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TR6 Steering c olumn clearance

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pdplot

Yoda
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Unlike any other TR6 I've seen, my steering column rubs against the firewall. Most of the others I've seen have at least 1/2" or more of clearance. I was told to loosen and rotate the steering rack upwards to increase the gap. I'm leery about fooling with the steering. Is this something I should be doing?
 
Are you talking about the lower steering column (Moss 854-255) just forward of the flexible coupling (Moss667-390) ?
If that's the case..then your steering rack does need rotation so the whole column is in a straight line from the steering rack's splined pinion shaft, thru That U-joint (Moss 667-295), and all the way up to the upper steering column.

Because of that U-joint it is possible to misalign the rack to the steering column and beside what you've encountered, a misalignment puts excessive strain on the flexible coupling which eventually creates splits between the rubber and metal inserts in the coupling.
 
Yes, that's the lower column that rubs against the firewall to the left of the battery box where it takes a turn from the vertical to the horizontal. I'd post a picture but I don't know how. The entire shaft appears to be in a straight line from the flexible coupling down to the u-joint and into the steering box.It's not obviously misaligned. My steering wheel also has a small bit of vertical play in it.
 
You can loosen the mounting bolts under the dash, not much fun being on your back with minimal clearance, but there is some adjustment built into the design, and as long as you snug it back down it should be as safe as when you started. Mine looks to have a good half inch or so of clearance. Any reason to think the car has had any accident damage or anything that would throw things out of alignment?
 
No signs of that. Front end looks fine except grill has no cross bar. I'll check our the under dash mount as best I can with my 82-year old back. Ouch..
 
pdplot said:
Yes, that's the lower column that rubs against the firewall to the left of the battery box where it takes a turn from the vertical to the horizontal. I'd post a picture but I don't know how. The entire shaft appears to be in a straight line from the flexible coupling down to the u-joint and into the steering box.It's not obviously misaligned. My steering wheel also has a small bit of vertical play in it.
Click to expand...

Because of that U-joint, it's harder to determine actual misalignment...the U-joint compensates for "misalignment"..that's what they do.
 
OK. I'll bite the bullet and crawl under the dash and try to adjust the bracket. I only hope I don't get stuck under there. Not much room. If that doesn't work - which it probably won't - then I'll try to align the steering rack. If that doesn't work - %^%$# it. It's been that way for at least 20-plus years.
 
I took one look under there, read the manual and gave up. Let the next owner worry about it. U-joints are all perfect, shaft looks in alignment and car steers great. Why look for trouble.
 
Paul
Just bring it over to the house and I will rotate the rack for you, it is an easy job as long as the bolts are not frozen on the threads.
If we keep the wheels straight and don't turn the steering wheel nothing will go bad with the alignment
 
Tom loosened the rack and rotated it upwards a bit. The steering column now clears the bulkhead but barely. We think the shaft could be pushed further into the u-joint which would bring the shaft forward and increase the clearance even more. The shaft was straight though. Since the steering column had some side play in it, while poking around under the dash he discovered a bracket(TRF #28 & Moss #128) had been cut off and never replaced, causing the trafficator/light stalk assembly to rotate back and forth and adding to the looseness of the column. This bracket is apparently NLS. Anyone have any idea where I might find one? The only thing available is the felt strip where the bolts go through. What would anyone cut off this piece?
 
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