play in steering collum???

[Tilly819]

hi all

quick question
im just trying to finish off the car and was wondering if i shouyld have any sideways play in the steering collum bush were it goes threw the bulkhead???

also should be spring in the collum be slightly compressed when it is put together and bolted in
chears


tilly

[gingea1pom]

hi all

quick question
im just trying to finish off the car and was wondering if i shouyld have any sideways play in the steering collum bush were it goes threw the bulkhead???

also should be spring in the collum be slightly compressed when it is put together and bolted in
chears


tilly

Tilly,

How much sideways play, I have just received said bush from Saturn and when fitted I would have to hang of it to get like a mm of movement.

As for your second question my bold (Im not being a c**K) I don’t understand.

Cheers Ginge

[Bonzo]

Hi Tilley

No, you should not have any excessive play in the bush ..... I can't speak for the IVA test but it certainly an MOT failure ;)

Play was quite common in the sierra bush, If you have used a new bush it will need looking into, if not, it will need to be replaced .

My own column is rock steady, fitted with a new bush kit.

As for the spring, i'll have alook into mine tomorrow ..... I don't recall seeing a spring on mine but I know one was fitted to the column that I didn't use !!

[gingea1pom]

You have a spring if your column is adjustable for height and rake.



Mine has.:D

[AshG]

ditch the crap sierra bush and fit a proper bearing. much safer and gives the steering a much more positive feel

http://i707.photobucket.com/albums/ww75/ashgardiner/P1030410.jpg

[AshG]

oh and the spring inside the column should compress a bit. the idea of it is to pull the inner column onto the bearings of the outer part of the column. if you are in an accident the leftover spring is meant to absorb some of the shock before the collapse mechanism kicks in. to get the tension right you should be able to pull on the steering wheel from the drivers seat and the column shouldn't come forward.

how do i know all this you ask :D the bearings in mine were fecked and the steering felt horrible. i got all the replacement bearings from bearingboys just by measuring up the old parts and finding their equivalent.

it could be possible that the bearings in your column are either misaligned or worn out. I would ditch the crap ford rubber bit first.

this is the one you want. they are £10 but when it comes to steering its not worth mucking about

http://www.bearingboys.co.uk/SLFL25_LDK_Pressed_Steel_Flange_Bearing-8155-p

basically the little grey bit of plastic that is on the triangular part of the shaft that pushes into the crap bush goes into the middle of this bearing and obs your uncle good steering feel

[Tatey]

Ash when using that bearing (i think i'll defiantly be buying one), do you need the little sticky out bit on the chassis plate which the old bush sat in?

[AshG]

no you don't need it. i would have cut mine off but i couldn't be bothered to repaint it so i turned up some spacers and angled them to suit. it may be worth bulking up the plate around it though as the triangular bit adds strength to that area which would be lost without it

[Tatey]

So all of that 3mm plate i bought thinking the chassis plate was made out of it and then found out it was 1mm, will come into some good use then :p