Steering Rack

[Harry Flatters]

I think I need a steering rack for my 1995 HPC VXI. I have had weird problems with my existing one getting so tight that it's difficult to steer.

 

Must be in good nick, new or nearly new if pos.

 

Please reply or phone 020 8642 0162 (office)

 

[Chelspeed]

Can't think why a rack would wear tight, sloppy yes, tight no. Have you done anything silly that might have bent it? Have you tried oiling it, perhaps the gaiter has been torn and all the lubrication has gone. Take it off the car, pull a gaiter off, put a cup full of engine oil in one end and rock it up and down to spread it around.

 

There's also a big adjuster and lock nut on top of the rack for adjusting the mesh of the pinion to the rack. Can't think how this could have vibrated tight (clutching at straws here). You could try loosening the lock nut (36mm or something) and cracking back the adjuster plunger and see if this frees the rack up.

 

Finally you could think positively and treat this as just the opportunity you needed to do that 22% quick rack upgrade.

[Harry Flatters]

ChelSpeed,

 

Thanks for your comments. This problem arose at the beginning of Nov and I submitted the following in Tech Talk but didn't get much response, see waht you think.

 

I have a 1995 VXI HPC with mostly standard gear including the steering rack. I recently took a trip out to the London to Brighton Veteran car run which involved about 10 miles of M23. As I came off the motorway and needed to steer into a garage I found that steering had tightened up so much so that not only was it really difficult to turn but when it did it would not center itself. This is not funny at 70mph!

 

I stopped, checked for any visible problems - none and drove around the forecourt a couple of times and it cleared itself. Weird or what?

 

On the way home it did exectly the same thing after having been on the M23 for about 5 miles but again cleared once off the motorway any more steering activity was used.

 

I spoke to Peter Carmichael while at Handcross and he asked whether the rack was new because CC's have had some problems with a recent version of their racks. This does not apply here as mine is 5 years old. Also the adjuster nut was as it should be with no other apparent faults obvious.

 

Has anybody got a clue as to what is going on here

 

[CHRIS CLARK]

Sounds as if something (maybe some swarf?) has dislodged as is catching every now and then. I sure I don't have to say that the car should not be driven in this condition until you source the prob.! With the weather the way it is you have the perfect opportunity to strip it out (albeit a bit cold), but at least it's an easy job to remove!!!

 

Good Luckthumbsup.gif