b7100 steering box advice needed

[rick sheltra]

First what a great forum!! I have read every thread (i think) on the steering box failures. Now after reading I have a few questions.
1. what exactly is sleaving? and can I do that or do I have to go to a machine shop?
2. I read where someone used b6100 assembly but I was wondering if I will have to modify for the b7100
3. If I just get it Sleaved and buy the other parts I want to make sure I get the right items the first time. The kubota diagram provided to me from messicks tractor shows the parts, however not real sure what to order yet.

history of tractor:
b7100 diesel with after market front end loader by Buehler
bought about 5 years ago for 5000. Has worked great so far. After reading all the problems with the steering on tractors that have loaders, I think I need to adjust my work accordingly and take it a little easier on the tractor. After all it is a subcompact which I probably operate as if it is a full size!

Steering was turning free so after reading everything I went ahead and took it apart. What I found was a steering shaft with serious nicks from bearing failure. when I removed the shaft completely i saw a lot of water floating in there and upon reaching to the bottom, found all the ball bearings and pieces of metal. I could see the races seem to be missing and I can see that the nut ball has some replaceable parts that were bent and allowed the bearings to come out.
So now I am looking to see if I can take the whole box off so i can thourouhly clean the inside from metal shavings. Apparently from all the great info on here the seals are short life and the gear oil 80w 0.02l gets full of water and everythoing disinegrates. I never even thought to check that. I will now!
any suggestions on where to buy parts would be most appreciated. According to several users of this forum Weavers is NOT a safe place to deal with. Messiccs is close so I will try them, and one post listed a UK site that seems real good...
sorry for the length of post trying to just go in the right direction since the company I used to work for decided to lay off anyone who made any money so I am unemployed. Appreciate any comments on this repair and thanks for letting me use this forum
Rick

 

[Baby Grand]

Rick,
Welcome to TBN and I expect you will soon have lots of advice from people here who know what they're talking about. I just want to thank you for your failure description as now i want to check our newly acquired B5100 (similar to B7100, but smaller) steering box for lube condition and smoothness/back lash.
Jim

 

[Egon]

Welcome::thumbsup::thumbsup:

In the pastI owned a B7100 with HST and FEL. The steering box was rebuilt three times in 3000 hours.

The box and steering colum are easy to remove.

From your description it might be wise to do a complete rebuild.

If you do a search you will find several threads on the B7100 gear box.

Parts may be pricy.:thumbsup:

 

[rick sheltra]

Thanks for the welcome to you both. I keep finding more info daily. If only I did a little preventive maintenance... I am sure this is going to be an expensive event. However even though the old tractor looks pretty bad she still fires up. That 3 cylinder kubota disel is a workhorse. I also need a new tie rod as it is bent. That is in stock at messicks....ill keep on lookin.
rick

 

[Egon]

Can the tie rod be persuaded by a hammer and anvil to straighten itself out.

 

[KubotainNH]

Power steering is great and saves wear and tear on the box.

 

[Dana Warner]

Using the stock steering box with a loader was tough. I too dumped the the steering box for power steering. Now even with a full bucket you can still steer with one finger. The steering column was interesting to make because of the dash. The power steering pump came from a Nissan Maxima. All I had to do was make a mount off the front cover, a new drive pulley and a idler to tension the belt.

 

[KubotainNH]

The power steering pump came from a Nissan Maxima.

Hmm, right now mine runs off the tractors hydraulics which isn't the best way to do it. I've been thinking of using a small foreign car pump but most do not have V-belt pulleys. Did you have to swap the pulley or did you look around until you found a V-belt one? I see on E-bay that older Toyota trucks have a V-belt.

 

[Egon]

For those looking for power steering the recirculating ball steering box from one of the old gm products would be easy bolt in.:thumbsup:

 

[Dana Warner]

I used a Nissan Maxima pump because of it's size. It used a ribbed belt. I removed the ribbed pulley on the lathe then welded a v pulley onto the hub.