Hi the steering on the my 1990 rover mini ( which i have just bought ) is realy heavy when say turning from traffic lights o ru turn. Jacking up car and turning steering wheel its not nice and free and loose like my racer was (YEARS AGO ) and not fun to drive apparantly its a new type steering rack and has a big hole at the back looking underneath with some sort of adjustment there looks like special tool needed looks like it can be slackened off
The car itself is realy nice and been completely rebuit 2000 miles ago
cheers Bob
Heavy Steering
Started by
racingbob
, Jun 05 2011 07:25 PM
7 replies to this topic
#2
charie t
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Posted 05 June 2011 - 08:43 PM
Any pictures or links to this rack?
#3
racingbob
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Posted 05 June 2011 - 08:51 PM
Any pictures or links to this rack?
sorry no just bought the car the whole is about i suppose 1/14 and probably half inch deep nand up inside some sort of ridge all the way round for tool to fit on to adjust
#4
ibrooks
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Posted 06 June 2011 - 02:38 PM
There should be almost no resistance when the front wheels are up in the air so it sounds like something is wrong.
Not to completely rule it out but it's unlikely to be the rack (or rather the adjustent of the rack). Like you say it needs a special tool to adjust so it's unlikely someone has done that. Personally I'd pop the track-rods off and see if it's the same without the rack moving the hubs (and obviously at the same time you can move the hubs by hand to check they are nice and free).
Has it got a drop bracket? It's not uncommon for someone to fit one without rotating the rack and since the Mini doesn't have a UJ in the column that's a recipe for trouble. Slack the nuts on the U-bolts enough to allow the rack to rotate and then spin the wheel from lock to lock a couple of times (whilst the track rods are disconnected so the rack doesn't try to move side-to-side). This should allow the rack to find it's own position. Now check/tighten the pinch bolt at the bottom of the column and repeat the lock to lock before re-tightening the U-bolts.
It's also worth noting that overtightening the U-bolts can crush the tube of the rack onto the rack itself and make it tight.
A brand new rack is in the region of £45 from Minisport so it's not worth that much mucking around with an old one but they are a pain to change.
Iain
Not to completely rule it out but it's unlikely to be the rack (or rather the adjustent of the rack). Like you say it needs a special tool to adjust so it's unlikely someone has done that. Personally I'd pop the track-rods off and see if it's the same without the rack moving the hubs (and obviously at the same time you can move the hubs by hand to check they are nice and free).
Has it got a drop bracket? It's not uncommon for someone to fit one without rotating the rack and since the Mini doesn't have a UJ in the column that's a recipe for trouble. Slack the nuts on the U-bolts enough to allow the rack to rotate and then spin the wheel from lock to lock a couple of times (whilst the track rods are disconnected so the rack doesn't try to move side-to-side). This should allow the rack to find it's own position. Now check/tighten the pinch bolt at the bottom of the column and repeat the lock to lock before re-tightening the U-bolts.
It's also worth noting that overtightening the U-bolts can crush the tube of the rack onto the rack itself and make it tight.
A brand new rack is in the region of £45 from Minisport so it's not worth that much mucking around with an old one but they are a pain to change.
Iain
#5
jaydee
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Crazy About Mini's
Posted 06 June 2011 - 02:52 PM
Does the car have 13" wheels?
#6
fullyfitphil
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Posted 06 June 2011 - 03:05 PM
Id say check the pinch bolt at the bottom of the colum, mine always fouls on the panal, creating really tight spots, I still havent worked out the best cure for this......
#7
mini_mad69
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Let future you worry about it
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Posted 07 June 2011 - 02:48 AM
It could be a number of things, most of which I've encountered.
Over tight balljoints. Although these usualy loosen up after a couple of hundred miles.
Dropped steering column, without twisting the rack. This puts the splined shafts at a funny angle and ruins both the rack and column.
Knackered rack, due to knackered internals. Maybe no lubrication used?
Knackered steering column... could be bushes, steering lock catching etc
A bit more information on this special rack might help, it sounds like a special rack, like it could be a quick rack, which means it would take more effot to turn the steering wheel, but it would result in more steering lock.
Over tight balljoints. Although these usualy loosen up after a couple of hundred miles.
Dropped steering column, without twisting the rack. This puts the splined shafts at a funny angle and ruins both the rack and column.
Knackered rack, due to knackered internals. Maybe no lubrication used?
Knackered steering column... could be bushes, steering lock catching etc
A bit more information on this special rack might help, it sounds like a special rack, like it could be a quick rack, which means it would take more effot to turn the steering wheel, but it would result in more steering lock.
#8
racingbob
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Posted 07 June 2011 - 04:24 PM
It could be a number of things, most of which I've encountered.
Over tight balljoints. Although these usualy loosen up after a couple of hundred miles.
Dropped steering column, without twisting the rack. This puts the splined shafts at a funny angle and ruins both the rack and column.
Knackered rack, due to knackered internals. Maybe no lubrication used?
Knackered steering column... could be bushes, steering lock catching etc
A bit more information on this special rack might help, it sounds like a special rack, like it could be a quick rack, which means it would take more effot to turn the steering wheel, but it would result in more steering lock.
Hi , took a photo of steering rack, hope the photo comes out, not very good at this
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