• The Roadster Factory Recovery Fund - Friends, as you may have heard, The Roadster Factory, a respected British Car Parts business in PA, suffered a total loss in a fire on Christmas Day. Read about it, discuss or ask questions >> HERE. The Triumph Register of America is sponsoring a fund raiser to help TRF get back on their feet. If you can help, vist >> their GoFundMe page.
  • Hey there Guest!
    If you enjoy BCF and find our forum a useful resource, if you appreciate not having ads pop up all over the place and you want to ensure we can stay online - Please consider supporting with an "optional" low-cost annual subscription.
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this UGLY banner)
Tips
Tips

What are symptoms of steering rack not shimmed right?

Bayless

Yoda
Silver
Country flag
Offline
The last part of assembling the front suspension and steering was the steering column. It works all right but just feels a little stiffer than I expected. The car is still on jack stands but everything else is connected. We have tried to follow the instructions in the Haynes manual but nothing seems to make any difference. This is the rack that was in the car before and the alignment seems right without shims. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. thanks
 

Rut

Obi Wan
Country flag
Offline
Once on the ground it will probably be fine...they don’t like to turn just hanging there.
Rut
 
OP
Bayless

Bayless

Yoda
Silver
Country flag
Offline
Thanks for relieving my worry with that Rut. I also had a moment of brilliance in the middle of the night last night. It occurred that the rack just needs to be "adjusted" so the rigid column fits through the center of the hole in the foot well. DUH! And the Haynes manual wasted nearly half a page of gobble-de-gook trying to avoid explaining that.
 

Jim_Gruber

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
If you mess with the shims that are inside of the rack itself and they aren't right I can attest to the fact that you can lock up the rack. If you did not take that apart, leave well enough alone.

Also the rack clamp bolts need to be of a specific length, I tried replacing those bolts with some Grade 8 bolts that were really close in length and tightened down. However the tightness I felt were the bolts bottoming out on the bottom of the blind hole. Scary to turn the wheel only to see the rack slide from side to side. Use a tap to clean out all of the swarf that is in there and I glued a piece of bicycle inner tube to the inside of the rack clamps. Problem solved.
 

nomad

Yoda
Offline
In my opinion the Spridget rack is very sensitive. The decision was made during design to not spend the money on a shaft U joint. I'm sure cost was the consideration.

Loosen the mounting bolts and see if there is a difference. If there is some experimentation may be in order. As mentioned a little driving will likely loosen things some and maybe require more experimentation.

Kurt
 
OP
Bayless

Bayless

Yoda
Silver
Country flag
Offline
Kurt, I have tried loosening the bolts and other experimenting. Nothing seems to make any difference. It just feels a little stiffer than I expected, not bad but just a little stiff. Maybe Rut is right and all will work out on the ground. You may or may not remember, I got this car in boxes. No two parts were connected, except the rack. It was still in one piece. The only change I have made is to replace the tie rod ends. I think I have figured out that the rack has not rotated in the retainers because the shaft hit the vertical center of the foot well hole. It is a tiny bit to the outside of the horizontal center. That leads me to believe it could use a little shim at the right side bracket. It looks like still several weeks before I can test drive as the next step is to order a 5-speed kit. Don't know how long it might take to get that installed. Hey, I really appreciate all the advice and the encouragement. This is starting to get exciting.
 

Jim_Gruber

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
There is supposed to be a shin underneath the rack mount bracket on the PS of your car. Same thickness as the rack mount and fits between rack mount and frame rail. If missing that could be a problem. Parts are all over at my Sisters house. If I get over there will try and remember to take a picture for you.
 

nomad

Yoda
Offline
As Jim said...shim on the passenger side and I have had to make up an extra shim on that side of about a 1/16 to improve the steering on my white car. The frame rail was dented in on the drivers side so maybe because of accident damage. Never did a really accurate check for damage but nothing that is apparent with diagonal measurement.

Kurt
 
OP
Bayless

Bayless

Yoda
Silver
Country flag
Offline
I'm not completely finished with it yet but as of now I have a washer under the PS and that seems to center the column in the foot well hole.
 

Rhodyspit75

Jedi Knight
Silver
Country flag
Offline
Here’s a picture of the shim. And yes I have two extras. Need one? F21D3D53-F06B-4442-AD35-F0E7D814A894.jpg
 

Jim_Gruber

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
Thats a whole lot better than a couple of washers. A fair amount of stress on that mounting point.
 

nomad

Yoda
Offline
The steering shaft was likely bending a little which is why it wasn't centered through the foot well. You may have to loosen the column when the shim's are fitted. Hard to tell with the rack attached to everything up front but you should have virtually no resistance with no load.

Kurt
 
OP
Bayless

Bayless

Yoda
Silver
Country flag
Offline
Rhody's shim looks a lot thicker than my washers. I think the column is now centered in the hole but will be back at the shop later today and get a close up shot with the camera to be sure. Also, the resistance seems to be all in the rack. It feels the same with the column removed and just turning the pinion. There doesn't seem to be any slack or looseness so I am hoping it just needs oil. I'll report back what I find.
 

Jim_Gruber

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
There are addition shims and adjustments for the rack. Next to where the steering column attached there is a big nut with shins underneath that adjusts rack friction back and forth. There is a procedure in the manual that calls for adding shins in either .010 or .005” increments. They are oval shaped and could be duplicated from hobby copper sheet if needed. And that big nut IIRC also adjusts rack tension. I know I played with it on Bugsy I and got it out of adjustment so the rack actually locked up on me. Not something you want to have happen while driving. Look at the manual, it’s in there.
 
OP
Bayless

Bayless

Yoda
Silver
Country flag
Offline
I finally managed to get a photo good enough to see that the column appears to be pretty well centered. I think any more shim would move it too far right. I have plenty of scraps around to make a proper shim to replace the washers.
 

Attachments

  • ColumnAlign1.jpg
    ColumnAlign1.jpg
    36 KB · Views: 99
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
K TR2/3/3A What are the running symptoms........ Triumph 21
AUSMHLY Bad 1st Motion Shaft or Mainshaft Symptoms Austin Healey 13
G Brake Booster Failure Symptoms Austin Healey 3
Rut MGB Running out of gas symptoms MG 21
charleyf TR4/4A Symptoms with bad condenser Triumph 14
NutmegCT Generator symptoms Other Cars 15
YYCDave Un-Balanced Carb Symptoms Triumph 5
TulsaFred What are the symptoms of worn throttle shafts? Spridgets 9
I end of long drive symptoms Austin Healey 23
T What do these symptoms sound like to you? Triumph 22
T Reversing w/. OD engaged - symptoms? Triumph 14
S TR6 TR6 Blown Head Gasket Symptoms Triumph 14
1 T-Series More clutch failure symptoms MG 25
G Strange XJ6 symptoms Jaguar 5
LastDeadLast Interesting symptoms Triumph 37
JPSmit Beetle Signal Symptoms Other Cars 6
G What are the symptoms of a chain tensioner going.. Triumph 2
M Symptoms in need of a diagnosis Spridgets 18
Woodie failing condensor symptoms Spridgets 28
dklawson Symptoms of Stuck Valve ??? Spridgets 19
Nunyas What are the symptoms of... MG 7
Patton Rocker Arm Clearances too Large Symptoms Austin Healey 5
tr6nitjulius For Sale SOLD 3/7/24: 4$ale Hi-ratio quick steering rack Triumph Classifieds 0
T TR6 Steering Wheel Lock Triumph 2
D Removing the steering wheel hub Spridgets 12
J MGB 1970 MGB Steering Lubrication MG 1
C Steering Arm Castle Nut Torque Austin Healey 5
PAUL161 T-Series TF Steering Rack MG 0
G Steering Disconnected Austin Healey 2
R TR2/3/3A Jammed Steering Box Triumph 10
R TR2/3/3A Steering Box Gaskets Triumph 4
K 1968 Midget Steering wheel Spridgets 1
olarson TR2/3/3A Steering Column Bracket Triumph 2
Guido36 Electric Power Steering Austin Healey 2
Rut MGB 62-67 upper MGB steering shaft MG 3
Editor_Reid Wrapped Steering Wheel Austin Healey 9
E TR6 Strange Steering Rack Cap Triumph 3
B TR4/4A Steering Wheel Hub Issues Triumph 0
K TR2/3/3A Who sells steering wheel control head "Allen head'' grub screws? Triumph 5
S TR6 Steering question you will not hear every day Triumph 1
T "Flashpower" Steering Wheels Austin Healey 3
EWD For Sale ‘74 TR6 original steering wheel Triumph Classifieds 0
S SOLD!! Mike Lempert 15" slotted Derrington Steering Wheel Austin Healey Classifieds 1
M Midget steering column Spridgets 3
kodpkd Leather Steering Wheel Cover Austin Healey 3
JAV For Sale non adjustable steering box Austin Healey Classifieds 3
S Steering Wheel Brand Austin Healey 5
71TR6 TR6 Replaced steering rack in my TR6- very twitchy now Triumph 15
B TR4/4A What is this Steering Wheel Center? Triumph 6
M MGA RHD twin cam steering pinion MG 0

Similar threads

Top