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TR6 "Notchy" feel in steering. TR6

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Gordo

Jedi Hopeful
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Took the car out for a nice ride yesterday after the replacing the clutch. I'm happy to say the Gunst/Luk combination seems to be working very well. Did about 100 miles on Sunday.

During the drive, I gradually noticed that the steering seemed very "notchy" at the wheels straight ahead position. I think it required a higher amount of force to move off the notch. The steering is still spot on, tight and accurate with full deflection in both directions, that's why I continued to drive it. But, I still don't like the feel of it. The front end has Nylatron bushings, lowered springs from Good Parts and new trunnions, upper rubber steering link, ball joints and tie rod ends all about 2 years old and maybe 500 miles.

Any of you guys ever rebuild a rack? There can't be $250 worth of parts and labor in this thing. Or if you think it may be something I'm overlooking, fire away.

Gordo
 
How are your steering rack mount bushings? Have someone sit in the car and turn the wheel while you watch the steering rack. If it jumps around or slides back and forth a bit when the wheel turns then its time for new bushings. If they are still rubber, now is a good time to replace them with solid or poly versions. The difference in steering feel is amazing compared to rubber mounts there.
 
I just installed a newly rebuilt steering unit from TRF. Pricey, yes, but night and day the steering ease and response.

For what it's worth.

Also, check to see if the pinch clamp that holds your steering column onto the rack is not slipping. Can you pull back on the steering wheel and get any movement at all?

Also, never make the mistake of trying one of those quick steer units, the ones that drop the steering wheel turns from 3.5 to 2.5. You will hate it. Makes parking and slow speed turning something for Popeye. And lane changes at speed are scary.
 
Suprising thing is that the 12:1 steering ratio of the TR3 yields 2-1/4 turns lock to lock according to the service manual.
 
PeterK said:
Suprising thing is that the 12:1 steering ratio of the TR3 yields 2-1/4 turns lock to lock according to the service manual.
Click to expand...

And the TR3 doesn't have rack and pinion steering, does it? But it does have a somewhat larger steering wheel and narrower tires. I dunno, I remember that my TR3 was relatively easy to steer, even at low speed. Of course, that I owned it 35 years ago and I had much larger guns back then.
 
It has worm & peg steering and a large (`16") wheel for more leverage but always has been tough to steer from a standing start. Once you get it moving though, it's easy enough to steer, nice and tight, not twitchy at all.

Never had guns and never needed them to steer either!
 
"You can't know how unless you've done it yourself ... the second time I think I actually did it right!"

Peter, It had to be the third time. No one even looks at the manual until the third time, sometimes even the fourth.
 
Paul,

I've been at this for a long time.

I started when I was 16 working in a dune buggy shop in the 60's. My job was to pull VW engines and disassemble them, clean up the parts for the guy that rebuilt them. After a few months I was doing 3-angle valve jobs. I don't think there was even a book for that stuff. Use a tape measure and cut a VW pan apart then section it and weld it back together and drop a fiberglass body on it.

But as I got a little wiser, I learned the value to reading first. Saves a lot of re-do time too. But it still takes mistakes to learn and get it right.

You know ..."On my next car, I'm gonna ...get it right the first time" (by reading the manual FIRST!)

And I've got one of those quick ratio racks on my 4A. So where's that put me?
 
TR6BILL Of course said:
much larger guns[/b] back then.
Click to expand...
bigguns.jpg


Well, not quite that big.
 
yeah....

And I was dating Raquel Welch when I was 18. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif
 
That's what I call Power Steering.


And, really?, you dated Rachel! So did I!!





I had a way with women.

It cost a lot, but it was a way.
 
Mine was doing exactly the same thing. Turned out to be the pinch bolt -the locknut was tight, but not the pinch bolt. I found it while replacing the flexible coupler. I could hold the steering colum from rotating while turning the wheel with my other hand and feel the click.
 
Hello Gordo,

the effect you describe is almost certainly to be a tight joint in your steering column, the ones like a drive shaft universal joint. Except the steering column ones don't have any bearings. You could try spraying with penetrating oil and working the joint(s) to free it up.

Alec
 
I troubleshot this down to the rack by disconnecting each component.
1. Right tierod end to eliminate balljoint and trunnion.
2. Left tierod end to eliminate balljoint and trunnion.
3. Lower ujoint (free and flexible, no binding) to eliminate upper column.
4. Removed rack and found inner tierods to be very tight.Rebuilt/reset to factory specs.
5. Disassembled rack. Found upper and lower pinion bushing to be out of round by .030. And heavy wear on the thrust washers here. Pinion gear itself was in excellant condtion. The book doesn't call out a lateral tolerance but only end float. Replaced bushings and thrust washers, set end float.
Set lateral float of .006 on rack by shimming. It appears the DPO had removed some shims in an attempt to "tighten" the steering and had the rack binding in the tube.
6. Installed in car and found a very smooth rotation from lock to lock. I will drive the car Saturday afternoon after I get done balancing the tires.

Gordo
 
Well, I drove it this afternoon and must say I'm pleased to a point. The steering is no longer notchy. Very smooth from lock to lock.

Now what I'm not happy about is the rubber bushings have got to go. The rack is sliding about 1/4 - 3/16 total travel.

We have two choices, solid or poly. What are the pros and cons of each?

Gordo
 
Today I installed the Richard Goode solid mounts and I am completely satisfied with my steering now. Very nice feel and not too much road traveling up the column. Now to the alignment shop and on to another project.

Gordo
 
Today I installed the Richard Goode solid mounts and I am completely satisfied with my steering now. Very nice feel and not too much road traveling up the column. Now to the alignment shop and on to another project.

Gordo
 
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