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MG MGB Technical - Steering rack Alignment.

G'day. I have read all I can on aligning the steering column and rack to give minimum stress on the Uni joint. My problem is...

The LHS side of the rack sits nicely on the cross member mounting brackets, but the right hand side will not sit square. It sits on the cross member bracket at its lower end but is about 10mm from the cross member bracket on the upper end. It is as if the rack has been twisted. Its a bit hard to describe but if the rack was sitting on a flat surface then the two ends that carry the mounting bolts would not both sit on that surface. One end (in this case the left side) would sit square but the other would be twisted in such a way that one of the bolt holes would be touching the surface but the other would be about 10mm from it.

Surely this is a bit much to shim out, so is it possible to twist the rack in such a way or will a shim fix it?

Hope this is clear.

Tony
Tony Oliver

Have you verified the problem is in the rack by removing it a placing it on a flat floor? The problem could be in the cross member rack mounting bracket. I don't recall if your steering is on the right side, that would make a difference in the solution. If not on the driver side I would probably shim the space with some washers, it shouldn't affect the alignment on the other end.

Clifton
Clifton Gordon

Seems like Tony has already proved it is the rack that is twisted. As such it may have been in an accident and damaged, which would make re-use a bit of a dodgy proposition.
Paul Hunt 2

I have had cars with the brackets bent laterally, and one with one bent vertically, which would/did cause the same trouble. They bend surprisingly easily; if that is the problem, the sides of the bracket below the mounting face will be bulged outwards. An arrangement of bolts and bars can apply upward force while you hammer in the sides. Check the brackets for alignment - even if the rack is bad, the brackets may be too, from the same incident.
I have no idea what locates the rack tube in the end castings, possibly holes with the metal cast into them. Possibly a simple press fit. It might be worth fastening two bars to the rack mounts and seeing if it will twist easily. If it moves and appears to be a press fit, loctite might repair it. Otherwise, I go with Paul - get another.
10mm is too much to fix with shims, since it will put severe off-angle loads on the light alloy castings, and I would expect eventual breakage.
FRM
FR Millmore

Gentlemen, thanks for your replies.

Unfortunately the actual pinion shaft itself is bent so as I tried to align it with the uni joint it threw the rack out of alignment. Also the center "tube" moves slightly in the rack housing opposite the pinion housing. I thought I had it for a while when I twisted it into alignment but as soon as I put it back in the car it moved again to try and align the bent shaft with the uni. I'm not keen on trying to straighten the shaft out so it looks like a new rack....sigh.

Tony
Tony Oliver

Tony what do you plan on doing with your old bent pinion shaft? I need one to cut down for my V8 conversion...if you looking at chucking out the pinion shaft I know of a good home for it..
regards
mark
mark

Mark. It will be my pleasure to help you out. The shaft is bent right at the exit from the housing as far as I can tell, but if that is OK with you I will take it out and send it to you for the cost of the postage.

Contact me at jayton at tpg.com.au

Now if someone can supply me with a replacement......


Tony
Tony Oliver

New ones are available at:

http://www.flamingriver.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=239/category_id=69/home_id=63/mode=prod/prd239.htm

I am not yet a customer (nor affiliated with the business).
Matt Kulka

Thanks Matt but two problems arise.

One is that the racks for sale in the US are LHD not RHD as in Australia and

Two, can you just imagine the cost of getting it delivered over here!

I am looking at a second hand pinion shaft for $75 or a rack for $270.

Tony
Tony Oliver

This thread was discussed between 17/03/2007 and 19/03/2007

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