Heavy steering

[Cushing]

Hi All, Just a quick question, can too much caster cause heavy steering ? I've got 2°25'  

 

Steve

[Vulcan Grey]

Yes,  increasing caster can increase the steering effort.  I'm not sure off hand what the spec is. 

[sailorbob]

If your car pre-dates the suspension change point (from chassis no. '3582 on) then it's within specification as this is 1°45' to 3° (within 0°30' side to side).

[Vulcan Grey]

The steering effort can also change with type of tire, width, pressure.

Steering rack issues, wear, corrosion, binding, can all cause the steering to get heavier.  Also the ball joints and bushings can wear.

I had to rebuild my steering rack many years ago, it was worn and had corrosion, and my car has ZERO rust!  I live in a semi arid climate with no salt.

[Cushing]

Thanks for the input guys, just for the record, I've just re-built the suspension and installed a new rack, it just seemed to be really heavy, OK off the ground. I've now added some shims etc to the front so now ready to take her in for final geo check.

[Vulcan Grey]

oh ok, now I see.  When I rebuilt my rack, it was actually too stiff to move the outer tie-rod ends by hand.  So  new rack will be stiff until it is worn in a bit.

[Cushing]

Yep, I noticed this as well, nice and smooth whilst off the ground, no notching, but really heavy whilst parking etc. thanks for the feedback.

 

Steve

[Jacques]

Please give us a feedback when it lightens up, and if you by then find it satisfactory.

Cheers,

Jacques.

[ragingfool35]

i set mine at 1.5 deg to increase centering on the highway as it spends most time there.  I dont think you could tell the difference at slow speeds as the tires resistance to steering effort is much greater then; camber should make more difference at moderate speeds.  

Yeah the plastic thrust bush that ensures engagement of the rack and pinion can be set too tight.  I've rebuilt my rack twice, each time i had to shim the cover plate to get proper steering effort at rest.  Could be that the kit i used had a plastic bush too long, or was missing cover plate gasket, or my rack is a bit under tolerance, etc

[Andy Esprit SE]

Hi guys, ive just had the best run out in my cars ownership chasing some modern cars round the country lanes, i noted on the annual MOT last week that there is slight play in the steering rack on the kerb side (left uk from drivers seat).

Whilst chasing a ferrari testorossa and a ferrari california i was finding left turns perfect but right turns were quite scary, felt like go garting keeping things in line if thats a good explination?

Ive been googling for ideas on replacing the rack in the future, is a rebuild straight forward? Ive readonable mechanical ability but would pay for a proffessional lazer alighn when sone.

Im going too look for threads on electric power steering as an option to see what peoples thoughts are?

[andydclements]

If the ability to turn isn't equal then I'd suspect that full alignment will mean an adjustment is necessary, as it probably means some of the geometry isn't equal form one side to the other, rather than the play in the rack.

 

As to electric PAS, the Vauxhall electric pump with inbuilt pressure switch is a decent (and readily available option), it's what I'm thinking about for the Excel. As for rack, you'd want to match the lotus one as closely as possible (distance between inner ball joints, length of arms, movement relative to rotation) so you may find the OEM later Lotus one a good way forward.

[Vanya]

10 hours ago, Andy Esprit SE said:

Hi guys, ive just had the best run out in my cars ownership chasing some modern cars round the country lanes, i noted on the annual MOT last week that there is slight play in the steering rack on the kerb side (left uk from drivers seat).

Whilst chasing a ferrari testorossa and a ferrari california i was finding left turns perfect but right turns were quite scary, felt like go garting keeping things in line if thats a good explination?

Ive been googling for ideas on replacing the rack in the future, is a rebuild straight forward? Ive readonable mechanical ability but would pay for a proffessional lazer alighn when sone.

Im going too look for threads on electric power steering as an option to see what peoples thoughts are?

If there's play only to one side isn't it likely to be the ball joint?

Vulcan Grey has some great pics of the rack and its internals, you be the judge of whether you can rebuild it. Otherwise a reconditioned rack isn't too expensive if you exchange your current one. I replaced the rack and both U-joints 2 years back. It's a very very easy job to do, but get a helper and investigate every component in turn for play, so you don't go through the hassle and still have a bit of play left over. Check the rack, lower U-joint, intermediate U-joint and ball joints for play. In my case I had free play to both sides due to worn splines on the intermediate UJ.... 

[Cushing]

Hi all, Just completed geo check on the car and found I'd gone from -2.5° of caster to almost zero, now set at just over -1° and steering is much better. Going to give the new rack a chance to bed in. Thanks for all the input.

 

Steve