Steering not self Centering

[Tyre Tread]

I was out for a drive yesterday and noticed that the steering doesn't seem to be self centering.

My initial thought was whether it's likely to be the steering rack needing rebuilding (60K miles) but then thought the usual symptom for the rack going is it starts to leak and I've not seen any sign of that.

The other options that occur to me are maybe the column UJs getting stiff or tracking out (unlikely although I did change the top ball joints a couple of months ago but hadn't noticed any issues since then until yesterday)

Has anybody else had this issue? What caused it?

Any other things I should check? (All steering joints and rubber boots I guess)

[robsco]

I would bet it is the UJs. If the Chim is set up like the Cerb, they are external from the wheel arch and I don’t believe they had a gaiter from factory, meaning all the detritus gets caught up in the joint.

[SMB]

Self cantering is affected by caster angles, which on a chim is impacted by the top ball joint location. If the steering is otherwise free and easy to turn I would suggest you make sure you fitted the adjustment blocks back in the original places.

[s p a c e m a n]

Mine got a bit bound up and wouldn't self centre properly after I refitted the steering column, it was the UJs and cleaning them up fixed it. I could feel it getting tight at certain points as I turned the steering wheel though, if you can't feel that then I'd look at the camber/castor too.

[Steve_D]

On almost every body lift we do we replace the steering column bottom bearing and also its housing. The factory housing is plastic and distorts when bolted into the body allowing even more water to enter and rust the bearing.
I have also had the top bearing break up which made it very stiff but also 'notchy' which has not been mentioned.

Steve

[phazed]

Might be simply worth checking the tracking.

These cars only run a few minutes of toe in but that is quite critical. If you are running slight toe out it will have less of a tendency to self centre.

[bobfather]

So many answers, I say column UJ's are your first point of call, they are unprotected needle bearing joints in the wheel arch. At 70k miles I'm on my third set. They start to seize due to bearing oxidation and road crud grinding, the first sign of trouble is a resistance to rotate that causes the steering to fail to self centre. I added gaiters to mine last time I changed them. If you do go down this route you'll find there are different UJ's depending on whether you have PAS or not

[Tyre Tread]

Thanks for thoughts so far.

It's too hot to get out in the garage right now but as soon as it cools down I'll be checking all of these.

[Classic Chim]

My stiffness was uj’s.
If you find an easy way to replace them please advise.
I can never get my steering arm connected at both ends without first loosening rack bolts out forward about 10 mm or as far as I dare to gain some clearance.

It’s important to get the orientation of the UJ’s correct so when steering is centred joints are not stressed. As straight as possible basically. Take pics of your original positions and mark them and steering bar so they line up. Pulling it all apart again 3 times to move them and get steering wheel central is a nightmare. Some people say just re centre steering wheel position but then the rack is not central on the shaft. Wear will occur imho
Pita.

[bobfather]

Classic Chim said:

My stiffness was uj’s.
If you find an easy way to replace them please advise.
I can never get my steering arm connected at both ends without first loosening rack bolts out forward about 10 mm or as far as I dare to gain some clearance.

It’s important to get the orientation of the UJ’s correct so when steering is centred joints are not stressed. As straight as possible basically. Take pics of your original positions and mark them and steering bar so they line up. Pulling it all apart again 3 times to move them and get steering wheel central is a nightmare. Some people say just re centre steering wheel position but then the rack is not central on the shaft. Wear will occur imho
Pita.

I can push the cockpit column part way back into the car, with all three other splines fully inserted there's space to insert the last one. Then it's just a case of jiggling them so that the locking bolts slide into their groves

[Classic Chim]

My top section does not budge unless there’s a trick to it!
Interesting.

[Zener]

You may of had the steering lock engaged

[Classic Chim]

Not when I’m doing it. Are we saying if you remove steering shaft my steering column upper shaft should freely move in and out with no other fixings removed?

[bobfather]

Classic Chim said:

Not when I’m doing it. Are we saying if you remove steering shaft my steering column upper shaft should freely move in and out with no other fixings removed?

My upper shaft moves back a small amount, just enough to engage the last spline. I have no idea if this is normal, perhaps it's a TVR thing, mine could have been built wrong

[Classic Chim]

bobfather said:

My upper shaft moves back a small amount, just enough to engage the last spline. I have no idea if this is normal, perhaps it's a TVR thing, mine could have been built wrong

I wish mine would move

[Steve_D]

Classic Chim said:

I wish mine would move

It will move its just very stiff = no play.

Steve