Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Roadster steering

Some advise please gentlemen. I noticed the steering on my 2005 Roadster getting a bit vague so I had a nose around. I noticed quite a bit of slack in the steering wheel ( about 2 inches free movement). I then noticed that the steering rack was rotating as I moved the wheel. Trying to rotate the rack by hand gave about 1/4 inch movement at the point where the track rods join the rack. The following day after a run I looked again & no rotation.
Two questions:
Is this normal?

If not, what's happening?

Ian

I have the same "problem",
my steeringwheel can "chake" for 2km and then stop,
I used to drove a 1978Morgan whom had it worse,
so for me "I don't know better"

There has been a similar thread along the same lines recently, though it may have been on MogTalk.
I think the answer was to replace the rack...

Cheers,

DaveW knows all about roadster steering, I believe...

Nigel

I'm on it Nigel.........
Give me a mo.......

The thing is Ian, that your rack shouldn't rotate. I'm aware that 08/09 Roadsters look different around the rack mounts to my 2005.
In fact I intend to do some research over the Centenary week and get some pics to establish just what's changed with respect to the steering arms/track rods.We know these were upgraded and the bump steer was reduced.
Anyway, here's a photo of my nearside rack mounting:

And here is the same mounting from below:

The rack sits in a split alloy block. I haven't had this apart, so I don't know whether it works like a pinch bolt. The engineering solution would be to have a dowel or cotter arrangement inside the block for accurate location. Maybe it's like that, but if yours rotates, then I wonder.......

The offside is here........and the pinion housing is visible lower left.


What you need to do is look closely at the alloy blocks (if yours is the same)and see if you can twist the rack by hand. (Probably not). Check those bolts for tightness. I would be inclined to take the bolts out (one side at a time) and apply some 'Locktite bearing seal' which is heavier duty than thread seal around the rack. Reassemble - do the other side, and leave it overnight to dry. If that doesnt work there are two more solutions. First is to take some metal off the U block 'legs'using coarse wetndry on a flat surface (sheet of glass will do)so that the clearance is reduced and you get a tighter grip. The final option is to lightly drill the rack housing, drill the U block to match, and fit a small ball bearing, which might just do the trick. That's a last resort though.
Good Luck.

Dave W

" you da man "

Thanks for the comments, everyone.
Dave, I may be wrong but I don't think it's the rack housing that's rotating, but the rack it's self turning in the housing. I'll have another look over the weekend, when the village fete's out of the way :-)

Ian

Ian
I had this once on a Triumph Dolomite. Imagine the scene. It's Saturday morning. We were going on holiday to Torquay for two weeks. My daughter was nearly two, and at my mothers, awaiting pick up. I packed the car to the roof, and got showered. It was hot - August.......
I went to fill up. As I left the filling station and applied lock, there was a bang, and the steering wheel had gone off-centre. On the next bend it banged the other way and centred.
Oh Sh**, I thought.
So I rang the wife (at work) using a real phone (no mobiles)- told her to get the bus home.
Next I got changed, got under and removed the rack on the drive. I stripped it, (and here's the punchline) - there was a pinion thrust washer which located the pinion to prevent it riding up the rack, and this had collapsed, leading to dangerous movement. To cut a long story short, I put the dodgy rack back on the car and drove to the nearest scrappy. Luckily there was a Dolomite on the ground with no wheels, and the rack was accessible. Half an hour later it was in the boot and I was on the way home. Two hours later it was fitted. By now it was about five o'clock, so we decided to get an early night and set off in the early hours of Sunday. We got to Torquay a day late, and my fingernails needed work.......
Anyway, the point is this - I don't know what holds the pinion (or rack) in place on the Mog, but rotation of the inner means it's not doing its job.

Ian
One more observation........

This photo shows the pinion housing. You can see a large dome headed 'nut' held in place with a castellated washer. Assuming this follows normal practice, under there will be a sprung plunger - the spring tension is usually set by adding or removing shims, and it's this which holds the pinion in contact with the rack. If you can't resolve it I'd ring the factory.