Steering gears loosen up

I do not have the exact same model but I had a similar problem with my Craftsman Lawn Tractor model 917.272220 --- it is a LT 1750 Limited Edition. I looked at your manual and it appears your tractor is similar to mine . Go to google and look up part "CRAFTSMAN HUSQVARNA STEERING SHAFT SUPPORT 160395 124035X 532160395 532124035" you will get some hits on ebay for the part. It is a nylon/plastic part that the steering shaft fits into. It gets wore and the part that the shaft fits into becomes oblong rather than the round shape it should be. The slop created allows the rack to no longer mesh with the pinion on the end of the steering shaft. I replaced this part and my steering tightened up and now I have full right and left steering that no longer "locks up". You can look on youtube for the video--- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvyft4aq... ---- this video does not do a good job of showing what is wrong but it does show the piece on the end of the shaft that needs to be replaced. The reason the gears in the video wore is because the small plastic piece on the end of the shaft is no longer round and allows the shaft to move and which in turn does not let the gears mesh properly. By the way_, the plastic piece is held onto the shaft by a small bolt that you will need to remove by placing a socket with an extension into the plastic piece........ hope this helps.

I opened the parts section on sears direct for your tractor...... sorry.... although the lawn tractors look similar the steering has a different design and is not similar to my model so the information I provided in my post will not work for you...... sorry again.