Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Steering problems

I could sure use this forums expertise.

While driving today, 60 MPH, I felt the steering get very heavy. It was an immediate and obvious sensation. The symptoms are, the steering wheel now has 1/2 of deflection with no input to the wheels. At any speed, but most obvious at higher speeds, initiating a left or right turn feels heavy and then suddenly goes light. When at a stop if I place my hands at 3 o'clock and push or pull firmly I feel and hear a distinct clunk. This occurs at both the left and right tire. The right side tie-rod end makes a light clunk when pulled up and down. The left side makes no noise.

My suspicion is that the right side tie-rod is damaged and failing but I'm not a mechanic.

Thanks in advance for your feedback,
Buick

The above entry should say "When at a stop if I place my hands on the tire at 3 o'clock and push or pull... ". The tire seems to be an important distinction. :-)

What sort of mileage have you got ?

I am assuming it's an M3W not an older model 2 or 3 speeder.

The ball joint could well be worn but this would not be a sudden fail as you experienced at about 60mph - there have been numerous frame failures of the new M3W and I would be checking that out first very carefully.
There are lots of threads on this in this section, I am not an M3W guy just trying to help, others will be along that are.

Hello Buick,
What year was it made and how many miles on it?

It's a 2015 M3W with 5500 miles.

Check the tightness of the joint at the end of the steering column where the splines enter the steering rack. It's not unknown for the column splines to only engage a few millimetres at the joint.

I would then jack the front of the car off the ground and check each wheel for movement by shaking, pulling and pushing. Your symptoms are all mechanical related, you just have to isolate where the 'looseness' is situated.

Sounds like the steering rack is jamming or otherwise failing. Suggest not driving it until sorted. A chassis failure could cause this by placing a distorting force on the rack. A close inspection with front end on axle stands may reveal the cause.

Please check all the front chassis and mountings.

This could be serious!

I would not drive until you have found out what is causing this issue.

Hello Robert,
It's hard to say without seeing it. I would be glad to come over and have a look, as I don't live to far from you. PM me if you want to set something up.

Did you look closely at the frame, A-arms, and the shocks/springs for any cracks? You may have just knocked out of alignment. Again hard to say without seeing it.

I'm happy to report that my steering issues seem to be resolved. Although no "smoking gun" was found, a thorough inspection of the frame, drive train and suspension found a few loose bolts. After tightening everything up the 3 wheeler seems to be back to it's usual self.

It doesn't make much sense to me, but here's what I found.

1) On both the left and right side, I found loose bolts on the lower frame end of the diagonal support the steering rack is mounted to. I was able to apply a solid 1/2 - 3/4 turn.

2) On the right side tie-rod ball joint, I was able to get a bit over 1/4 turn.

3) At the rear of the transmission there are two roughly 5-6" bolts that mount the transmission to a long stainless steel member. On one of these bolts I got a healthy 4-5 full turns. (I doubt this contributed to my symptoms.

Thank you all for the support and feedback.