Steering column bush mod - deep joy
Discussion
Just like the man says on the wedgepages - £15 very well spent to replace horrid nasty plasticky rubbery bushes with nice shiny RS proper proper bulkhead bearing and transformed driving experience. Fantastic mod. Trouble is I have also now discovered that my column is bent. This results in a kind of concentric motion when you turn a corner...the steering wheel heads to the nearside, then the roof, then the offside...and down to the floor. Most odd. Anyone know if you can still get new column shafts? 
Wedgie you might be right and I might be a silly ar*e after all...when you say 'out of round' do you mean 'off centre' ? I mean the wheel is round, but scribes a kind of oval arc as you turn it (the whole column moves, not just the wheel). So, could it be that when I have fitted the new bulkhead bush that it is off centre-line with the column so that when you tighten the new bearing housing it tries to skew the shaft inside the outer column? if you get what I'm saying....
When i fitted the new bearing housing into the bulkhead I was careful to keep its centreline as close to the original as possible and made the hole just the right size for the housing to sit in - but in hindsight maybe it should have some space around it to allow it to self-centre when the column was re-fitted, before it is fixed firmly to the bulkhead?
When i fitted the new bearing housing into the bulkhead I was careful to keep its centreline as close to the original as possible and made the hole just the right size for the housing to sit in - but in hindsight maybe it should have some space around it to allow it to self-centre when the column was re-fitted, before it is fixed firmly to the bulkhead?
Early wedges like mine are TR7 columns which have no adjustment. Did the later SD1 columns adjust for reach at all? I would really like my wheel a bit further out (no I don't have short arms..just very long legs 
and I suppose if all else fails I could convert mine to the SD1 set-up? Has anyone done this and are there any real advantages? Rimmers have a supply new columns & switches for the SD1 but are they the right ones for a wedge?
and I suppose if all else fails I could convert mine to the SD1 set-up? Has anyone done this and are there any real advantages? Rimmers have a supply new columns & switches for the SD1 but are they the right ones for a wedge? sprevett said:
Early wedges like mine are TR7 columns which have no adjustment. Did the later SD1 columns adjust for reach at all? I would really like my wheel a bit further out (no I don't have short arms..just very long legs and I suppose if all else fails I could convert mine to the SD1 set-up? Has anyone done this and are there any real advantages? Rimmers have a supply new columns & switches for the SD1 but are they the right ones for a wedge?
and I suppose if all else fails I could convert mine to the SD1 set-up? Has anyone done this and are there any real advantages? Rimmers have a supply new columns & switches for the SD1 but are they the right ones for a wedge?The SD1 column adjusts for rake and reach. Should be more or less a straight swap but you may have to modify/ make a new hanging bracket for the column.
sprevett said:
Just like the man says on the wedgepages - £15 very well spent to replace horrid nasty plasticky rubbery bushes with nice shiny RS proper proper bulkhead bearing and transformed driving experience. Fantastic mod. Trouble is I have also now discovered that my column is bent. This results in a kind of concentric motion when you turn a corner...the steering wheel heads to the nearside, then the roof, then the offside...and down to the floor. Most odd. Anyone know if you can still get new column shafts?
So with this mod do we move from perambulator to real car feel? Where do we get hold of the bushes?
All you need is the bulkhead bearing which is available from RS Components and costs about £13 - it is an SKF sealed bearing kit and their stock number is 755390. If you want to do the column bushes at the same time, which makes sense, they are available from Rimmer Bros part number FAM2406 and you need two. They cost about £3 each. Note however that these parts are for the early wedge with TR7 column. If you have a later SD1 column the bearing mod can still be done but you need to have a sleeve made up for the shaft because they are different diameter. I assume column bushes will be different too. Yes - rickety old pram becomes smooth buggy - a very noticeable difference in feel altogether. don't forget there is a 'how to' article posted on the wedge pages maintenance section which you need to print off.
don't forget there is a 'how to' article posted on the wedge pages maintenance section which you need to print off.mine is 84 so I would guess so, yes. One way to tell if you have the TR7 column is to lift the driver's side carpet behind the pedals and look at the bush mounting where the steering column goes thru the bulkhead - if it is square with 4 screws fixing it then it's TR7. I believe the SD1 column mounting has only 2 screws.
sprevett said:
mine is 84 so I would guess so, yes. One way to tell if you have the TR7 column is to lift the driver's side carpet behind the pedals and look at the bush mounting where the steering column goes thru the bulkhead - if it is square with 4 screws fixing it then it's TR7. I believe the SD1 column mounting has only 2 screws.
The switchgear is another clue: if the main headlamp switch is on the l/h side of the column rather than the centre console it'd be SD1. Also the SD1 column is adjustable whereas the TR7 isn't.
andgus said:
Is there a "How to.." on this operation, changing the bush I mean?
It was the square with four screws b t w.
It was the square with four screws b t w.
Off the top of my head...
1. remove switchgear shrouds
2. unplug switchgear
3. remove o/s front wheel (not strictly necessary but would improve access - jacking car up first would be a good idea)
3. disconnect universal joint in o/s wheelarch
4. remove bolts holding column to support bracket
5. remove bush from floor
6. install new bush
7. reassemble car
8. drive it.
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