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I just spent $2,000 for a complete steering assy from the tractor main housing all the way to the spline the wheel mounts on. Reason? I too had fluid coming out from under the wheel. Investigation, including the appropriate manuals, revealed a seal in the top of the p/s assist unit (where the hydraulic hoses attatch to the assy) that is supposed to keep the 950# fluid down there. Upon disassembly I found two different sets of loose balls; one set was to support the assembly so that the shaft could turn and the other set was contained in the worm drive box that actually does the steering arm movement. In all there are 20-30 or so loose balls altogether. I got it back together with a lot of work but missed one ball which fell down below the steering box I mentioned. What happened is that every time I turned the wheel so that the box went to the bottom, it mashed this ball and "ball piened" if you will, the inside of the big housing (the one with the 4 bolts that attaches to the tractor housing). After about 6 months of that it got to where I had to use both hands to turn the wheel. Took it apart again and the mess I found in there was irrepairable. So, in short, if you choose to do it yourself, get ALL the balls back in place and don't let the steering box move with respect to the worm on the steering shaft, or don't rotate the steering wheel at all when you take it apart. Would be best to start with the front wheels straight ahead. That would center the box on the worm gear of the steering shaft. The manual tells you how many balls support the shaft and how many balls are in the steering box. HTH Mark
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