Steering wheel position

[Gmg31]

I've just fitted the steering column and steering wheel and I'm surprised to discover that the steering wheel isn't straight.  I've double checked everything and I can't see how I could have done it differently but it is closer to the dashboard on the right than the left by quite a lot. Any ideas please?

Forgive me, I know I've said this before but my car arrived in boxes of parts so I never saw what it was like.

[BDA]

That's normal. The steering column does not attach to the steering rack directly in front of your seat, it's a little bit towards the center of the car and since Lotus (and I suspect Triumph) didn't go through the trouble and expense of adding another u-joint, the steering wheel won't be straight. Believe me, you'll never notice it when you drive.

[EuropaTC]

As Jim says, you can't expect a Lotus to behave like a normal car....   

If you think about it, you're sitting slightly askew in the car due to the front wheel arches and how the pedals are arranged. Assuming the rack is in the right place on the chassis then I'm guessing what you have is pretty much normal. (for Lotus....)

Brian

ps - remember the phrase "TADTS" - "They All Do That Sir".   As quoted from the 1970's Lotus Dealer Manual, Chapter 2:Dealing with Customer Complaints   

[jbcollier]

Yup, that's the way they came.

True, you won't notice the angle but you will notice how close the wheel is to the window.  Don't wear rings!

[Bainford]

When I was shopping for my car (a two year process) I checked out a lot of photos of Europas for sale online, and noticed the skewed steering wheel placement. At the time I was a quite put off by this, having never sat in a Europa. It seemed like such an odd thing, but on online forums where the quirks of the Europa were discussed openly, no one was talking about this odd steering wheel placement. I bought one anyway, and when it arrived and I sat in it for the first time, I realised the mounted angle of the wheel was perfect as the location of the pedals forces one to sit at a bit of an angle. In the seat you find that you are well aligned with the wheel. Once underway you will never notice this.

Oh, and as John says; Beware of rings. More then one Europa windscreen has been scratched by knuckle jewellery scraping the inside surface during enthusiastic wheeling. It's amazing how often you will bang your knuckles on the glass.

[BDA]

I don't want to hijack this thread, but speaking of steering wheels, a lot of people use more "modern" smaller diameter, fatter steering wheels and there are probably more who are considering or wanting them. I think for most people, there are serious disadvantages to this. The worry of rings hitting the windshield goes away or is lessened, but the cooler steering wheel will probably obscure the gauge closest to the speedo (usually the water temp). Also in slow parking situations, the extra leverage of a larger diameter comes in handy.


I wish I had one of those steering wheels, too, but for the reasons I've listed, it's not a good choice for me. If you're thinking about it, I recommend that you think carefully about at least the problem of obscuring your water temp gauge and how and whether you would solve that.

[Gmg31]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I was considering a smaller wheel, I'm not a big guy but the bottom of my wheel is very close to my thighs.

[EuropaTC]

I have a 13" motolita in mine and think it's a reasonable compromise. I've also had brief flirtation with a standard wheel but prefer a chunkier rim. The longest period was probably 20+ years with an 11" Astrali which came with the car.  The 11" was ok with 175 tyres but a bit too much at low speed with the current wheels. Thinking about it now, it was probably all right but with modern cars having light steering getting in the Europa took a few minutes adjustment.