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tighten steering rack

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Wombat

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Hi,

Those lovely vehicle inspectors have found another little problem with my Triumph: the steering rack has too much free play and needs tightening. Other cars I've owned have an obvious screw for doing this, but I can't see one on the Triumph. How do I tighten the steering rack?
 
A more common reason for steering play are worn or mal-adjusted rack bushings. These are the large U-shaped bushings at either end of the rack. Often these are replaced & not installed properly. After putting these in place you must force the clamp over tightly against the bushing to insure there is little or no movement of the rack. Of course there is a special tool for this, but a trick is to turn the wheel full lock & tighten the clamp on the oposite side. You'll see the rack shift to the side you need to tighten. When you turn and hold the wheel the rack will be forced to compress. This will be much easier with a friend turning the wheel & holding it , unless you have really loong arms . Have some one turn the wheel while you check the movement of the rack, if it moves more than a 1/4" I'd say the fault is in the mount bushings either being worn or loose. There are also "solid mount" aluminum rack replacements but I feel for the street these transmit to much vibration through the steering assembly. I don't know where you live but the roads in NY suck.
The racks usually are pretty durable, although they are adjusted with shims & rack damper adjustments. I have never rebuilt a rack so I have no insight other than to read the Bentley or considor a rack replacement if you determan it's worn.
Good luck
 
Wombat:

This looks like a recirculating ball box, I had one in my '88 Range Rover. The factory procedure for adjustment is to lift the front wheels off the ground & tighten the adj. screw or nut slightly. Then try turning the wheel lock to lock too check for binding. It made a world of diff on my Rangie & come to think of it on my dad's '71 F100 pickup too.

This of course is assumming all other mounting brackets & front end pieces are tight & not worn.

Good luck.
 
Hello Wombat,

there are two areas on the 2000 rack, the sleeves at the ends where the rack exits the outer tube wears, replacement is the only cure. The back lash between the rack and pinion is adjusted by removing the big nut where the lubricating nipple is and removing a shim. This is less likely to be a problem. Certainly rack bushes are another aspect already mentioned.

Replaceement racks are quite reasonable in cost here in the U.K. but I don't know what suppliers you have over there.

Alec
 
OOPS! Sorry, Wombat. Disregard my post - TR3 apparently has different steering system (Wish it had rack & pinion).

Mickey
 
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