Steering rack spring and play

[Clifton]

Car would not self center after a turn and felt strange on higher speed turns at maybe 80%. I added .045" to the shim pack and it did nothing. I removed the .045" shim and the spring and it fixed the problem. I removed .015" of factory shim and got the play about right with out it dragging. There's no easy way to set the drag with the rack in the car but at least is returns to center now. Steering is a lot lighter but it has some feel now.  Maybe a previous owner stuck a overly stiff spring in there My next mod is get more caster. It will not be easy, I should have ditch the Trunion spindle before I made a brake kit.

How is every one else car? Do they return to center? Is the spring yellow with think wire diameter?

[BDA]

The steering self centers because of the caster in the front suspension. I suspect your problem is there. The shims you're referring to are, I assume, the ones for the pinion lash. They should be set per the manual.

Do you suspect that the rack has been monkeyed with? If so, you might want to take it out and make sure that all the shims are correct.

[Nero]

The yellow springs are made of a thick wire compared to their size. I just had the rack out two weeks ago. The important thing is that you measure the clearance without the spring installed. I had to get different shims to get it right. A very tedious job but it has to be done right. Take the rack out and make sure it is set right. Don’t start on the caster when your rack is not 100% right.

[jbcollier]

Make sure you are not just compensating for a bent rack.

This will help with being able to adjust the caster:

https://www.canleyclassics.com/suspension-steering-and-brakes/trunnionless-front-suspension-kit

Though it shows the early style, what came was the later style with the built-in steering arm.

Can't say I have any complaints about my steering.  A bit more lock would be nice.

[4129R]

A bit more lock would be nice.

Ironically most of the components of the Europa rack are shared with the Triumph Herald, which was noted for the amount of lock on its rack.

I wonder if the rack was longer for the Herald.

If someone can count the teeth on the Europa rack (IMHO it should be about 7 x 2.6 being the pinion teeth times lock to lock steering turning, so about 18 or 19), I can compare that with the number of teeth on the Herald inner bits I took out when swapping LHD for RHD casings.

My guess is the Herald rack is about 21 or 22 teeth, so over 3 turns lock to lock.

[BDA]

I respectfully disagree with Nero. The rack has no effect on the caster so they can be checked independently. If you check the caster and it's out, either the front suspension was put together incorrectly or you have bent pieces. In either case, you want to fix that first. I do agree with him about getting your rack right. Part of that is to pay attention to the resistance called for when turning the pinion and moving the tie rods. Less resistance is NOT better.

In my experience the most obvious indication of a bent rack is that there will be a "place" or "places" where it is a little harder to turn through. That is not at all to say that there aren't other symptoms (and if there are others, I suspect JB would know them!). If that is the case, try to find a good used Triumph Spitfire rack and swap the good parts from the Spitfire rack to your Europa rack. The Europa rack has an extension for the tube and a spacer to reduce the amount of steering that is possible. The sleeve nuts on the Europa rack are much longer than on the Spitfire rack (check the S1/S2 Workshop Manual). The tie rods are longer on the Europa rack but I think either could be used (measuring how much of your tie rods are screwed into your tie rod ends should tell you if they can indeed be swapped). Everything else is common to both racks.

I want to apologize for a mistake in my previous post. The shims I believe you are talking about adjust the pressure of the plunger or "shoe" against the rack on the other side of the pinion. It is not associated with the pinion lash. This is the what Nero was talking about. The manual gives two different ways of determining the proper shim pack. One way is to measure the gap between the cap and the rack body and stack shims related to that dimension (again, check the manual). The other is to adjust the resistance to turning the pinion by adding or deleting shims. These two methods do not necessarily give the same result. I would advise using the shim pack that gives the closest to recommended resistance with a shim stack closest to the recommended height. But I contend that if this is properly adjusted, it will have no effect on your steering wheel centering after a turn though it may have some effect on stability at speed.

edit: was a bit more specific about the similarities between the Europa and Spitfire racks.
I lust after the trunnionless uprights that JB has and they would be a big improvement over the stock front uprights but I don't think they will solve this problem.

[Fotog]

This is interesting, but I know very little about the steering rack.  I have read a few other threads about rebuilding or replacing them.  Assuming that I get my car running soon, it seems that there's plenty that I should check out.  Without even trying I've found a number of things that are suspicious.  Plenty of complications with these simple little cars!

[Nero]

Obviously the rack has nothing to do with the caster. What I wanted to say is that he should not start with changing the caster when the rack is not in good order. This is only to make sure that you where you changes are coming from.
The rack is locking up off centre when the adjuster on the top(where your column connects) is to tight. I made the same experience. It works good in the centre position because it’s more worn there and off center where it’s less worn it locks up. Make sure that the clearance on the tie rods is within spec and then shim the centre cap.

[Clifton]

The yellow springs are made of a thick wire compared to their size. I just had the rack out two weeks ago. The important thing is that you measure the clearance without the spring installed. I had to get different shims to get it right. A very tedious job but it has to be done right. Take the rack out and make sure it is set right. Don’t start on the caster when your rack is not 100% right.

This is what I was looking for.

Car returns fine without the stiff spring with the cap gap set + .006" (spec is  + .004").  Checking pinion gap in the car seems nearly impossible and the rack can't come out without pulling engine to remove a/c lines to get to the rack mount bolts. The rack doesn't lock up, it is just enough drag with the spring that the car feels horrible, not heavy but it just doesn't have the right feel even going straight. Under 40 mph you don't notice much.

 Factory caster is lacking at 2.3 degrees. I shimmed my front arms all I could to get 2.5*. 2.3* might be good for the 60's but 3.5-4.5* would feel much better without being too heavy in turns.  I'll mod the stock front lower arms to shim the trunion forward more without binding the trunion. If I can't get enough without binding, JB how are those Canley's? . They look like they put a twisting load on the body with the mount hole offset like on the trunion. I would love to hear what you think about them. I looked before trying to find an acme bolt to run a monoball on the factory spindle.

Thanks for all the input

[RoddyMac]

I looked before trying to find an acme bolt to run a monoball on the factory spindle.

Using an ACME nut may work, but be aware of two things:  LH and RH threads, and the stock upright is internally drilled, so it may fail/bend/crack etc.  Some of the Formula car guys would cut the threaded bit off the upright and weld on a new stub to accept a monoball, which would allow them to adjust the suspension pick-up points and provide a stronger upright (if welded properly).  I'm sure John will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the new Canley and the current Caterham uprights are solid where they go through the monoball. 

[jbcollier]

Back to the comment on the Herald rack: the Europa rack has stops added to limit travel.  They could be taken out but then the tires, fender lips and a-arms would take a beating.

Regarding the Canley conversion: yup, solid.  Be scary otherwise.