Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Lumpy steering

Brilliant video, thanks for posting

Thanks for posting, every day has potential to be a school day..

Ditto, that practical demo is really interesting

A quick update. I've tried various different uj positions but none that I've tried so far has improved my steering much. I've removed the two shafts completely and am currently cleaning up the bottom joint which is covered in underseal and not as free as it should be.
Moving the steering rack manually provides a fair degree of resistance and noise, this could be my rebound springs which I noticed previously don't turn by hand when the car is on the ground as I believe they should.
Further investigation is required I feel.

There's a nylon follower under the adjuster nut on the rack and this can swell up jamming in the slot it runs in on the rack itself this can need modifying to free it off, also racks are definitely not all lubricated properly and this can be an issue in causing stiff steering.

I'm just on my way out but will look at your post in more detail when I'm back tomorrow but there seems something amiss with alignment somewhere so I would check the security of the crosshead and associated fittings including the steering rack position and security. asking has the cross head been bent? or is it loose or incorrectly positioned. Has there been accident damage and chassis deformation.

One great big fallacy is that you should be able to turn the rebound spring by hand...... not true and shortening these springs was part of the rutherford upgrades.
If you have standard suspension you won't be turning them by hand and if you can the hub unit is hanging up on the pillar.

Martin.

Gordon, if you have got all the U/J's in the correct orientation and you are sure they are correct, loosen all the pinch bolts on the splined ends then ease the fittings so they can slide on the splines of each associated shaft. How does the steering function after this. If it works freely then try adjusting the shaft positions on the splines to see if you can achieve a better position which will allow the U/J's to not foul the inner wing.

It's vitally important that all U/J couplings are in the same orientation so when looking at Richards picture and at the U/J he is showing if you follow the shaft down to the rack each of the U/J's should be in the same plane. Come back to us when you have tried this procedure.

If the U/J's are not in the correct alignment the whole shaft when being turned as one unit will not follow the same axis of rotation and this could also cause the interference you are suffering. There is also another U/J inside the car directly behind the steering wheel! If the rack has at some point been removed for service was it removed by splitting the U/J on the short shaft immediately attached to the rack and not at the splined shaft of the rack itself then incorrectly refitted out of phase? The rack mounting blocks, alloy, to the crosshead are front and back different sizes. the rearmost element of the two pieces is larger, or deeper to be precise. If these were returned the wrong way around then this would shorten the distance of the rack towards the steering shaft and create longitudinal pressure to the shaft. I have also seen cars where the blocks were assumed to be the same and one side was correct and the other one not leaving the steering rack misaligned.

Of course it's hard to make a diagnosis without seeing the car and unfortunately you are a long way from poping over to have a look. Stand back with a cup of tea and start looking at the car for misalignment issues. inner wings to bullkhead, wheel positions to bodywork, Look at the crosshead, it should be square to the car, at right angles to the chassis. the axle tubes parallel to each other with the merest hint of a slight up flex of the lower tubes. Fundamentally, are both sides of the car a mirror image of each other dimensionally? Lastly at this time measure each side of the car wheel centre to wheel centre to check symmetry.

Martin.

Martin, thanks for the comprehensive reply with your thoughts on what the causes of the lumpy steering might be.

All joints are phased correctly on each shaft as far as I can see although I've not checked the one you mentioned behind the steering wheel yet. Nothing is loose, there is no chassis or crosshead damage. As for the position of the steering rack, I'm not sure, all I know is I carried out a lot of research prior to buying the car including contacting the well respected dealer who sold and serviced it for the first couple of years. I was assured by the dealer I bought from that it had never been involved in any accident and after purchasing it I put it to my "local" Morgan dealer who serviced it and also gave it a clean bill of health. I have quite a keen eye for detail and nothing looks out of line, I wouldn't have bought it if it did.😁

I spent a couple of hours last night trying different uj positions and sliding the shafts to different positions on the splines. I've got the steering to a point where the inner wing at the bearing mount point no longer visibly moves, but you can feel a tiny degree of movement if you place a hand on it. This was achieved by setting the ujs to a similar position as described by Richard. I would say the relationship between the top and bottom bolt is around 35/40° clockwise in my case and it's definitely an improvement on before. When turning the steering on axle stands it's fairly smooth but you can definitely still feel the regular pulsing resistance when turning the steering from the wheels.

I'll live with it for now until I get the chance to check another car with a similar steering layout to mine, then I'll be in a better position to judge if there is an issue that needs more investigation.

Many thanks to all who took the time to reply.👍

Gordon, one thing to look at is the mounting clamps at each side of the steering rack they are meant to be fitted as a matched pair on each side an orientated the correct way, I have a photo of this somewhere, I will try and find it.

DB

When I replaced my steering rack gaiter I made a note of the steering rack clamp I removed to gain access to the gaiter. I can't say that the front to back orientation of the clamp is correct but that is how it was fitted before I removed it. I checked the clamp on the other side (drivers side) which I had not removed and it was the same way round so I assume this is correct.


Tony

Thanks for the picture, that is the same orientation as my car and both sides are the same. I guess I can cross that suggestion off my list 😀👍
I can see that if they were to be fitted the wrong way round it would move the steering rack closer to the bulkhead causing problems.