OC46 brake bands / steering

[jeffesonm]

I have to tug pretty hard to turn the OC 46 so I figured I should replace the brake bands before I scored the drums or something worse.  I drained the fluid, got the cover off the back and pulled out one of the bands and to my uneducated eye it looks pretty darn good.  The lining is about 1/4" thick and plenty of meat left before it reaches the rivets.  Drums look good and clevis was adjusted to right about 2 13/16" as specified in the manual.  Why is this thing steering so poorly?  Something else I should adjust?  Maybe the last guy used detergent oil?  Suggestions?

[Jethrow]

I had a similar problem with my OC3.  Drained and replaced with straight mineral oil from NAPA and make a big difference.

[oliverchris]

They don't look too bad do they?
Are your outside brake adjusters all the way up? I've seen some that are poorly repaired/replaced/adjusted with threaded rod, so that's a possibility?
Could it be that someone had too 'light' an oil in there? Should be 50w engine oil or 90w gear oil.
Best of luck

[jeffesonm]

The nuts on the brake adjustment rods are all the way forward.

I've got some of this at home, so maybe I will scoop out the remaining sludge from the bottom of the casing, put it back together and give it a go with the mineral oil.

[hotratz]

Make sure if you use 90 wt gear oil it is the GL1 rating. One thing I noticed about steering on my OC-46 is if I feather the clutch at all in a turn it will not turn as tight but as soon as I let the clutch all the way out the steering is much more responsive.

[jeffesonm]

It is listed as 'All Mineral SAE90 Ford Tractor Transmission Fluid' and says GL1 so I think it should be the right stuff.  Also I will wipe off the liners with some brake cleaner before putting them back in.

Looks like the last time this was off they sealed it up with blue RTV and it didn't leak, so I guess I'll do the same.