GT18 (518xi) Steering Repair

[Blue Chips 59]

I’m currently doing some needed maintenance, adjustments, and repairs to my recently-acquired New Holland GT18 (the New Holland version of the Toro 518xi), which is the new companion to my 522xi.

 

The old steering tie rod ends had a lot of play in them, and one of them even had a washer welded onto it to keep the ball from popping out. The OEM replacements I was able to find were very pricey, so I looked for some lower-cost general-purpose rod ends that looked like they matched the originals. I found some that had the same threads and external measurements as the ones that were on the tractor. However, when I pulled back the rubber dust boots to see if the innards were the same, I found that the old rod end had a larger ball and larger neck on the stud where it meets the ball.

 

 

I won't speculate as to whether or not the low-cost replacement rod ends would be good enough, but I prefer replacement parts to be as strong or better than the originals, and I didn't have any load ratings to compare them.

 

Thinking about it some more, I thought it might be nice to have greaseable rod ends, and Heim joints came to mind. I found some ½”-thread, stud-type Heim joints from McMaster-Carr that looked like they would do the job (the dimensions, thread sizes, swivel angle range, etc., looked OK to me). 

 

I wanted to install rubber dust boots on the joints, and I found some that I thought 'might' fit, although one of the holes was much smaller than the diameter of the female-thread shank of the joint, so it would have to stretch quite a bit…hopefully without tearing. If anyone knows about other dust boot options for these joints, let me know. In the meantime, I'm using these boots.

 

Here’s a photo of one of the Heim joints and one of the boots that I ordered (the boots did not come with the cable ties).

 

 

Trying to stretch the boot onto the joint with my fingers alone was not working very well. I noticed that some dust boot suppliers were selling four-prong stretching tools/pliers for that specific purpose. These tools appeared to me to be re-labelled ‘goat banding’ tools. Some of you with livestock would know that these tools are used for applying stiff rubber bands to a critter for the purpose of removing certain, shall we say, 'unwanted body parts.' Anyway, I found one at Tractor Supply for about 12 bucks that worked very well for stretching the dust boots.

 

 

I was pleasantly surprised to see how much the small hole in the boot could be stretched without tearing. I purposely over-stretched one (even farther than shown in the photo) just to make sure it didn’t tear. So far, none of them have torn, but I guess time will tell. After I figured out the best way of using it to install the first boot, the rest were a snap to install.

 

 

Here’s a joint with the boot installed (cable ties not installed yet):

 

 

I thought I’d grease the joints before installing them on the tractor, as I wanted to make sure that the grease would go in OK without damaging the boots, and I also wanted to rotate the stud/ball while greasing it so that the initial charge or grease would completely surround the ball. I screwed a bolt (or the end of a tie rod) into the joints and pumped grease into them until it started to ooze out around the openings in the boots.

 

 

After greasing the joints I squeezed the boots a bit to force out any air bubbles and excess grease, and then installed cable ties on the boots. I don’t know if the cable ties are really necessary, but they at least make the boots appear more secure. I figured it couldn’t hurt. 

 

 

Note: Before screwing the ends of the tie rods into the joints, I temporarily unscrewed the zerk fitting, which prevented air bubbles as well as the excess grease in the female-threaded part of the joint from being forced into the joint and boot. The residual grease in the threads should help prevent the joint from seizing up with rust over time. I had a #@*%! time getting a couple of the old rusted rod ends off. It took several long soaks in penetrating oil/solvent, applications of heat, and a barrage of unprintable language before they surrendered.

 

For future lubrication, I would slowly add just enough grease to see the boot swell up a bit and perhaps have a little bit ooze out.

 

Here are the completed tie rod ends:

 

 

I installed the tie rods on the tractor, jacked it up by the frame, and checked for binding as I moved the axle tilt and steering through their full ranges of motion. Everything seemed fine to me. BTW, the nut is an all-metal distorted-thread lock nut.

 

 

Coming up: A second steering issue to deal with.

 

[953 nut 60,808]

7 minutes ago, Blue Chips said:

Some of you with livestock would know that these tools are used for applying stiff rubber bands to a critter for the purpose of removing certain, shall we say, 'unwanted body parts.'

Nice workmanship and good tip on the TOOL.            

[JoeM 8,521]

13 hours ago, Blue Chips said:

Heim joints and one of the boots that I ordered

Where did you purchase the joints with boots?

[ebinmaine 73,472]

Excellent write up!!

And a great repair.  

 

14 hours ago, Blue Chips said:

 I prefer replacement parts to be as strong or better than the originals

 

Absolutely agreed. I've been using heim joints for several years at the recommendation of this site. Definitely a worthwhile modification. On my heavier than stock C Series tractors combined with the very rough terrain here I found stock type tie rods inadequate. 

 

 

14 hours ago, Blue Chips said:

barrage of unprintable language before they surrendered.

 

It helps. 

 

 

 

@Joe M The heim joints are available at McMaster Carr. I believe they also sell boots.  

 

 

[peter lena 9,337]

@Blue Chips   thank you for the photo tour !  if you are a newbie , cannot wait  till you  share other experiments !  been personally using heim joints for years , my choice of lube has been , SUPER LUBE  hydraulic  oil or grease  , temp range and stress rating  is extreme , with zero issues at all . initial durability  testing , on heim , was pto  lever rod end , clutch and brake end points . also plow  swivel . quadrant linkage  , not had  any  joint failure / issues .  also agree with @ebinmaine  on very rough  terrain  change adaptions , far exceeding  original  lawn tractor  intent . BTW that  super lube , in liquid  form , is  terrific as a cable lubricant , after a penetrating oil , flush thru , good talkin , pete 

[JoeM 8,521]

33 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

The heim joints are available at McMaster Carr. I believe they also sell boots

yeah I bought OE style replacement tie rod ends there also, they had both left and right hand thread, good quality decent price. 

 

I did look closer and found those rubber covers. I guess they are proud of them cause the covers cost more than the part they protect. Go figure!

[ebinmaine 73,472]

3 minutes ago, JoeM said:

covers cost more than the part they protect

 

Yyyeeeaaahhh.....

 

And that's why I have naked tie rods!

[Blue Chips 59]

7 minutes ago, JoeM said:

I did look closer and found those rubber covers. I guess they are proud of them cause the covers cost more than the part they protect. Go figure! 

 

I obtained the studded heim joints from McMaster-Carr. I've been ordering stuff from them for about 40 years. Their prices are sometimes very reasonable and sometimes kind of pricey, but in any case, they have great customer service and super-quick shipping. I usually get my items the next day.

 

I ordered the boots directly from the Seals-It website. They were quite a bit cheaper there (6 boots for $34.76, plus shipping). I got the boots with two holes (RERS2B6PK, for studded rod ends) instead of three holes.

 

[JoeM 8,521]

Once upon a time when I was grease crazy, I drilled a small hole in those OE tie rod ends and injected some grease into them I ended up using some 80-90 oil. it was just more convenient to grab the oil can. 

Now all the machines I use on a regular basis have power steering, I just replace when parts are worn. 

[JoeM 8,521]

7 minutes ago, Blue Chips said:

I ordered the boots directly from the Seals-It website

Looks like the same a MMC boot.

[Blue Chips 59]

Some test driving showed another steering problem on the GT18. The steering could turn sharper to the left than to the right. The tractor has manual steering, and since there was no binding anywhere in the steering linkage, the problem was evidently in the steering gearbox.

 

Apparently, a previous owner or mechanic had incorrectly reassembled the steering gearbox, neglecting to properly index the sector shaft/plate with the sector gear. It took just over an hour to fix, and I didn’t have to remove or open the steering gearbox.

 

Here’s the procedure I used, which should be the same for a 518xi:

1. Aimed the front wheels straight ahead.
2. Disconnected the steering tie rod ends from the sector shaft plate.
3. Removed the securing bolt and washer from the top of the sector shaft.
4. Dropped the sector shaft/plate down and out of the steering gearbox.
5. Centered the sector gear in the gearbox by noting the exact total rotations of the steering wheel from full left stop to full right stop and dividing it in half (marked the steering wheel to get the sector gear center position as accurate as possible). Note: I ignored the position of the spokes on the steering wheel, since the steering wheel shaft’s U-joint connection to the steering gearbox may have been installed wrong (which it was).
6. Reinstalled the sector shaft, making certain that the sector shaft plate was centered while sliding it up into the steering gearbox.
7. Reconnected the steering tie rods.
8. With the front wheels still facing straight ahead, checked the toe-in again, which was OK, and then re-centered the steering wheel by disconnecting the U-joint at the bottom of the steering shaft, centering the steering wheel spokes, and reconnecting the U-joint.

The tractor now turns equally sharp to the left or right, tracks straight, and the steering wheel is centered. Job done.

 

Now on to the next tweak, which will involve some transmission control linkage adjustments.

[Handy Don 14,244]

On 9/6/2025 at 5:52 PM, Blue Chips said:

a barrage of unprintable language

Clearly, this R-rated penetrant must be reserved for truly stubborn situations. 🤣

[Blue Chips 59]

On 9/7/2025 at 9:47 AM, JoeM said:

Looks like the same a MMC boot.

I just asked McMaster-Carr customer service.

2435N301 is Seals-It RERS2B and is a 2 hole version.

2435N302 is Seals-It RERS3B and is a 2 hole version.