anyone know about steering. please help.

[bakes_1973]

pas was knackered - took to a non-tvr garage to get sorted. previous owner had put engine oil in the pas. nice! this screwed the pump and rack.....£1000+ later i have a new pump and rack.

the problem:

since getting the car back the steering wheel is about 30-40 degrees of centre when driving in a straight line (very annoying and and ruining the driving experience). have spoken to the mechanic and he has said that tvr will not give out the settings - thus tough shite! and im sure there's a little bit of play in the wheel that wasn't there before.

is this guy right or have i been done?
is there a simple(cheap) way of getting this sorted?

thanks

[tvrbob]

You've been had. This guy is taking the p*ss. TVR do not refuse to give out this type of information. The steering wheel position is simply shoddy workmanship. Play the heavy hand you have nothing to loose. Have it checked out by another and ask for a report then present the report to a local solicitor. First consultation is usually free. I thing you need a refund. The garage were not acting professionally taking work they were unable to do.

[The Bodyman]

The setting for the front tracking should be parell.

Jon

www.tvrbodyrepairs.com

[shpub]

TVR will give out the settings. They are also in the Bible 2 as are the procedures for setting up the geometry and realigning the steering wheel.

Looks like either he has refitted the steering wheel or not balanced the track rod arms so that they are central before setting the toe or not set up the geometry.

You can either remove and refit the steering wheel but I would suspect that the steering toe is all out or get the car set up first before realigning the steering. If the settings are not done, you will wear out the tyres PDQ...

Front track: 20 minutes toe in.
Front camber: 1/2° to 1° negative (ideal is 3/4°)
Rear track: 20 minutes toe in.
Rear camber: 1/2° to 1° negative (ideal is 3/4°)

I would go back and get this osrted.


Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk


>> Edited by shpub on Tuesday 8th April 09:24

[bakes_1973]

the mechanic (performance autos!!) said it was a bugger to get the steering wheel off (and in attempting to do so managed to scratch it quite nicely). would this make it more difficult to align the steering wheel with the wheels?


thanks for your help. i cant tell you how much it has put me off driving it - which is gutting!

you guys reckon the best course of action is to get a report done by a (steering specialist or a TVR garage?) and see what they say. and progress from there.

[shpub]

Removing the steering wheel just takes a bit of strength and technique as the spline is tapered and is hard to remove without a bit of welly and rocking it. The mistake is to use a puller which will scratch/damage the wheel usually while leaving it there. The fixing is splined so you can reposition the wheel to with a few degrees but I think they have simply screwed up the job, got the alignment wrong and not bothered to spend the bit of time it takes to set the thing up correctly.

[GreenV8S]

You don't need to take the steering wheel off. The problem is almost certainly caused by the splined joint in one of the steering column UJs being put together out of alignment. The best way to straighten it out is to separate the splined joint again and put it back together with the wheel straight. Since it hs been dismantled recently you shouldn't have any trouble doing this.

[shpub]

Trust me... it is easier to realign the steering wheel....

>> Edited by shpub on Tuesday 8th April 13:12

[marco]

WORLDS GREATEST TIP FOLLOWS ...

If you try to get the steering wheel off undo the nut but do not wind it all the way off. Leave it threaded loosley onto the shaft so that when you pull the wheel with the force of Thor to remove it it doesn't fly off and hit you in the face.

Don't ask how I know this



Marco

[The Bodyman]

If you were take your Chimaera to a garage with four wheel alignment, the steering wheel can stay on in its central possition and tracking will be set on the track rod ends. We take ours to our local Toyota dealership who has this type of equipment and charge £47.50 +vat

Jon
www.tvrbodyrepairs.com

>> Edited by The Bodyman on Tuesday 8th April 13:30

>> Edited by The Bodyman on Tuesday 8th April 13:31

>> Edited by The Bodyman on Tuesday 8th April 13:41

[incorrigible]

Check you've got the same amount of turns to the left lock as the right lock

If you have, the steering wheel's on crooked (or adjust at the UJs) although I suspect that it's a combination of this and the track rods being wound in too much on one side and too little on the other

Any place that does tracking should straighten the steering wheel before adjusting the track rod ends, but the cheaper ones won't check (they'll just assume that whoever put the rack on knew what they were doing)

[ribol]

Assuming your mechanic(?) has not had the steering wheel off I would not touch it. If it was all ok and straight before the rack was done then this must be the only bit this bloke has not messed up. You need to correct the problem which is obviously at the rack end.

Anything you pay out to resolve this should be coming from the mechanic(?)

Ivan