steering rack installation

[Rainer]

I had the same problem when rebuilding my steering rack.
I just cut them to the correct length, the bore depth in the tie rod was deep enough in my case.
Just cut straight and finish with a file.

[Gary t]

The turnsignal cancel cam also needs to be centered.

[BDA]

Good point, Gary. The slot in the collar looks like it's in the center but it's not so you should test the slot you chose to make sure it cancels properly (or as properly as it's intended to!).

[califkid_66]

i did think about grinding them down to same lenght  but as long as the extension doesn’t bottom out it should work

[BDA]

You shouldn’t need to do that.

[jbcollier]

This has come up before.  Some replacement tie-rod ends are too long.  You need to trim them to suit, or find others.

[califkid_66]

for now i put the old tie rods back and was going to order the same but since i have the longer ones already im going to try to shorten them

 when the long tie rods were on i had my steering wheel dead center did same amount of turns but ended up having the passenger side wheel pointing outward and the tie rod was screwed at maximum witch is 22 turns so to get the passenger wheel straight i had to turn the steering to the left now what im trying to say is that since i had to turn the steering to the left the amount of travel before the stopper hits the rack is reduced by turning the steering to get the wheel straight so to prove my theory
i turned the steering completely to one side and completely to the other side and used an angle finder
and noticed that turning left the wheel had a lesser angle than turning right so aligning the steering wheel with the wheels straight will not solve the problem and the only way to get equal turning angles is to have a shorter tie rod

[EuropaTC]

I must admit I'm getting a bit confused on this thread. I've not heard of tie rods needing to be reduced in length but I have heard of the tie rod end bearing ("track rod end" over here in the UK) being the wrong length because there are plenty out there which fit the taper and will go on, but have different length bodies.

Ok, I confess I've never bothered to look deeply into this but I thought that the early cars had extenders fitted to the tie rods to get the correct geometry and Lotus introduced longer tie rods on the later cars ? I've seen threads on the Elan forum and also I think on the old Yahoo group about getting the correct tie rods but if yours are the original ones which worked before then I'm puzzled why they need to be modified now.

On the image attached, which bit are you thinking of cutting down ?

Brian

[jbcollier]

On a S1/2 Lotus used an extender at the end of the tie/track rod to move tie/track rod end further out.  Effective but then the inner tie/track rod swivel doesn’t line up with the a-arm bushings leading to bump steer.  The TC/S extends out the inner tie/track rod swivel which then lines up nicely with the a-arm bushings to help control bump steer.

The issue in this case is the length of the outer tie/track rod end’s threaded body.  It’s too long and you hit the lock nuts before you are far enough in.  As long as there is sufficient depth in the threaded bore, you can shorten the body to get the tie/track rod end further on.

[califkid_66]

 JB that’s exactly what im saying  and being longer it changes the turning radius because of the stopper like i explained earlier so the only solution is to put back same lenght tie rods or shorten the longer tie rods to same lenght as original
Brian im talking about the tie rod end i am not trying to modify the original ones they fit perfectly but the new ones witch i received are longer need to be shortened to get equal turning radius on both side

[EuropaTC]

Ok. USA/UK terminology strikes again.....
 

[califkid_66]

ok spent the day in the garage
i shortened one of the long tie rod wit a cut off wheel to fit passenger side
a bit shorter than the original here are the steps i did

1 put steering wheel dead center
2 installed the passenger side tie rod to have the wheel as straight as possible this way i have equal   
   turning radius on both sides steering stays straight tighten up passenger side install wheel
3 installed unmodified tie rod on driver side put as straight as possible then when everything looked     
  straight i mesured front and back of tires using a measuring tape measuring from grove to grove did
  final adjustment
4 went for test drive no shaking beat my previous  record and hit 70 mph just wow!!

as you can see in the pictures steering wheel and wheels all well aligned and straight

[califkid_66]

after my ride i started reading about alignment i aligned my front wheels to be parallel i thought that’s the way to do it but then i saw the word toe and what it does and then thought about my ride and how the handling was very nervous compared to before so i read that adjusting toe in will create stability at higher speed witch i did not have extremely nervous steering

so my question is how much toe in would you suggest
 on europa s2 it says 3/16 to 1/16 i want the car to be stable at higher speeds
another question i changed my tires got kumho solus ta 175/70r13 i saw them getting on the balancer and checked to make sure they were round and not shaking and well balanced the guy put in 30 pounds pressure what would be a good pressure for a smooth  ride i saw somewhere someone putting 22 in front 24 in back what would be a decent pressure
thanks for your help

[jbcollier]

Any where in the spec range is fine.  With a fresh front end, new bushes and joints,  I go closer to the minimum spec.  Old, bit dodgy, front end, I go more to the maximum.

I’d go 18 - 20 psi front and 26 to 28 psi rear.  +2 psi for fully loaded or high speed.

[EuropaTC]

I'd say the tyre pressures are the most likely culprit.  30psi might be the new normal with low profile tyres but as John says, it's way too much for cars like this.

18lbs sounds ridiculously low but the Europa is light and dropping the pressure will make a big difference to how it feels. I tend to run the rears between 28-30 but mine is a TC and slightly heavier at the rear.

Tracking is currently 1/16th toe in but I've run it parallel in the past without any drama.  I think it was Tim Engel who wrote a convincing argument for a fraction toe-out and he's put plenty of miles on Europas over the years.

Brian

Edit to add....   After posting I had doubts on my memory so just checked the TC manual and for 175/70 below 100mph it actually says 16psi....   and I might have to revisit my 30psi rears as well, 26psi is quoted for a 185 and mine are 205.....    whoops  !