Andy,
After many miles I found the teeth were worn mostly in the 'straight ahead'
position - on both the rack's teeth and the pinion's teeth. I suggest rotating
the pinion (remove circlip is all) so opposite 'the best teeth' are now in
bottom and centered. During turns, 'side pressure' pretty much takes care of
slop
. But straight ahead even a tiny bit of play shows up (like during freeway
driving). Unfortunately you can't do much about rack teeth. Tighten up your
pinion tensioner as manual indicates. Check and re-shim ball ends if needed,
and
re-grease everything. Replace rubber boots if cracked.
For my TR4 I had to search for a good used rack bar as the 3 or so teeth in
middle were quite worn (TR6 racks are most plentiful and fit late TR4s). I got
very lucky and found a brand new pinion gear.
Also the rubber mounts can get a little loose (they never did on my car
though) - if you can slide your rack sideways - loosen the mounting bolts and
use
C-clamps to take out excessive play in the rubbers, then retighten the mount
bolts.
Good luck,
Carl
'63 TR4 since '74
Manuals give plenty of information on removal and re-install, but nothing
about determining if it needs to be taken out for servicing. Now that the
engine, radiator and most anything else that isn't welded in place have been
removed from my 70 TR6, the steering unit is very accessible. If it needs
work, this is obviously the time to do it. When rotating the steering column
shaft, there is no discernable "slop". Just a very small movement of the
shaft results in tire movement. Does this mean everything is ok, or, should
other things be checked? I did not find anything pertinent in the archives
even though it would seem that this topic would come up from time to time.
Andy
Renton, WA
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