Steering a four-wheel-drive County is heavier work than steering a two-wheel-drive Fordson, and the steering box and drop arm live a correspondingly harder life. Wear here shows up as several inches of slack at the rim of the wheel before anything at the front axle moves.
What gets checked first
- Free play at the wheel rim, measured and recorded before anything is dismantled.
- End float in the steering column shaft.
- Condition of the drop arm splines and the track rod ends.
- Oil level in the box, and whether it has ever been topped up.
Notes
Slack in the steering is almost never one big fault. It is the sum of a worn box, worn ends, and worn kingpins, and the only way to sort it is to measure each one in turn rather than replace the obvious part and hope.