How to beef up steering?

Everyone says that one of the first things you should do is beef up steering. However I have no idea wat to do. I mean there is a little play in my steering wheel but I don't know what to do. Please help. I don't know if like maybe get bigger steering rods or something please help. Wat do people do to beef up there steering so it's strongerp

everyone says beef up the steering? i have never heard anyone say beef up the steering nor recomended to anyone to beef up the steering. the steering works fin and ive only once bent a tierod for the 3+ years ive been with mowers and i beat the living shit out of my stuff. know if your talking about speed as in 15+ and 20+ in some cases everyone says direct steer is #1 and this is because with speeds the gear system and the play in the steering wheel this adds up to you eventualy eating massive shit. but if your looking to mud dont worrry about it the stock stuff works great

It depends- most offroaders have more issues with bent/broken spindles then steering - bigger wheels on stock 3/4" spindles put alot of stress on them.

Ford Boi upgraded his front axle/spindles check out his build in the forum.

Also depends what type of tractor you have and what shape the stock steering is in- if the original steering parts are worn out, they should be replaced - i had a serious issue with my stock mowing 99 weedeater ( craftsman)- main part of the steering was so worn out, it wouldnt even steer- had to tear it all apart and rebuild it.

All lawntractors will have a lil bit of play in the steering - just because the tolerances arent built as tight as say a vehicle , because of speed differences- cars go faster then tractors do- if its for mudding- as Redzz02 mentioned - stock should be fine BUT the spindles/front axle could be upgraded - for speed setups, direct steer is the best alternative.

Hey thanks alot I'll just leave it how it is till it brakes cause I'm not goin speedy it's just for mud. Prob like around 15 max. I just gotta find wat pully setup to use I think on fearless frond YouTube I think said a 4 inch in the front and 5 in the back

I bet the reason for the question is that on so many sites they stress safety, to the point that they imply you'll kill yourself if you don't upgrade steering and brakes. Obviously it's important to steer and stop, but I think it should be up to the individual to make their tractor safe, along with opperating it safely. Like most have said, slower you go, less it matters.

I cringe a bit at people wanting to make their tractors faster w/o proper mods - basically from personal experience.

My craftsman was plenty fast, had no brakes, stock steering- was ALL over the place going at least 30mph - i ran out of road ( little traveled ) before i could fully wind it up - had to slow down more then 200 feet before the end or risk going thru a fence at the end. Then came the day i just started up, ready to go for a run and the trans locked up - what if that happened when i was doing 30mph? I wasnt even wearing a helmit.

My murray wasnt much better- cept it went faster with the twin, no brakes and even looser steering . I nearly rolled it more then a few times and flopped it over trying to find neutral on concrete .

On my mod MTD - thats why im leaning to a straight axle - to put some decent brakes on it - its handles fantasic tho - even better with the front axle locked and lowered - and its still stock steering for now.

Im still planning on more mods, but built safer- like the wizard - thatll have brakes and lower stance.

i bent the main steering axle on my tractor (not sure what its called). Its the piece of square steel that articulates up and down, the spindles are attached to it. Anyways, I bent the crap out of it and the steel actually split apart. Its being held together temporalily with a c clamp right now lol

Front axle - for racing/offroading a single piece of heavy wall steel tubing should be used OR the stock front axle should be braced/reinforced and welded up.

For my fast mods im using the stock front axles, but im going to weld em up solid , and reinforce em and make new spindles out of 3/4" bolts- they wont swivel either.