850R issues or am I going mad?

[PNuT]

Originally Posted by ThomasG

Yeah..

Sorry, as much as I don't like his swearing (why he got banned, different thread), I think it would be good if you re-read this whole thread.

Example: lock to lock stops won't engage at all if rods are disconnected. That's because wheels and hubs (and stops are fitted to hubs and wishbones) don't move at all.

The thread is about the car pulling to one side, what I am saying is the steering wheel being put in a different place to how it left the factory will have no bearing on this!

The rack should be somewhere close to central so you have similar amounts of turns in the track rod ends but having it slightly offset will not make the car pull to one side!

Disconnecting the track rod ends is somewhat pointless as when the track rod ends are connected it will only move to the stops and as long as the pinion isn't reaching the end of the teeth first so it will still operate 1.6 turns in each direction.....

Reading the complete thread is also somewhat pointless after you get to the bit where it is clear the rear alignment is out with possible damage to the rear suspension! although I am clearly thick I have indeed changed the complete delta link set up on one of these cars including the inner bushes and know how much it will affect the handling of a car.

Obviously their are numerous other things that could cause the car to pull but until the rear end is sorted it is absolutely pointless in my opinion!

Please feel free to call me thick as I find it quite funny

[ThomasG]

Well.. if you really want...

Ask that whatshisnick...he was good at it.

Here's what I think:

If, IF steering wheel is fitted cantrally, as it should be, then in central position both ends of steering rack protrude equally.

But if steering wheel is taken off, and refitted even one spline out.. not anymore.
Now, this can be corrected (and in case of whatshisnick apparently was) by adjusting lengths of steering rods. One of them will be a bit (quite a bit) shorter than the other.
And because of that, on a straight line car may be behaving ok, but not so in a curve. It would be sensed as car "pulling" to one side.

In the same time..

I can't deny you being right about rear suspension. It needs to be fixed first.

But I still think you are wrong saying "it will hit stops first" , in post #17, which I treat as related to post #15, and that states steering rods disconnected, so stops as well!

[PNuT]

Originally Posted by ThomasG

Well.. if you really want...



But I still think you are wrong saying "it will hit stops first" , in post #17, which I treat as related to post #15, and that states steering rods disconnected, so stops as well!

Nobody actually drives with the tre's disconnected I assume?

post #15 was suggesting a steering wheel could be fitted wrong, now if this is the case why would we have a splined system that is easy to adjust?

The rack will have more movement with the tre's disconnected as it doesn't hit the stops but as long as it doesn't reach the end of its travel before hitting the stops it will have no effect on handling when connected.

unless you are suggesting a steering rack has a non linear travel so will change handling around a curve?

Out of interest why do people think someone would remove a steering wheel and fit it in a miles different position to it was previously and then decide to drive and get the alignment done? If I was to remove the wheel & then drive the car up the road & it appeared to be upside down I would correct the wheel not the alignment.....

I suspect it may have had a steering rack change at some point and fitted a complete turn out hence why tre's are just falling off when driving.....

[850Red]

Re-read the thread. The TREs didn't fall off for no reason, the previous owner bodged everything he touched. It was clear that when the alignment went out previously, his fix was to realign the steering wheel. He intended to just drive the car into the ground rather than fix things properly.

Also, the whole point of this thread was asking if my theory about the steering rack not being centred actually mattered, and apparently it does.

Thanks guys!