450 dozer steering issue

[DOZER ESQ.]

Hello, I just bought a 450 Dozer which I believe is a 1969 (VIN T5F3M 096001T). Prior owner did regular maintenance and it has already helped me do some grading work. (I really love JD equipment also have an 1983 JC 310A backhoe.) However, the dozer doesn't steer well to the left. When the left lever is pulled back slowly the machine doesn't go left. Must throttle the machine up and yank back hard and suddenly to get it to go left at all --- the engine at that point bogs down almost stalling sometimes. The right side is completely different -- the lever is responsive and it steers right easily. The prior owner had steering clutches installed on both sides by a technical school in NY called Boseys... He said it steered well before... How can I correct this problem? Do the tracks need to come off? Where should I begin? Thanks.

[tjdub]

The first thing to do is to follow the steering clutch adjustment procedure. It's best to get a service manual if you don't have one already. The adjustment is pretty simple, but you need to follow the instrunctions to get it right since you're adjusting steering level lever free-play, brake pedal actuator, brake lever actuator, and the steering clutch all at once.

Basically, you have to remove the two access plates under the seat and two little triangular plates on the outside of the machine. You loosen the clutch and brake linkages up top to get lever free-play right. Then you crank the brake band tension up through the outside holes those little triangular plates were covering. Then you tighten the clutch and brake linkages back up without letting out the free-play. Then loosen the brake bands back up a certain number of turns.

One thing the service manual doesn't tell you is that you need to tie your 9/16" wrenches to your wrists when doing the linkage adjustments.

[KenP]

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