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TR2/3/3A TR3 steering Latest

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M

markctr3

Senior Member
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TR3 steering up-date

I found out the problem with the excessive play in my steering. I rebuilt the entire steering box (with the exception of the worm gear) and bought all of the parts from Moss. As it turns out, the bearings and the race simply don't fit. The bearings are too big for the race and never seated properly. I ended up using the new race and the old bearings--which were in pretty good shape. Now the steering is quite a bit better, although not as good as i had hoped. We'll see once I get it on the road.

Someone told me that there's a lot of crap being sold out there and I'm starting to believe it.
 
Re: TR3 steering up-date

What puzzles me is how you could adjust the steering box and not notice the problem before reassembling the car. The adjustments are very important if you want as little play as possible, and they are much easier to do right with the box out of the car.

I'm a pretty good mechanic (if I do say so myself), but after trying it both ways, I tell everyone to buy a dial indicator for setting the end play with the shims. My very best "feels perfect" adjustment was off by .004". And you can get a dial indicator & magnetic stand for under $25 at Enco.
 
Re: TR3 steering up-date

I understand your concern. First of all, I do have to point out that I am not a mechanic. I basically know enough to get myself in trouble. What happened with the bearing issue is, I did get the play out, but once I put everything back together and applied torque through the steering wheel into the box, the bearing cage distorted enough to throw everything out of whack. Of course, the real question is, why didn't I notice that the bearings didn't fit in the first place (the answer lies in the second sentence of this post).
 
Re: TR3 steering up-date

TR3driver, do you find that doing all this out of the car with a dial indicator makes the steering noticable better?

After reading all these posts and the ones about a rack and pinion conversion, I have concluded that the rack conversion is not for me due to the control head issue (as much as I love the steering in my TR4A).

Now I am thinking a rebuild of my steering box that I have from my parts car would make a nice winter project up here in the cold white north (got up this morning to a white yard for the first time, I guess I got the cars to storage just in time last Saturday).
 
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