I cannot understand why the steering on my red DHC is so kuch heavier than on the brg FHC. They both have the same Pilote X tyres.
The steering was lighter some 5-10yrs ago, or at least I seem to remember it was not an issue.
I don´t think that the rack can be lightened, or tighten for that matter.
Could it be somewhere in the steering column…?!?
Peder
If both cars have the same wheels and steering track width (no difference in the distance between the footprint centers of the tires, then I would first check toe, camber, and castor (providing all ball joints and knuckles are in good operational form). Wrong camber can make one car harder to turn than the other by shifting the track width further apart. Castor can make it harder or easier for steering to return to straight ahead. Toe can make turning harder or too quick. Is the steering harder while moving or when the car is motionless?
I would jack up the front of the car first to determine if any of the steering/suspension components are causing the problem. Ball joints too tight (insufficient shims) will cause this problem.
Pat H
Thanks Roger. I ought to have understood this myself.
I´d say itś heavier in all conditions, but esp at very low speeds.
Peder
I have tried again; it is as heavy at low speed on loose gravel, as on asphalt. It is just as heavy at speed on the motorway (but there it matters less).
It feels like a clamp was attached to the steering column, a bit like some motor cycles that has a locking knob back in the 50s.
When I chenged the rubber coupling/guibo on the column, the steering wheel had absolutely zero obstruction, so this leaves the rack…!!!
I see that when the car was in a workshop last year, the top and bottom ball joints were changed. Can this affect the heavy turning ?
Not usually with the top, but definitely the bottom if the shop failed to put in the correct thickness of shimming or failed to put the new socket in correctly.
Are you able to disconnect the outer tie rods without wrecking the rubber boots?
If you can, you could then evaluate whether the stub axle carriers swivel freely.
When I replaced mine I shimmed it to tight and could barely turn the wheel
One quick way to assess lower ball joint tightness is first to jack up the front of the car, tires free of the ground. Then with hands at 9 and 3 o’clock push and pull on a tire to move the tire through the steering angle range (this will spin the steering wheel with no one touching it). Feel how easy/hard it is to move the tire through the steering range on one car and compare with the other. If one is easier than the other, the tighter one may have too few shims on a lower ball pin or is missing socket or spigot bits.
There is a next step for checking correct shim fit, see a shop manual, but it is a little more complicated. When the car is jacked up, jackstands are recommended before checking steering movement, if no jackstands are used be sure not to put any part of your body where the car could crush it if the car falls off the jack.
How about the basics, what tire pressure do you have ?
Are they the same. A low tire pressure will affect all driving conditions.
To Roger and Pat,
I found a suitable piece of wood and had the front up a bit. Turning a wheel with hands at 3 and 9 is very, very hard. I know from all my other cars what it should feel like, more or less, and this is way off.
Even turning the front wheels with the steering wheel, is just as heavy as when driving it slowly, and fast for that matter.
So the new lower ball joints have been over tightened by this XK specialist workshop in England. Great…NOT
So shall I order a few of those thin shims, C3026 and perhaps the spigots as well, in case they prove to be missing?
The C3024 spigot was used with the original short style C3025 socket, but usually new replacement sockets are taller and do not need the spigot.
You can put a feeler gauge in there and maybe get an idea of how much shimming will be needed.
I usually do this job with the stub axle carrier upside down in my bench vise, but if you are going to do it on the car, put it on jack stands under the lower suspension arms, so you can be sure the ball joints are not binding at the limit of their movement. They probably won’t anyway if the shock absorbers are limiting downward movement. Be safe. Slide the tires under the car.
Did this ever get resolved? My vote is that the ball joints are too tight.
Pat H
I will know on Tuesday next week, and report back.
It turned out that the recently installed upper and lower bushes, in plastic, are too tight. My Jag mechanic had the same on a 4,2 S1 E-type a while ago. They are a pain to change, so Inwon´t do just yet.
Why can´t these parts manufacturers get it right…?
The bushes between the inner and outer steering column, I forgot to say.