Fitting new U bolts for steering rack

[Dave the tram]

The nearside u-bolt for the steering rack on my mk3 GT6 has sheared. Looks simple to replace, but the manual says may have to lift or jack engine slightly. I will indeed. The o/s one is clear to the side of sump, but the n/s one has the sump edge over it and needs to slide inwards where sump is. Can I get enough room by just taking weight of engine ( looks like a couple of inches needed to draw bolt out, unless I can turn it) or do I need to slacken engine mounts? Also, if changing one side at a time, can I do this without disturbing steering set-up? Different hardness bushes available, which I understand for suspension, but why for steering?

Cheers

Dave

[Pete Lewis]

You may get enough lift without loosening the front mounts. Its try it and see.

 

the eng. mounts do sit in a vee so they wont lift out of the turrets, you may need to remove the bolts in the cyl block , just the one side,

 

there are alloy rack mounts , makes the feed back firmer , there are poly bush mounts which I feel are the best compromise ,

if you watch the rack it does move about under load with the originals, poly are stiffer but not 'hard'

 

Changing clamps ot to poly or refiitng rubber wont affect any geometry,

alloy can as they dont control the rack position there can be a gap between mount and rack abutement

pete

Between the mount and the

[Cookie]

I undid the engine mounts and jacked the engine up about and inch or so when I did mine.

 

If you change to alloy do one at a time leaving the rack clamped up and it will stay aligned.

 

In your case do the one that has sheared leaving the other one clamped. And clamp up before you remove the other side. 

 

One other option that I have heard of being used is to have a poly bush or rubber one on the steering column side and an alloy one on the other side. The alloy one will clamp firmly and stop any rack movement that you get with the give of the rubber or polybush ones but the soft one on the column side will take out some of the shock that would be transmitted up the column. 

[Dave the tram]

Thanks Pete/Cookie,

 

I think I'll order some yellow poly bushes etc than get the trolley jack ready - although the temperature in my garage here up north is plummeting daily!. Any reason why I can't use a big block of wood between the jack and the sump, with perhaps something between the wood and the sump that has a bit of give. I thought sumps were a bit delicate but am told this is ok.

 

Quite interested in the notion of alloy on the n/s and poly on the offside. Will ponder that.

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[Pete Lewis]

That means you need to buy two kits
Better spent on fuel and drive her

block under the sump is fine ,
watch for hose stretch



pete

[dougbgt6]

"watch for hoes stretch"

 

There's a joke in there somewhere!  
 

[Pete Lewis]

sorry abut the typo spelling,  

 

hose stretch.......... depends what pills youre on.

    all mine do the opposite 

[dougbgt6]

I prefer to watch hoes stretch!

[Pete Lewis]

are they the ones with a seam up the back of  leg ????

[Dave the tram]

Help! Jacking the engine worked fine, took top hose off, removed the 4 bolts from engine mounting to block, big block of wood under sump (after driving front onto blocks to increase ground clearance for the trolley jack and block cos mines a little bit low with adjustable gaz shockers).

Removed old mounting but new ones from Rimmers have u- bolts that taper out bizarrely. The bolts are welded to the rest of the mount so can't bend them and the bolt ends are nearly 10mm wider than the chassis holes. Tapered u-bolts could only work with oblong holes. One chassis hole is elongated but the wrong way, across the car not longitudinally. Thought of elongating the holes but not sure this is a good idea so will return the mountings and seek elsewhere. Perhaps should have used club shop. Rimmers have generally been ok but second problem this year. They sent a fuel pump that wouldn't fit cos the outlet pointed at the engine and the thread was wrong size and couldn't supply Union to fit their pump.

 

So where best to buy clamps that fit please?

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[Pete Lewis]

will they not get a squeeze in a vice to align the u bolt legs  ???

 

you could try Canley but they probably all come from the same supplier in the end.

 

Pete

[Dave the tram]

I don't think I can squeeze them cos, whereas the originals had separate U Bolts, these have bolts welded to the support. I'll ring rimmers Monday because their alloy ones look correct and have separate bolts. Beteen the existing ones that simply have 1 broken u-bolt and the poly bushes that I have I should be able sort something, perhaps alloy one side after all, and the other side made good at the steering wheel side.

Cheers

Dave

[Rich]

Hello Dave did Rimmers get back to you ref the U Bolts?  Im going to do my nearside one as when i checked the bolts just spun around but the off side is fine.  Not sure where to order them from.

 

regards

 

Rich

[dogsbody47uk]

 I had this problem. The brackets simply would not fit. They didn't even match each other.I got an immediate refund, but Rimmers said that they were aware of the problem, so why are they still selling them? Best to use second hand originals. Try Spitfire Graveyard, Triumph Spitfire Spares. Cheers, Dave. Ps. I did try the solid mounts, but under pressure, and I do mean extreme pressure, the wheels stayed where they were and the rack slipped. I now use polybushes and secondhand clamps.

[Colin Lindsay]

If you do attempt to bend these in a vice, do it gently and tighten the nuts on gently to protect the threads. I certainly wouldn't widen the mounting holes as this is considerably harder to undo than buying new bolts... 

some of the new alloy mounts are a different shape to the originals (early Herald ones, not applicable to the GT6) and possibly not so good a fit.

[Dave the tram]

The saga continues. In the end fitted alloy clamps both sides. Worked fine once I'd lifted engine to get nearside one in. Test drove and felt great, more positive than worn out rubber bushes and no difference in vibration. I was wary of this type of clamping though so took the precaution of painting lines on rack at bush edge. No need cos after the drive the steering wheel was nearly a quarter turn out so glad I didn't go too far. Rack had moved about 5mm to left but car still dove perfectly. Don't want to tighten nylon nuts any more as convinced that alloy mounts are exact size and I'm simply tightening the lower flat face against the chassis until the nuts would strip, not applying any more pressure into rack. Only thing I can think of is make a v thin rubber 'bush' cutting a strip of inner tube to size to give grip. Prob just on offside due to second problem below.

 

Also, the nearside mount touches the sump corner. Put a strip of rubber between for now but have 2 options, File a bit off the alloy mount, or raise the engine a bit. Wary of the latter as not much room in the front of these cars and already have v slight dent from when top hose clip used to touch. Have raised bonnet hinge to max but only gained 2-3 mm so will use plasticine on underside of bonnet to measure clearance before trying this. Hmmm! anyone else had similar experiences - now wish I'd kept trying to find ordinary bush mounts that fitted.

Dave

[68vitesse]

Do not forget the nylon plug in the rack which is held by the nearside? rubber mount, when l fitted alloy mounts some years ago had to use a jubilee clip and a piece of rubber hose to hold it in place.

 

Just looked it up on Rimmers 145108 a very expensive bit of nylon for what it is £3.10 inc. VAT

 

Regards

 

Paul

[Dave the tram]

Looks like I may have missed something here - tell me more, what is the nylon plug in the rack? My plan was a thin strp of inner tube rubber cut to size fitted between rack and the curved upper surface of the mount. This would give something to squeeze and create grip, having created a small gap between the bottom of the mount and the chassis to allow some room for tightening.

Cheers

Dave

[Pete Lewis]

Under the ns rubber there is a hole in the tube, this little anti rattle plug pops into

most ally mounts leave this uncovered and it falls out

hence the mod with hose clip to keep it in place

Its there to stops rack chatter on rough surfaces

 

pete

[jamesdennison]

I had similar problems - i.e. both side of the clamp meet without gripping the rack so the rack can shift between the clamp.

 

I ended up doing as you suggest and filed off a fraction of the clamp and I also wrapped a very thin layer of rubber on the rack itself (single layer of hose repair tape I think).  With everything fully tight I can get a fingernail between the clamp so it is definitely gripping the rack.

 

There is clearly a manufacturing fault on a batch of clamps out there as they are fractionally too large.  Pretty dangerous if the rack shifts while driving around a roundabout ... as I found out.  Fortunately nothing next to me on the road. 

[Dave the tram]

Thanks

 

Yes I cornered very carefully once I realised the steering wheel had shifted a bit. I've followed same route as you and glued thin strip of rubber to curved upper half of clamp, so that I have finger nail width gap and know I'm actually tightening against the rack. Didn't file any off the clamp as this seems to do it (When I do the other side is when the filling comes in - the top edge of the clamp so it clears the sump.) I have a growing catalogue of after part bits that didn't fit!

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[Dave the tram]

Thought I'd sorted this but then realised the steering wheel had gone off centre again. Checked and the rack had moved again, the rubber must have split in the middle as its been slid out both sides with the rack - it all seemed nice and tight and even bonded he rubber in place. I'll try and devise something better. Keep thinking I must tell Rimmer Bros as they should really put some sort of alert out. It's not obvious that there is any problem until the rack slides!

 

Perhaps I'll try taking a millimetre off one of the mount surfaces but need to keep it flat and level. Or else a better type of packing. Ho-hum. If all fails does anyone know where I can get standard mounts with bushes that actually fit?

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[Pete Lewis]

Going poly is may be the best compromise ,

stiffer than the orig, made to control the rack abutements like the originals

 

there are wider alloys about that dont allow the shift problem , dont know whose .

[Dave the tram]

All is well in the world. Nearly drove me round the bend - but not quite unfortunately!!!! Took both alloy clamps off, ground 1mm off bottom face of both upper halves.Happier once it dawned on me that this didn't need to be accurate - it's not tightening against anything, just creating a gap. Also chamferred the inner edge of the n/s one to stop it fouling the sump. Centred the steering and thightend down. Sure this will be fine but will suggest to rimmers they withdraw these and perhaps alert buyers that the rack can slide, then send them back the other mounts and bushes they supplied that also didn't fit!

Dave