Rocking the steering wheel gets an unwelcome amount of movement in the steering rack - more than I’d expect in a nicely trimmed-up sports car. I’m also feeling a bit of wander on the road. Even my MGA rides a straighter line.
I know there is a set of rubber pads that can be swapped out. I also know the mounting bolts have a bit of slack (?), the ‘safety’ bolts certainly do. My question: how much slop in this mount system is baked in, and how much can be finessed to near non-existence? Will replacing the pads alone be near-miraculous?
I found that even my “special” rack mounts were a disaster and started to delaminate before the car hit the ground. NOT a very safe situation. I’m very happy with my solid mounts.
There is also the possibility of play between the rack and pinion gear (a shimming job) and in my case it can be/is very difficult to get the long steering shaft splines tight over the rack spline - held by a cap screw arrangement (not a pinch bolt) to accommodate the close clearances down on the picture frame. Your car may be diferent - mine is a '62. Paul
Check the rubber mounts; if intact they don’t cause slop. Ditto the “safety” bolt system.
Check all the splined joints on the steering column. The bottom one to the rack can loosen and cause annoying slop. It can be tricky to tighten adequately but knowing you I’m sure you can sort it out. The Allen screw in it is a bad design. If you strip it you can drill out the hole and put a bolt through; rotating clearance needs attention.
The pinion to rack play is determined by shims in a similar way to MGA IIRC.
The tie rod ends are adjustable under the boot and held with tab washers. There can be out of round wear there.
Play in the stub axle and steering arms is unlikely but worth checking. I suppose the bearings might need adjustment but I doubt it.
Iv never had a problem with my standard mounts but i have seen others where the rubber has parted from the metal plates…even then the car drove fairly well being held by the safety bolts and had just passed its annual mot test…there was not lots of slop in the rack if you grabed and moved it…you actually had to look close to see the small amount of movement was becaus it had parted…so look very close at yours
Don’t go to solid mounts - they are not suitable for the street unless yours are billiard table smooth. SNG (and perhaps more) sells poly rack mounts which are significantly stiffer than stock but won’t break your wrists on a pothole.
I replaced the two plastic donuts in the upper steering mount and that made an enormous difference. The second problem is the u joints They wear out, and contribute a lot of slop.
Well I’ve had a set in my 68 for at least 10 years without issue. I have really big sticky tires and autocross the car so they get significant abuse. I’ve had them on my coupe for 4 years, no issues. Having said all that I just installed poly bushes on the 68 trailing arms. One side big busing tore itself apart just from the stress from the suspension drooping from being jacked off the ground. The small bushing same side looks like it’s gong the same way.
Odd there’s a concern with solid mounts. I know of no other British sports car that doesn’t mount the rack with nuts and bolts directly to the frame. MGTD, MGA, MGB … all nuts and bolts, no rubber.
Wouldn’t you think big fat squishy tires would do enough shock adsorption on the E-Type? I’d like to see some data on the avoidance of solid mounts with regard to the E-Type’s front end geometry.
Yeah, I never understand the scaremongering that goes along with this topic. I had solid mounts on my old ‘67, and I loved them.
I can understand someone saying “I tried them, and I didn’t like the slight increase in vibration and increased road feedback”, but the comments usually go to “My friend’s friend tried them, and all the fillings fell out of his teeth!!”
I’ve often noticed that a majority (not all) of people who’ve actually tried solid rack mounts THEMSELVES in road cars, like them.
Having said that, I would not recommend the ones from CJ. The ones I bought 10+ years ago were poorly machined, so I had to slot the mounting holes in my rack. I was not the only person who dealt with this issue.
It’s just a piece of aluminum with some holes drilled in it and some studs threaded into other holes. I was looking at the pictures n the links I posted above and thinking how simple they would be to make with the biggest hurdle being sourcing the chunk of aluminum. .Everything else can come from the local fastener store.
Yeah, they’re not rocket-surgery, but the price seemed fair, when you consider the time required to figure out all of the correct hole locations. Plus they were anodized black, which made them look nice. So, imagine how pleased I was when I found out they hadn’t actually figured out the hole locations correctly!!
As far as the fasteners, I believe the captive studs were actually pressed into an interference hole, which you could argue isn’t the best approach, as the bolt head isn’t captured. I believe when Ray L made up a batch, he used a small end-mill to create a hex-shaped recess to capture the bolt head.
Hi Guys,
It does not mean anything saying ‘mine lasted 10 or 20 or 50 years’
The point is that the recently manufactured ones are not good enough. I fitted a pair a few(2 or 3) years ago and both delaminated within a year and less that a 1000 km.
I had them redone at a small rubber shop in Cape Town and they are still fine.
Regards
Chris
Cape Town
I’d call to confirm before purchasing, but if they are the real deal, I wouldn’t hesitate to use those.
If your rack is really moving as much as you believe, then it sounds like the rubber ones on there are past their prime, and perhaps the “safety bolts” aren’t functioning properly either.
There have been some other good suggestions in this thread, with checking toe, bearing play, rack pinion shimming, etc. However, the rack movement listed does sound excessive.