After hearing of this, and other issues, would you guys, and this
includes you Tom Hall, like to do a comprehensive article on the issue
of the front cross member, the problems and solutions.
I had not though of this issue before, but am sure there are other
issues that I, an others have not thought of as well.
So, is this a doable?
Larry
TIGEROOTES@aol.com wrote:
>TRIPPEL@peoplepc.com writes:
>
>
>
>>Jim,
>>
>>BTW, Our racecar is running the column you rebuilt. It's working great!
>>
>>Come to think of it, we had a problem after we installed the steering
>>system. (We'd also replaced the tie rod ends, ball joints &went through the
>>
>>
>rack.)
>
>
>> The Tiger was in the air on jack-stands and the guy who drives the car in
>>races for us came by to look at our progress. He wiggled the steering wheel
>>and announced, "This is too stiff. I don't think I can feel the tires with
>>
>>
>it
>
>
>>this stiff." I wiggled the wheel &it felt ok to me.
>>
>> At first I thought he was nuts but (in part to humor him) I decided to
>>see if I could find something wrong. I started to remove the rack and
>>discovered that the steering had freed up. I couldn't believe it so I
>>
>>
>tightened it
>
>
>>back down and again the steering got stiffer. Tightening the rack mounting
>>bolts caused binding.
>>
>>I removed the rack and used a good straightedge to discover that the rack
>>mounts were not in the same plane. They were angled inward about .025". I
>>
>>
>got
>
>
>>out a long flat hand file without a handle. I rested the hand end on one
>>mount as a guide and filed on the other mount. After a couple minutes I
>>
>>
>turned
>
>
>>the file around and worked on the other mount. In about 10 minutes I had
>>
>>
>both
>
>
>>surfaces correct and remounted the rack. Steering was then easy.
>>
>>I recounted this to Tom Hall who told me he's seen it before. I think his
>>solution was to put washers under one side. He tightened down the side with
>>the washers but left the mounting bolts on the other side loose.
>>
>>I'm passing this along in case you have not heard it before with the thought
>>that some of your other customers could also run into the same problem.
>>
>>Buck Trippel
>>
>>
>>
>
>Buck,
> I had not heard of that particular problem, but I had a similar issue
>with my Tiger that happened from 6 seasons on the track. My front crossmember
>developed the usual cracks and it had sagged to the point I had at least 3.0
>degrees of negative camber. The car sure looked mean, but as you can imagine
>the tires were not even close to flat under heavy braking.
>
> My friend Larry Atkisson made a jig to square-up suspensions before he
>reweld and reinforces them and that's what we did. When I went to reinstall
>my rack, the bolts missed the mounting bosses by at least a quarter inch!
>
> To resolve it, I made a special tool using all-thread and brackets
>that mounted to the rack bosses. I pulled the rack mounts inward until the
>dimensions were correct ... in fact, it partially tore both mounts away from
>the
>crossmember. We rewelded them in the correct place.
>
> I gave Larry my tool and now before Larry rewelds suspensions, he
>verifies that measurement.
>
> I was wondering how well your car was running and I'm glad you are
>pleased with your steering column ... I knew you would be! You sent me a
>picture
>of it and it is one of the cleanest Tiger racecars I have seen. It looks
>like it means business!
>
>Best regards and good luck racing!
>Jim
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