If your Husqvarna is like the ones I've seen, which were all alike, they have a steering sector gear, and pinion on the steering wheel/column. Plastic bushings hold the steeing shaft in place and a heavy steel washer is used to reinforce the sector, so it doesn't flop around and stays meshed with the pinion. I'd check the steel washer and plastic bushings first. There is also a steel plate in the frame that supports all of the steering parts. I bought the reinforcement plate, sector and bushings off ebay for mine, and tightened it right up. As mentioned earlier, the sector and pinion don't "usually" wear enough to cause problems, but it does happen, the teeth wear down and won't stay meshed. So check it all out and see what's loose and replace.
I mowed with a commercial Husqvarna 27hp Briggs with 52" fabricated deck, and the only real gripe I had was the lack of rigidity of the frame, the loose steering and the lack of being able to mow high enough. If you raise the deck up to it's highest point, it would bang on the bottom of the body/frame and still only mowed about 3" or so high. Other than these fairly minor gripes it was a super mower, for way less than half the price of a big name mower. Having said that, I must say, nothing runs like a Deere!!!
Good luck!
