Steering wheel alignement
Discussion
I'm planning to get the refurbished steering rack back in this weekend. Once everything else is done I'll have the steering alignement done properly, but is there any trick to ensuring that the steering wheel spokes are correctly aligned?
I was thinking that I'd set it up so the spokes are horizontal/vertical and lock it in position and then put the track rod ends on with the same number of turns each side?
I was thinking that I'd set it up so the spokes are horizontal/vertical and lock it in position and then put the track rod ends on with the same number of turns each side?
Logic would tell you that if your centralise the steering rack to the addle of its travel, and then assemble the steering joints and shafts so that the steering wheel was also central, and then put the track rods on with the same amount of turns each side, you would then have the front wheels also centralised.
Logic tells you that.
This is a TVR. Take logic, and throw it away.
When I replaced my rack, I did all of the above, but when I was finished, the front right wheel had toe out, and the left wheel had toe in - in other words, the whole system was turned a few degrees to the right. Must have the rack off centre eh?
Use a bit of card and a pointer at the steering wheel, to centre the rack exactly between the two ends of travel. Nope, the wheel and everything else is straight...
So I ended up turning one track rod in by a turn, and one out by a turn, to equalise the front wheel alignment, and then set up the properly from there.
Don't seem to have any "bump steer" so I'm leaving it like that.
The other option would have been to take the whole steering shaft back off and turn it by one spline at the rack end (the only place where you have that fine adjustment without risking putting the two steering UJs slightly "out of phase"), so that the rack was slightly off-centre but the balljoints both went on with the same number of turns. That's probably the right way to do it, but for the sake of one single thread on the arms, I couldn't be arsed.
Logic tells you that.
This is a TVR. Take logic, and throw it away.
When I replaced my rack, I did all of the above, but when I was finished, the front right wheel had toe out, and the left wheel had toe in - in other words, the whole system was turned a few degrees to the right. Must have the rack off centre eh?
Use a bit of card and a pointer at the steering wheel, to centre the rack exactly between the two ends of travel. Nope, the wheel and everything else is straight...
So I ended up turning one track rod in by a turn, and one out by a turn, to equalise the front wheel alignment, and then set up the properly from there.
Don't seem to have any "bump steer" so I'm leaving it like that.
The other option would have been to take the whole steering shaft back off and turn it by one spline at the rack end (the only place where you have that fine adjustment without risking putting the two steering UJs slightly "out of phase"), so that the rack was slightly off-centre but the balljoints both went on with the same number of turns. That's probably the right way to do it, but for the sake of one single thread on the arms, I couldn't be arsed.
Hi
The ball joints don't do any thing to centralise the steering, they are there to adjust the toe / tracking, you should centralise the rack, don't expect both track rod ends to be the same number of turns, one or two out is quite normal.
One thing is to check the cancellation of the indicators, some have a metal piece on the column rod and some work from a notch on the steering wheel boss, so the column may also need to be set as well.
Alan
The ball joints don't do any thing to centralise the steering, they are there to adjust the toe / tracking, you should centralise the rack, don't expect both track rod ends to be the same number of turns, one or two out is quite normal.
One thing is to check the cancellation of the indicators, some have a metal piece on the column rod and some work from a notch on the steering wheel boss, so the column may also need to be set as well.
Alan
magpies said:
although I have a reasonable idea - could you describe what to check to make sure the joints are 'in phase' ?
Sorry, missed this.There are 3 main bits here - the rack (with splined input), the steering column (which in our case has a triangular end on it so only 3 points of adjustment) and an intermediate shaft with a universal joint on each end (both of which are splined so loads of adjustment).
Each Uj has a yoke on the shaft, and then a second yoke on either the rack or the column. Those UJs should be lined up so that the yokes closest to each other (i.e. on the ends of the intermediate shaft) are lined up along the axis of the shaft. In our case, that means lining up the openings for the pinch bolts so that they are opposite each other, along the shaft.
If the UJs are out of phase, you can get either premature wear of the UJ bearings, or binding or "notchiness" in the steering.
Because the last bit to be connected (to the column) has limited adjustment in our cars, that means that if your steering wheel is off-centre when the wheels are straight, you should really disconnect the shaft at the rack end and turn it by a spline or two there, and then put it together and try again.
In practice, being "out" by a spline or two shouldn't make a big difference, so knocking the top joint off and turning that by a spline, should be ok. Normally.
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