heavy steering
Discussion
is the steering on wedges 350i always so bloody heavy i feel that i need arms like tug boats to operate it (a lot heavier than the chim). when its got the front end jacked up its very light ,ie able to spin the steering wheel with one finger ,so that rules out siezed joints, but with the weight back on the wheels its a right pig ,standard tyres 205/60/15 and no power steering, the chimeara was really nimble on the move but this is heavy . are they all like this and has anyone done a power steering conversion themselves.
No problems here without power steering.
Was surprised how 'light' it was when I drove the car prior to buying.
It was not as light as an TVR S I drove before.
Ok, in the being I thought it was heavy also but it worked out as only during parking. Greased the whole lot this year, and it is now very light and precise at speed (say above 20 mph).
Heavy steering can be all joints (and when the front is lifted it can be light with worn joints as well), wide tyres, low tyre pressure, and also the wheel alignment.
Conclusion: don't park, just drive at +20mph?
Rob
Was surprised how 'light' it was when I drove the car prior to buying.
It was not as light as an TVR S I drove before.
Ok, in the being I thought it was heavy also but it worked out as only during parking. Greased the whole lot this year, and it is now very light and precise at speed (say above 20 mph).
Heavy steering can be all joints (and when the front is lifted it can be light with worn joints as well), wide tyres, low tyre pressure, and also the wheel alignment.
Conclusion: don't park, just drive at +20mph?
Rob
Double check your bottom ball-joints as with the car fully jacked up the spring will take out any slack / friction. If you jack up the front suspension on the bottom joint you'll then be able to feel any slack in the bottom joint.
My steering used to be very heavy, I then fitted power steering, which helped considerably, then 2 weeks after that the bottom ball joint fell apart - fortunatly at only 20 mph. When I replaced everything (all joints after that little scare) the steering was much lighter again.
Matt
My steering used to be very heavy, I then fitted power steering, which helped considerably, then 2 weeks after that the bottom ball joint fell apart - fortunatly at only 20 mph. When I replaced everything (all joints after that little scare) the steering was much lighter again.
Matt
ssc1 said:
well thats it then bloody heavy steering ,and i noticed that you have a strange spoiler fitted to your wedge (390se) and that it looks like the one i have just fitted on mine , a german make i think, looks good though.
That'll be the Zender then
One of those items that, depending on who you talk to, was a 390-only item, an option on 350 or 390, or a Halfords special as fited to countless Fords 
If it was the latter, it must be a hell of a coincidence that they have the same bootlid width and curvature then... I also 'understand' (read: repeat parrot-fashion) that the factory copied the Zender in GRP (the genuine item is a foam moulding): maybe if yours is GRP this could be true?
Ian
yeh this one is a zender as well and made of foam covered with plastic , i had to make a small hole in it for the electric ariel , and i notice that there is a green 350i in the classifieds with the same spoiler fitted and personaly i think it looks better than the other type fitted to the se's, and as for the heavy steering perhaps i have some joints to change cos it does feel very heavy compared to a non pas chimp.hope your car is sorted now ian.....
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