I have learned from this forum that I have Ford Cortina rack & pinion. There is some play in the wheel. The tie rods seam tight.
Any suggestions about how to tighten things up a bit?
Any suggestions about how to tighten things up a bit?
Steerig adjustment
- Thread starter Sam McDowell
- Start date
Three places on the rack for adjustment, the rack ends, which are a bit of a pain to dismantle as they are 'pinned' at the factory, not really likely to be them, but check them to see they are 'tight' on rack end threads especially if the rack was shortened to correct bump steer, not everyone puts em back together as good as the factory did on day one!
Rack Pinion- end play adjustable by shims under cover with either two or three bolts on 'front' end of pinion.
Rack to pinion pre-load- again adjustable by shims under a similar 'top' cover.
Easier to do this on a bench, & be aware that the pinion/rack can get extra wear on the 'straight ahead ' position particularly if it was a S/H donor rack.
Rack Pinion- end play adjustable by shims under cover with either two or three bolts on 'front' end of pinion.
Rack to pinion pre-load- again adjustable by shims under a similar 'top' cover.
Easier to do this on a bench, & be aware that the pinion/rack can get extra wear on the 'straight ahead ' position particularly if it was a S/H donor rack.
Great advise. Just what I needed.:thumbsup:
Where can I get shims?
Where can I get shims?
Shouldnt need any as I would expect that you will need to remove some if your trying to tighten it up or reduce play etc, more shims would make it worse...... however if you get stuck you could cut some out of brass 'shim stock', probably available from an engineering supply depot or similar in thickness's like 0.002-0.005 etc
Seymour Snerd
Lifetime Supporter
www.mcmastercarr.com has a huge selection of shims in various shapes, sizes and materials, as well as shim stock.
Thank you both. That is what I tell people about this forum; you get help literally from around the world.
Quick check before you pull everything to bits, with the steering in straight ahead position try to get a 'feel' for the amount of 'free play' then turn the wheel about one third of a turn & check again, If the amount has reduced you have wear on the rack & pinion at that point. Now you have to strip the reack down to check the amount of wear.....You --Might-- get away with just rotating the pinion a half turn on reassembly... all things being equal this should cut the free play down to a bout 50% of what it was.
You can also usually ' feel' free play in the rack ends thru the rubber boots while you get a helper to 'wiggle' the steering wheel...if you know what your looking for
You can also usually ' feel' free play in the rack ends thru the rubber boots while you get a helper to 'wiggle' the steering wheel...if you know what your looking for
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