Play In Uj In Steering Column

[Guest tigercatkid]

Hi,

 

Just a quick one (I hope).

 

Today I noticed some play in the steering column UJ. This play results in around 8-10mm of play at the steering wheel... not great !

 

Having taken a look, the lower half of the UJ is rotating slightly on the shaft leading to the steering rack.

 

See picture for explanation

 

I intend to weld this part of the UJ to stop this play - is there are reason this would be a bad idea ???

 

Thanks for any advice...

 

 

[fry61]

Sounds like something has come adrift -- poor quality in first place?? Welding it may fix the problem but give you a new one as the heat may cause the actual U/J to fail/wear more rapidly.

 

Had the U/J notified as an "advisory" on MOT & that only had around 2mm play visible at road wheel, so yours is v.bad.

 

Replace the whole joint -- it's the thing that keeps the car pointing in the right direction!!

Edited April 25, 2016 by florin metal works

[Guest 2b cruising]

That joint works by the bolt squeezing the UJ joint onto the shaft.

The female of the joint is internally splined and mates with the splined shaft.

If the bolt is loose, try tightening it up.

If that does not work, the bolt can be worn where it fits through a grove in the rack shaft.

If the bolt is still good, your best solution is to buy a new UJ joint.

If the bolt has been loose for any length of time, the cast steel joint wears the splines in the joint due to the rack shaft being of hardened steel, and the UJ splines are much softer.

Replacement would be the only way to fully and competently repair the joint.

The fixing bolts should have a mechanical lock system, not just a nyloc nut.

Either drilled bolt heads with lock wire, or tab washers.

Edited April 26, 2016 by 2b cruising