Steering rack

[Guest daveg]

All

 

I :angry: picked my kit up October last year...I have just tried to fit the shaft from the rack to the telescopic shaft from the steering wheel.

 

It won't rotate because the universal joint at the rack end of the RHE shaft is at such an angle it won't turn

 

The rack needs to be rotated about 30 degrees which it too much for washers! I will ring RS on Tuesday but either I have the wrong rack (hence the request for others who picked kit up same time as me with the same problem) or the chassis plate is wrong

 

Only thing I can think of is to reposition the plate which means cutting and welding :angry:

 

Dave

[Guest TerryBarry]

Dave'

I picked my kit up June '02 - could be different rack.

Make sure you do not have the lower u/j too far onto the pinion shaft of the rack - this can cause fouling inside the u/j.

I put mine together inserted the clamp bolt and then pulled the u/j up almost as far as it would go - thus got internal clearance.

If you've already visited this "cure" - I'll hush my mouth

Terry

[Guest TerryBarry]

Does this tell you anything

[Guest TerryBarry]

Or This

The white tape is only there so I know when the rack is straight ahead (central)

[Guest daveg]

Terry

 

Thanks for the pics...I'll take a closer look tomorrow. I think your shaft is different but I cannot tell if your rack is different...I'll post a pic tomorrow

 

Dave

[Guest Battery Bill]

Hi Dave

We had tis problem with our rack, we manufactured some aluminium spacers which made the angle more acceptable and it steers nice.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bill.b1/bill/...pages/rack.html

This shows you our spacers.

Cheers Bill

[Guest Phil Slater]

Hi Dave

 

Just to say I had the same problem, but as have others, I've made some ally wedges to raise the front of my rack. They taper down from about 25mm and certainly straighten out the connection with the UJ - it's not a dead straight connection but hopefully it's enough.

 

Phil Slater

[Guest daveg]

Bill, Joey and katie

 

So its not me missing something, RHE really did muck up the chassis alignment!

 

I was going to cut'n shut but maybe I'll copy your idea but have you SVA'ed like that I wonder

 

Dave

[Guest Battery Bill]

Dave

Not yet long way to go yet, but we will.

BJK

[Guest TerryBarry]

My steering seems to work OK as it is, that is - stationary standing with 185.65.14 tyres on painted garage floor.

However - I will make up a couple of wedge spacers (20mm - 0mm) and see what happens.

Do not expect an answer within the next six weeks - it's just been added to the list of "Things to Do"

Terry

[Guest TerryBarry]

I was looking at the angles in the steering shaft u/j's on a Ford Orion - they are horrific compared to my 2B.

What does this mean - I've no bl**dy idea

Terry

[Guest daveg]

Terry

 

It seems to be a common problem with later chassis...my steering shaft will not turn at all because the lower u/j is at such an angle it cannot even turn!

 

As a safety check make sure your steering shaft will turn if you increase the angle slightly, this will mean disconnecting the upper joint temporarily and checking that it isn't borderline. If it is borderline then make wedges (see Bill and Joey's site for excelent pic) otherwise if thermal expansion increases the shaft length a extra couple of mm and the shaft won't rotate you don't want to think of the consequences

 

Dave

[Guest Peter n the better half]

I picked up my 2B Plus in October too and have had the same problem. At first i thought the shaft was too low at the steering wheel end but no it was the angle at the rack. The spacer idea worked for me , but thermal expansion might not be a problem due to the fact that its a sliding column or have i worked this bit out wrong ?

 

rgds Pete C

[Guest daveg]

Peter

 

arrr you spotted my obvious mistate

 

You are right there, but I would fit wedges...made mine yesterday...steering is slightly important

 

Dave

PS Now the rack is higher I have to make the hole bigger in the nose cone infill panel :angry:

[Guest Andy Hamilton]

Crikey, I was hoping that the infill panel would be one of the few panels i wouldn't have to modify greatly, but I forgot about the wedges lifting the rack up. Is there a single panel on the car you don't have to snip? Maybe Richard could reduce the price of his kits again if he didn't provide us with as much waste material

 

I have also done the ally wedge option, take a look at my picture if you need any more ideas

 

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andy_hamilton.../rackwedges.jpg