Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Finally I have a smooth steering.

Now the steering functions largely smoothly and evenly. I thought about the fact that due to the height adjustment of the steering wheel there must still be a Ujoint in the driver's compartment. This Ujoint is existing and it was not in line with the connection of the second shaft. Here there is no forced guidance of the two shafts. So you can put them together wrongly twisted if you do not care.

First UJ behind steering wheel.


Together with this second UJ the forks must be in line.


The following shaft has twisted forks and this must be the case because it is a combined W-Z configuration. With this shaft, its twisted forks are deliberately forcibly guided - pressed at one end and at the other end on a rail that dictates the centering, you can't go wrong with this shaft performing its function.
See picture 3 below.


Here is the full explanation.
https://www.elbe-group.de/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/service/Wartungshinweise_e.pdf

This „twisted forks“ shaft is connected to the last shaft which leads to the steering gear. This connection has to be adjusted again so that the forks match (in other words also here you have to pay attention to the same fork orientation because it is freely rotatable when you plug it together).

I suspect that the factory did not pay attention to the alignment of the fork of the first shaft from the steering wheel to the fork of the second shaft. That's why the peaks of the force which lead to increased wear and tear. You just have to connect it correctly and at the end you have to put the steering wheel in a new alignment. Now I am happy. It is worth to check the aligment if you think you have an edgy steering feel.

Interesting...
I hope that the need to get the UJs properly aligned is fully understood at the factory, but wonder if this makes its self through to QC?

Now I have to go and check Tarka!

Here is some maths re the shaft angles.
https://www.elbe-group.de/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/service/Konstruktionsrichtlinien_e.pdf

Peter, I don't want to imply it, but it's possible that they didn't think about the consequences of not aligning shaft 1 to shaft 2 when they added the adjustable steering wheel height about 12 years ago or so. Before that there was no need to pay attention to the first shaft. Or it was just bad luck in my case.

Great sleuthing Heinz!.... and an excellent outcome.
Presumably your efforts will also be of significant benefit to other owners and/or interested parties.

WOW! I've read it the whole time and with great interest.

Great that's cured now and we all can see what was wrong.

René

Thanks for that Heinz that is a fascinating bit of deduction there and cure for your lumpy steering, maybe others have the same symptoms also.

Well spotted Heinz. My previous 4/4 had an MOT advisory once regarding a stiff spot with the steering. The mechanic said that it was most likely the u-joints in the linkage. I will check my new car now.

Heinz, I have been following your previous thread on this & your conclusion is very interesting & I assume easily missed during build, thanks for posting

Hello Heinz,

A very very interesting topic which I shared with members of the Roadster 100 Register, drawing out one comment from a member with unsatisfactory steering on his Roadster..

As a result I have published a Technical Blog Page for our Register Members which also now includes my own observations, photos and understandings.

Here is the link to that Blog Page, which I hope the content is acceptable to you.

Frank

Blog Link

Frank, you forwarded my post correctly, thank you very much.

Since I'm not a professional expert, please read the following without guarantee of accuracy.

Regarding the text in the blog in front of my post:
I did not think so far that when the wheels are in a straight position, it is absolutely necessary that the cardan shafts are horizontal - in relation to the wheel position. In my opinion it is important that the forks of each cardan shaft and in connection to the next cardan shaft must be "in line" as described in my post. And exactly this as also in the text in front of my post in the blog was not the case with my car when you consider the first UJoint behind the steering wheel.

The job of the correctly connected cardan shafts is that the angular speed vs. the torque are evenly balanced/compensated so that the movement is smooth at any point of turning the wheel. For this reason the movement is always even, regardless of whether the forks of the first shaft are aligned exactly horizontally when the wheels are running straight. I hope I am able to write this in a reasonably understandable way.
On the other hand it is not a deterioration if you pay attention to the alignment of the Ujoints when the wheels are running straight. Maybe there is something I didn't pay attention to. But I think it should not make a difference. The important thing is that the Ujoints are all correctly connected to each other as a whole system, regardless of any initial alignment in terms of wheel position.
Edited:
(When I took the photos of the first and second Ujoint the front wheels were not exactly straight ahead. It was a coincidence that the forks were horizontal).