how to steering rack adjustment ?

[jeffgair]

Hi all,

Just starting to get my car ready for its roadworthy test here in the uk (MOT). While replacing the steering rack boots i noticed 2or 3 mm of play in the ball / socket of the rack when grabbing the drum and pulling/pushing it. It looks like there might be adjustment in the rack ? It has what looks like a big locknut with the end of the rack having two flat faces for a big spanner to fit. Also small black screw on rack top which i have loosened.....is it a case of loosening big locknut and rotating rack end until play has gone then tightening everything up again or is the rack just knakkered ?

All suggestions appreciated,

Jeff

[mrflibbles]

you can dismantle the rack ends, they come completely apart. There are small shims in behind the ball to take out the slack in the ends.

[Dick]

Hi Jeff,
I saw on the bellett net you were worried about your steering rack; the ball joint inside is spring loaded! So yes there should be play in it. First time I bought a Bellett I thought the same as you; this is wrong, but no it's like it should be.
You may have 25 mm of play at the outside wheel according to Isuzu. See the scan of the rack I enclosed.

groetjes

Dick

[mrflibbles]

interesting, as the ones i have pulled apart have only had a shim in them, it looked like a small metal contact lense, perhaps the ones i have pulled apart have been "bodged up" before? or maybe the contact lense is spring type material?
either way the rack ends are able to be taken completely apart, the one i did i stripped down to nothing and cleaned it then greased it all up and re assembled it, had a great direct feel to it.
perhaps check the rack mounts if it has the rubber mounts these are common to perish and fail allowing the rack to move a lot from side to side!

[GTtoo]

That IS interesting. Was only discussing tie rod end play with 2ldohc yesterday whilst assisting in a front spring and shock absorber replacement in the GT. It seems most mechanics over the years who have inspected the well worn front end of the GT have told me : "there's too much play in the tie rod ends, there f..@#$&%@ !! Sorry, cant do a wheel alignment like that !" But this "wear" was never as much as 25 mm.

Courtesy of Dick, we now know different. Thankyou.

It seems if you can keep grease up to those grease points on the rack, it all stays good.

btw, many thanks again to 2ldohc for donating springs, 12 hours, and much frustration in helping achieve front end lowering on the "blue beastie". This was a powerfull effort and one which I will be indebted to for ever.

B.

[mrflibbles]

12 hours? ouch!

[GTtoo]

12 hours from time I left home I suppose. About 10 hours of effort, but that's irrelavent to the cause. 40' something year old hurdles to overcome, was always going to be a challenge.

Learnt alot and expierienced more.

B.

[jeffgair]

Hey guys, many thanks for all the advice particularly the diagram of the steering rack.

Am however a little amazed at the 25mm tolerance at wheel rim alowed by isuzu. Not disputing the diagram, but here in the uk at least, you would fail your MOT (warrenty of fitness) i there was ANY play in your steering in the 'straight on' position - you are allowed some play on 'full lock' however. Plus, surely with that amount of slop you would get vibration/rattling through the steering on rough ground not to mention vague steering........


I'm also wondering if there is only 1 shim how can there be adjustment? Surely if its still in there and theres lots of slack its knakkered....... Can you get 'packer shims' ? Guess i'm on a bit of an 'analysis paralasys' blether now. Going to get stuck into that rack tomorrow and try to get rid of at least some of the slack....will let you know once i've broken....er, i mean fixed it !!

Any more input in the meantime is always welcome,

cheers, Jeff

[RobSA]

25mm PLAY !!!

Sorry but no way ... is there a missing decimal point somewhere !!
The rack that came out of my car along with the rubbers probably had a little less than that and it was dangerous to drive !!!

The rack that mrfibbles did for me is wicked, it has a very nice positive feel to it and with the new rack rubbers it turns like a go-kart.

Cheers
Rob

[GTtoo]

Yeah, that got me thinking again Rob. I'm sure we're missing something here. Maybe it's a miss print and the 25mm refers to some play at the steering wheel ? Possible?

B.

[Dick]

The chassis book of the bellett says clearly that there can be 25 mm at the pherifery of the tire. This is caused by the spring loaded ball joint. If you pull the wheel horizontally you feel the play caused by the spring (nobody is doing that during driving .. !); the wheel returns to the original position if you let the wheel go. The meaning of this all is to avoid road bumps etc in the steering wheel. A MOT technician will know the difference between wear in a ball joint and a spring loaded one; never had problems with our Dutch MOT. There are lots of other cars that have the same principal; Mini for instance and the steering on Mini too is sharp as a knife. Taking the spring out and shimming up takes comfort out of the car and can be dangerous as the joint should be able to fully follow the travel of the suspension parts on bumpy roads.

[mrflibbles]

never was a spring in the ones i did, be happy to put them in but i would need to find some to put in! (might have to look in the other rack you have there rob!)

[jeffgair]

Hi folks,

Have been speaking to an actual MOT tester here in the uk, and from what he has said along with dicks advice and diagram, it seems (amazingly!?) that you should have indeed slack in the steering rack. A lot of early japanese stuff apparently had a similar system rather than having the horizontal shock absorber type steering dampner (eg vw beetle).

The problem arises when the MOT tester hasn't tested old cars much and is not aware of the isuzu and others sprung loaded rack type steering dampner. This is especially true when there is a bit more slack in one side ethan the other.

Conclusion then, is that slack in rack is meant to be there, just make sure you get an old school guy to test your car.

Cheers, Jeff

[PR95]

I think mine had a spring and cup to fit around the ball, I took the play out of mine by adjusting the the big nut and the socket, is fine now. but still have to replace rack rubbers.
Geoff

[jeffgair]

It seems as they all have the cup, spring and ball thing. If you adjust the slack up by adjusting the big nut you can only do this in 180 degree amounts otherwise the track rod cannot go the full suspention travel which is dangerous. Have you tried adjusting it back so there is slack? You may find the steering is smoother over rough ground, also if theres no slack my guess is things will wear out pretty fast......

Any other thoughts on this anybody ?

Jeff (scotland)