MT 3 Owners (steering issue)

[Bluesteel]

I have a 2022 MT 357 with 190 hrs. I was driving across town to mow some property and I notice the right front tire moving in and out from front of tire to back of tire. It was very subtle, not a violent wiggle or shimmy and could not be felt in the steering wheel. The left side was also moving but not as much. The movement is best described as toe-in, toe-out. You really have to look hard to see it. I lifted the front of the tractor off the ground will the loader. The front tires have front to rear play at the knuckle at the end of the steering cylinder the tie rod end is attached to. I'm not exactly sure of the design there as a rubber boot covers it. Not sure if it is some type of ball socket set up or type of u-joint. Strangely there is no grease zerk at this location only on the actual tie rod end. On the right side I would guess there is a 1/2" of in and out movement in this area which translates to the tire having close to an inch of front to back play. Maybe a 1/4" on the front left. I don't see any unusual tire wear but I'm sure it can't be good on them. I'll contact my dealer for warranty. I may see if they can just get me the parts and change them myself. They are a great dealer to work with. The LS parts diagram shows it as the tie rod end assembly, part #40462718. I need to get this rectified before it totally fails.

I thought I would put this out there so other owners with this style steering may want to check theirs. If you do a check let us know if you have any play in this area.

 

[Typhoon]

I posted on this forum a while back with the same problem. I have the same exact tractor you do.. MT357HC. I found out my tie rods were bad in the exact way you did! I was driving down the road to bush hog a friends field, and noticed the subtle wheel movement. I knew it wasn't right. When I got home, I lifted the wheels up and there was play in both wheels. Keep in mind, there should NEVER be ANY play in your wheels, regardless of what kind of tie rod system you have. If you pull your rubber boots back, you will find that the ball joints are corroded. LS sent out large batches of defective inner tie rod joints. I have seen it mentioned on many other forums. I contacted my dealer, and it was of course covered under warranty. My dealer is only 20 miles from me, so I went and picked up the new tie rods. Installed them (it was a pain, but I got it done). About a month later, they started the same thing..they got loose again. Back to the dealer, got a 3rd set. Then the parts guy did some digging, and found out that some time back, there was a service bulletin that specifies an adjustment to the steering stops. If I remember right, they are to be set at 41mm. I guess that if they are shorter than that, it causes undue stress on the ball joints. Also, the part number changed on the inner ball joints.. which tells me that there was a problem with the last batch of joints. Bottom line, you aren't the only one.. and this ball joint issue is the only problem I have had with my machine. Otherwise the 357 has been outstanding.. I have 400 hours on mine now and I love it. Hopefully you get this sorted out. When you install the new set, make sure and keep a close eye on them.. don't be surprised if they go bad again.

 

[Bluesteel]

Thank you for the reply. Great info I was not aware of. My dealer has new ones ordered and I intend on replacing them myself. I’m curious if you had to set the proper toe in/toe out after you installed the new ones. I can see possibly taking measurements of the old ones to get close but with all the play on them I’m not sure if it would be accurate. One thing I was thinking about doing ( and I was going to run it by the dealer) is filling the joint boot with tacky grease, say with a grease needle that goes on the end of a grease gun. Maybe pierce the boot and fill it. Give it some lubrication and keep moisture out. I think the tiny hole in the boot would self heal and I don’t think much if any grease would escape. At least not anymore than any other grease joint.

Again thanks for the reply and all the info. Much appreciated.

 

[Typhoon]

Ok a couple things here. 1) Measuring the length of the old ones to adjust toe in won't work. Been there done that. It will get you close but you will need to make minor adjustments after. It's super easy to adjust. When you get the new ones on, just measure the distance between the center of the front of the tires, then do the same on the rear of the tires. In the manual, I think that measurement needs to be the same, +/- like 3/4 inch..double check the manual to be sure. To get dead center on the tire, between the treads you can see remnants of the rubber seam in the center. You will see what I am talking about when you look close. 2) I also used a needle to pump grease into the boot. You don't want to pierce the boot. You slip the needle under the clip and into the joint. 3) You need to make sure your steering stops are set at 41mm. Odds are, they are shorter than that now, and that puts stress on the joints and causes them to fail. Mine were set at 34mm, my guess is that yours are close to the same. If they aren't 41mm or longer, you will wreck your new joints within a few hours. Your steering radius will increase slightly, but no big deal. Once you get done with the whole process, watch your ball joints closely for the next few months. There should never be ANY play whatsoever when you try to move the tire with your hands in the steering direction.

 

[Bluesteel]

I received both new tie rods. The new design have a translucent boot at the knuckle instead of black. There is some grease from factory in there but not enough in my opinion. What blows my mind is there is no grease zerk on the end of the tie rod like the original had. So LS attempts to fix one issue while potentially causing another. I just don’t get their reasoning.