steering rack blues

[dbebb55]

Hey kids... I've got the front end of the car jacked up to some brake work and as I turn the steering wheel, it moves smoothly for a short distance, then gets kinda tight, then moves freely again. The transition from smooth to tight is very jerky. It does this in both directions. The car doesn't seem to steer correctly above 70mph, very twitchy at speed. This is a two owner problem, as the previous owner has a 93 with the same problems. We both have new well balanced tyres on the front and ball joints,etc seem to be fine.Should we looking at the steering rack or the universals in the steering column? Any thoughts????
Dave
90SE
Ryan
93

[jk1]

Sounds like a pretty good diagnosis to me. Here's a link for rebuilding the rack if it turns out that's the culprit.

www.lotuscolorado.com/vulcangrey/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Steering-rack-rebuild

Cheers,
Jim

[dbebb55]

Jim... Thanks for the link. Looks like it might be above my mech. ability. Probably a new one is the way to go. Hope the price doesn't give me a heart attack.
Thanks again
Dave
90SE

[h2dca]

The rack going from smooth to hard sounds like the Universal joint, had this problem before, I would start here before touching the rack. As per the other issue see the link below, symptoms sound the same.

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=105875&f=17&h=0

Best regards
Hamish

[wedg1e]

I found that the lower clamp bolt (actually the nut, it's deeper than the bolt head) on the bottom steering column joint was just clipping the chassis at a certain point. Adjustment involved slackening off everything, then levering the column to a point where the bolt cleared and nipping everything back up.

Ian

[dbebb55]

Hamish, Ian: Thanks for your input. The universals seem to be fine..I think. The lower steady bearing is kinda sloppy. I'll replace that if I do the rack. I don't see any rubbing as it passes through the body of the car. I'm getting a quote from SJ for a rack. I'm not comfortable rebuilding mine. Looks kinda complicated, altough I could save a couple pounds{dollars} if I went that route. I'm open to suggestions.
By the way, your Lotus pics look great...Black is the correct color for a Lotus.
Dave
90SE