Steering extension tube?
 

Hey guys

What tube have people used to extend the steering column?

Ive searched previous posts and found answers from 16mm - 1.6mm wall
To 25mm - 3mm wall!?!?

Im happier going heavier to be fair, but will the 25mm tube leave plenty of clearance between the uprights?

Im building a book spec car btw

Cheers Will

25 mm fits, the clearance is minimal (3-5 mm).

cool that's what my local place has anyway, is a meter enough? or do you need more?

Cheers Will

Put the lower column in place in the steering rack and measure approx 50mm past the upright. This will give u more than enough to fit into the extension tube and will give u the maximum clearance of the upright.
A metre is more than enough tubing.

Cheers Oz :)

I'm really struggling with this. Book spec car - but the steering column and the Pinto engine mount both want to occupy the same space at the same time... There is another thread about this - but no solution that I could see - other than reroute the steering or modify the engine mounts - neither of which are mentioned in the Book..??

Steve " serieslandy " covered this and had to remake the engine mount. Its all in his thread.

Bob

i used 25mm seamless thick wall i think. i have a massive length still left :rolleyes:

All covered here I was building to the book, now it's slightly not to book spec.

I also have a different mount for the column bearing, it lifted the column a bit but still didn't have enough clearance.

If you need any photos or anything pm me, as it was only luck I looked at the forum tonight

Will do Steve. Sorry, wasn't ignoring your solution on the other thread, although it seems your point on the other thread might be right, ie the spec just doesn't work as its written in the book....

Ya it is kinda funny really that the book seems wrong on this one. Makes you wonder if he changed it and never wrote it down. Like the others though I just made the alternative engine mounts and used a 25mm tube. I also ended up welding a much smaller splined shaft onto the end to slot into the universal joint at the rack so it would pass by the uprights ok. I would personally recommend also welding the splined shaft onto the top of the universal joint as mine "broke" in that even when fully tightened up it would end up slipping when I got towards full lock on the top section of the universal joint.

Most tube will be fine for the job and stronger than original, most important thing for me is to get the extension welded true the last thing you want is to have the column turning eccentrically. Fit the rack and column then tack the extension in-situ and rotate the column to make sure it's true. If you need to remake the mounts then use the opportunity to change the rubbers to better ones, land rover mounts, the existing mounts do tend to perish with age.

AndyH

I think it's not emphasized enough that the Sierra mounts offer much more comfort than the Land Rover V8 mounts.

I4 engines have an inherent dynamic imbalance that makes the engine vibrate up-down at two times the frequency of the crankshaft. This is usually countered with soft engine mounts that eat this vibration. Land Rover mounts are very stiff and don't absorb much of that vibration, making the whole car noticeably vibrate on idle. This adds to the sporty feel of loud exhaust, no windshield, GRP seats.

I'm not sure there Albert, I and a few builders around me have replaced the sierra mounts for land rover fitting them to various engines. On tickover they provide enough dampening to reduce vibration with the larger and softer sierra mounts you can noticeably feel the engine move when driving and you get a lot of movement back through the gearbox and stick, feels like the engine is sat on 2 large bowls of jelly. I've seen 2 sierra mounts snap at the bottom bolt because of the extra movement and lateral forces induced by hard driving and cornering. One on mine i didn't notice till the engine was removed on the cvh.....:eek:

My car has a resonant frequency at 4k you can feel when dropping down the gears but that's more the car then the engine. Again it's all about choice, good thing about the self build. In fact suns coming out here so might be going out soon to test them again..........:D

AndyH

howay oop an tek mi missus oot:p :p

Think i understand you Kevin...........:confused:

Got kids with me today so have got to wait to the little one goes to contact when i'll have an hour to go out. Let's go for next week sometime, weather permitting.

your on Andy....sorry about the wee hijack Will

Not a problem Kev :D

I've used Landy mounts, too, but they're so stiff that the engine never moves more than a couple of millimetres relative to the chassis. Sierra mounts were the exact opposite. I just wanted to point out there is a technical reason why the original mounts are so soft, and we should be aware of the trade off when replacing them with something much stiffer.

Completely understand Albert, there are different grades of rubber mounts used in the land rover. Cant remember which is which now for each engine but a bit of googling would soon reveal all.

Cheers.......AndyH