B747-400
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control
Flight Crew Rejected Takeoff; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
Low gross weight/aft CG rejected takeoff runway 13R. During taxi the aircraft was somewhat difficult to turn but I attributed this to the aft CG. Holding short of 13R we were cleared for takeoff. Aligned the aircraft with the runway centerline; again with some difficulty. Started the takeoff roll; set 70% N1 then pushed TO/GA. Almost immediately the aircraft veered hard to the left. I unsuccessfully tried to use rudder steering to align the aircraft. The FO called 'brakes; brakes' I immediately applied full braking and idle thrust and disconnected the auto throttle. I never went into reverse thrust as we were at a very slow speed; approx. 10 knots. Although I was slow to initiate the reject the aircraft came to a stop on the runway but near the left edge and angled away from centerline. Since I was unsure of how close we were to the runway edge or location of any obstacles/signs; I had the First Officer inform the tower that we would need a tug to remove us from the runway. I deemed this was a safer course of action.Need to always be ready for a reject even at 5-10 knots.
Maintenance personnel stated that the left body gear was turned at an angle when they arrived at the aircraft; so when they attempted to initially tow us; the tow bar broke. Maintenance troubleshooting resulted in determining the left body gear steering had failed.
B747-400 flight crew reported they rejected their takeoff when they had difficulty with directional control because the left body gear steering had failed.