B7100 steering box chewed ball bearings?

Puriri Farm

New member

Equipment
B7100
Aug 17, 2019
28
0
1
New Plymouth
I've just become the owner of a B7100 which has been used more than it's been maintained. So it needs some TLC.

First on the list is fixing the steering. I've pulled the steering box to pieces, and discovered a good collection of half ball bearings, and chewed up pieces. The steering shaft and rack gear aren't too badly damaged, but given the fresh looking oil and RTV sealant, this has been looked at before.

I can't see any obvious reason for the bearings getting munched, but I'd like to figure it out before putting new ones in there too get munched again.

Can anybody suggest what the problem might be?
 

North Idaho Wolfman

Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3450DT-GST, Woods FEL, B7100 HSD, FEL, 60" SB, 743 Bobcat with V2203, and more
Jun 9, 2013
28,306
4,858
113
Sandpoint, ID
I've just become the owner of a B7100 which has been used more than it's been maintained. So it needs some TLC.

First on the list is fixing the steering. I've pulled the steering box to pieces, and discovered a good collection of half ball bearings, and chewed up pieces. The steering shaft and rack gear aren't too badly damaged, but given the fresh looking oil and RTV sealant, this has been looked at before.

I can't see any obvious reason for the bearings getting munched, but I'd like to figure it out before putting new ones in there too get munched again.

Can anybody suggest what the problem might be?
The problem could be just about anything, wrong replacement part, old broken parts left in when fixed, worn parts, improper assembly, and many many more.
Clean everything up look for worn, broken, bent parts , replace those parts then reinstall everything correctly.
 

Puriri Farm

New member

Equipment
B7100
Aug 17, 2019
28
0
1
New Plymouth
Thanks Wolfman - I've got the whole thing disassembled, and there's a bit of damage on the steering shaft which I'll clean up. Other than that, it's hard to see what's gone on.

The workshop manual is quite unhelpful with regard to this piece: 'dissasembly is not recommended' and no help on reassembly. Is there a recipe somewhere that you know of from someone who's rebuilt one before? I'm envisaging lots of grease holding bearings in place so they don't fall out while being fitted back together.

My suspicion is that the last guy in here had the same idea - replace the broken bearings, and hope for the best, and it didn't work out. Can only try I guess!
 

Puriri Farm

New member

Equipment
B7100
Aug 17, 2019
28
0
1
New Plymouth
Thanks Sam - that will save me a bunch of guessing. I was wondering how many balls there are supposed to be - looks like 54 is the magic number (I can't count em, because I'm sure at least one is minced metal, and there are a good number of hemispherical 'used to be ball' bearings)

The good news is that I think I've figured out what the underlying issue was..

Those split tubes that allow the ball bearings to circulate, well, I think someone has had a go at "fixing" them with a welder, and caused the latest round of issues.

Neither of the tubes will allow a ball bearing to roll right through. They both have dinged ends, but worse I think are the little welds they've put on the outer corners. These have resulted in a small lump on the inside of the tube, which means the balls can't get around the corners.

Makes sense for the bearings to get squeezed/split/spit out if there was nowhere for them to go under pressure during operation.

How I fix it, I have yet to figure out!


 
Last edited:

Puriri Farm

New member

Equipment
B7100
Aug 17, 2019
28
0
1
New Plymouth
I can't get replacement split tubes anywhere, and these ones are beyond repairing.
So, unfortunately I've had to throw down some cash on a completely new steering box.

Can't win them all I guess, and I've been winning with all the other issues on this machine, so I won't complain too loudly!

Thanks for the help team.
 

North Idaho Wolfman

Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3450DT-GST, Woods FEL, B7100 HSD, FEL, 60" SB, 743 Bobcat with V2203, and more
Jun 9, 2013
28,306
4,858
113
Sandpoint, ID

Puriri Farm

New member

Equipment
B7100
Aug 17, 2019
28
0
1
New Plymouth
Mine is HST 4WD. The parts guys have a new aftermarket steering shaft and nut assembly which they say will fit - they had me measure the existing one to be sure.

I sure hope they know what they're talking about - I've got jobs to be doing, and all the other issues are fixed now!