As long as the steering wheel was not removed from the shaft, and the
steering shaft was not removed from the rack, the relative position of
your steering wheel to the rack will not have changed.
However, you must make sure you bolt the rack back to the chassis such
that it is centrally positioned, otherwise your steering wheel will be
crooked when the wheels are pointed dead ahead. You can make sure the
rack is centrally mounted on the chassis by measuring using reference
points on both sides (I use the distance from those metal "feet" on
each side of the steering rack to the outer edge of the steering rack
mounting area of the chassis). Bolt it down, now you know the steering
rack itself it centralized on the chassis.
As long as everything was dead center when you took the rack mounts off
originally, you should now be in good shape. However, if something is
a bit off, I would suggest you follow the step-by-step process I am
about to lay out. I went through this after taking my steering system
apart (wheel off shaft, shaft disconnected from rack, rack removed from
car, etc) several years ago.
You've got the rack centrally mounted on the chassis. Next step is to
centralize the internal rack mechanism itself. Turn the steering wheel
all the way to one lock. Then count the turns to the other lock.
Halfway between the two is center. As a double check, you can remove
the steering lubrication plug on the rack. If you put a thin Phillips
screwdriver down there and you should feel a recessed "dot" at the
center point of the rack. Now you know the steering rack is fully
centralized. If the wheels aren't pointing straight ahead, you need an
alignment to get the toe set properly.
Now, if you've done step one and two, and the steering wheel isn't
centered, you've got more work to do. There are two reasons why this
could be. A) The steering shaft is not connected in the right position
relative to the rack. B) The steering wheel is not properly
positioned on the shaft.
You can check A by removing the turn signal and headlight escutcheons
and seeing if the cam mechanism on the steering shaft (the one used to
turn off the turn signals when you turn the wheel back) is central.
You want to make sure that when you turn on either turn signal, the
distance (fraction of a turn on the steering wheel) to engage the
signal-cancelling mechanism, is equal for both left and right turns.
Let me digress for a second to explain what I mean by "engaging the
turn signal-cancelling mechanism". If you turn the right turn signal
on, and start turning the wheel to the right, you'll hear a faint
"click" when the turn signal-cancelling mechanism engages. It is now
engaged, such that when you turn the wheel back to the left, the turn
signal will be turned off by the mechanism. The distance from the
starting point (straight ahead) to the engagement ("click") of the turn
signal ,mechanism must be equal for both left and right turns. If this
is not so, you need to disconnect the steering shaft from the rack,
turn the wheel until the shaft is centralized according to the turn
signal canceller cam, and then reconnect the shaft to the rack. At
this point, your rack is physically centered on the chassis, the
internal rack mechanism is centered, and the shaft is properly
positioned on the rack.
Now, if the steering wheel is not pointed straight, you need to pull
the wheel off the shaft and put it back on the shaft such that it's
straight.
Now everything is dead centered. As mentioned previously, if your
wheels aren't pointing in the right direction, it's time to head down
to the local alignment shop.
Tim Holbrook
1971 TR6
--- theedge@cts.com wrote:
> From: theedge@cts.com
> To: 6pack@autox.team.net
> Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2002 21:47:47 -0700
> Subject: solid steering mounts
>
> Well, I am happy to say that I got back to working on my car. My
> fly wheel is being lightened so I needed to finish the steering
> mounts.
> I removed the standard steering mounts and the rubber looked
> good. But I had bought the solid ones.
>
> Question, what is the little round plastic insert on the top of the
> steering axle underneath the mount on the passenger's side?
>
> When I bought the mounts from my LBC mechanic, Randy Zoeller,
> he reworked the solid mount on that side so a piece of rubber with a
> hose clamp can hold that insert in.
>
> When the mounts were off, I saw that the steering wheel moved
> quite freely. I would think that the tow in would not be effected
> when the mounts are replaced. But how do you align the front
> wheels to the steering wheel?
> Could the lock-to-lock travel not be centered if I moved the steering
>
> wheel while the mounts were loose?
>
> Thanks in advance.
> Alan
>
> =====================
> Alan & Debbie Lindner
> theedge@cts.com
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