Steering column

[alga]

Also, argument by authority: extending the steering column by welding in an extension was suggested in a publication by a reputable tech publishing house (Haynes), no doubt reviewed by competent engineers.

[robo]

Originally Posted by Bonzo

Hi Sylvain

I am not sure if I have understood your post fully.

Most builds will use 2 universal joints to form the steering shaft. ( Unless using the original Ford rubber damper at the steering rack )

Here is a photo of AshG's steering shaft components before he welded the extension bar in place.



Such a set up should not need any additional support for the shaft.

One UJ is being held fixed rigid by the bulkhead bush & the other UJ is being held rigid by the steering rack.

This type of set up should allow for an angle but is not likely to be floppy.

If you were to make your shaft as you have pictured a couple of posts back, you would almost certainly need to provide an additional supporting point for the shaft.

Hope this makes some sense.

Ps

Sorry to AshG for stealing his picture.

I am not so sure this set up would comply with iva section 14 page 2. protective steering. There should be a minium of 10 degrees of shaft offset and max of 30 degrees from straight viewed from the top or sides as part of the impact protection. It may be the picture but that looks like its pretty much a direct straight line to the rack. Just thoughts .

Bob

[K4KEV]

Sylvain ....it is not that you have to find a splined shaft you are taking two bits of splined shaft and welding those into each end of a piece of steel tubing the two splined bits being slid into the tube a short way say....50mm and then welded up....it is by far the most simple solution to achieving a reliable steering mechanism.

[Bonzo]

Originally Posted by robo

I am not so sure this set up would comply with iva section 14 page 2. protective steering. There should be a minium of 10 degrees of shaft offset and max of 30 degrees from straight viewed from the top or sides as part of the impact protection. It may be the picture but that looks like its pretty much a direct straight line to the rack. Just thoughts .

Bob

Hi Bob

Guess that was quite a poor photo, just a trick of the eye I am affraid.

Here's a couple of better shots of mine.





A rough measure with my angle gauge gives about 10 degrees of deflection.

The shaft looks closer to U2 than it actualy is ( only 4 or 5mm clearance though )
Going to sort that shaft out whe I re visit that particular job.

Poor old girl is starting to suffer living outside under tarps
Will strip her down & put it all away when I get the chance to make some storage space.

I would imagine that the steering shaft more than meets the IVA requirements.

Far as I know, to date all Roadsters have gone through SVA/IVA using the same set up.

[robo]

Good enough for me Ronnie Watch the tarp thing, I went to dig out my discovery van project a few weeks ago to find three seperate birds nests full of chicks in there That pissed on my fireworks as I could not bring myself to disturb them I think they have gone for seconds cos they are still in and out.

Bob

[alga]

The top rails are angled exactly 10°. So if the steering shaft is parallel to the top rail in the top-down projection, we're golden. Which seems to be the case, more or less.

[voucht]

Albert, in Sweden, SFRO (our IVA) wants you to prove that your welder is able to "brake" the steering column thickness (about 15mm) at max power with the arc, I guess to make sure you can get enough penetration into the column steel. They say if you can't achieve that, don't weld the steering column extension with this welder. Then they want you to drill 4 crossed holes at each end of the extension, and weld inside the holes as well as around the edge (this is not a big deal). So you can see that the steering column extension issue is very sensitive for SFRO, and I don't want to take any risk.
Now, we all have different skills, and most of you know that I'm new at welding, but I think I really improved along the way (I started my build a bit more than a year ago) and my welds on the chassis are descent now... but for 2 and 3mm wall thickness. What about welding a thick-wall tube on a plain 15mm shaft with my 145A, I don't know? That is the reason why I wanted to avoid, if I could, this welding part.
But is looks like I have no choice, and will make some tries and tests next week. The other problem is that I have very hard time to source this thick-wall 15mm inside diameter tube: I have to buy 6m anywhere I go, and it is a quite expensive (and a waste of more than 5m!). As I have ordered my wishbone to Talonmotorsports, I have no leftover of 19mm upper wishbone round tube.
So I will keep on thinking about that. I keep you posted.
Thanks to all of you for the replies and advises
Regards.

[alga]

Sylvain, I bought 25x4 seamless for for my lower wishbones, but then reconsidered and found lighter thickness tube. So I have a couple of metres of 25x4 left over, I can share if you find no better options.

[voucht]

Albert, yes I would be very interested in 1m of your tube, thank you .
But there is one thing bothering me: 25x4 means that the inside diameter is 17mm, and the steering column shaft is 9/16'' (14.28mm). So isn't it a bit too large to make the extension? I was thinking about a 15mm inside diameter.

[K4KEV]

Sylvain......25mm od is going to put you very very close to the suspension upright unless you have a longish splined end to pass before it....just thought I would mention it.