180 from Joes being 1" shorter - anybody doing research on these D columns should check on the lengths of the shafts/tubes.

 

Anybody else run into this??

 

Heres a pic of the shafts/tubes and the bearings. The ball bearing are held in a plastic "cage" and the plastic was badly distorted and would no way hold the balls, the kit has the new plastic cages and new balls and 2 new cups.

 

Also, another tidbit for someone wanting to take their column out --- its quite a booger bear to get the thing removed from the tractor!

[JackC 617]

"Also, another tidbit for someone wanting to take their column out --- its quite a booger bear to get the thing removed from the tractor!"

 

I am considering it. How did you go about doing it?  Did you have any problems getting the steering wheel off?

 

The very early D's may have used a different length shaft?  I would need to check parts diagrams to verify that.  Also, other tractor brands used the Ross steering system as well and it may look like a D but it may not be.

[Marv 949]

I ran into the same thing when I worked on the column on my D200. I purchased a used unit and it turned out to be like yours. I scratched my "head" about that. Turns out the first 18's had the shorter unit. Of course I didn't know this at the time and thought the one I got came from some other machine. Anyway, using a combination of the two i got it done. Yes, I found it tight to get it removed and reinstalled but after it was finished I thought well maybe it was eaiser than I thought.

Where did you get the kit?

Marvin

 

Jack I wound up having to cut the shaft below the steering wheel. I then pressed out the stub left in the wheel.

Welded the shaft back together and reused it.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Marv

[pacer 3,174]

Okay, a couple good points have already been raised...

 

Pulling the wheel - Do not hammer on the shaft like in other situations, this puts force in that very area that is already the weak point on this system - the bottom of the aluminum housing. I use a puller commonly called a "clamshell puller" (probably not the real term, see pic below, thats a HF set about $20-25) besides most pullers wont even fit around the wheel anyway - I did use some light blows to "shock" to help break the bond - used generous amounts of Kroil too. Even with all that, a wheel may just not come loose and drastic measures like Marv had to resort to be required. From the looks of mine, I didnt think I had a prayer of getting it off, bad rusted, but came pretty easily.

 

The parts diagram wasnt of much use, especially in determining just what had to be removed when trying to get the thing out. The 'box' is mounted to a weldment bracket which in mounted to the frame and the underside of the Sundstrand pump (I like to have never found the 2 under the pump) By that time I had disassembled a lot of the dash/battery tray/etc and I pulled it out from the top which takes a bit of wiggling.

 

I looked at a lot of other Ross units - Case, JD, Cub - and there were quite a few, but I didnt know how to compare them. For repair of an existing unit I think now that the main thing would be to determine the shaft/tube length, it looks like? the housing is probably the same.

 

The kit I got was for a Cub (here again it seems the housings are alike) from

 

www.factorydirectmowerparts.com

 

1 of IH-71930-C91 - Cub Cadet - Kit, Ball Cup @$10.86ea.

[brandonozz 168]

Great information by all - thanks for sharing.

[Marv 949]

I managed to remove mine without removing the weldment from the tractor. Tedious but came out the bottom. I wound up getting my bearings from the Cub Cadet dealer also.

Marvin

[pacer 3,174]

OK, an update here ---

 

In having to change out the steering tube, I noticed that it didnt seem to be an especially good fit, so sure enough after getting it installed and making a couple rounds around the yard it was really loose - tractor sure did steer easily though! After reading Marvins post about him removing his column without removing the weldment, and not liking the loose tube on the steering, I decided to take a look at Marvs approach to removing it -- and sure enough it was quite a bit easier to do it this way (is still a bit of a pill though) I must say it helped to have this area cleaned this time around and could see better about approaching this method.

 

Remove the steering link, and the 3 bolts that hold the column (this is the awkward part - and then replacing them) and the column drops out the bottom (Obviously you have removed the steering wheel!) This is really not that big a job and servicing the Ross housing with the rebuild bearing kit and giving the unit a good inspection is a prudent thing to do.

[glgrumpy 35]

Just got a manual for shops to use for working on D series. It says take out the bottom. Does state the three bolts holding it in will be awkward to remove, but with correct wrenches can be done.  This book is first I've seen on procedures on any tractor, kinda neat! 

[JackC 617]

Any numbers on the book to see if Toro has it?  What do they say about removing the steering wheel?