13 replies to this topic

[LH mike]

I have put a UC k frame in my LH.

Turns out one of my lower arms is an lh/lx as its missing a steering stop welded to the arm.

The problem im having is the steering is maxing out on the bumpstops and is nowhere near hitting the stops on the arm(20mm)

Is the rack meant to have internal stops?

has me stumped?!?!?!

[dattoman]

Which steering arms are you using ?

 

Pics ?

[Bigfella237]

And which Upper Control Arms?

And which Stub Axles?

And what Steering Rack?

 

The cast parts (steering rack housing, stub axles & steering arms) will have numbers cast into them, this will help us ID them. And a left-hand UC UCA will have a capital letter "L" stamped into the top of it, as well as having the upper ball joints noticeably offset to the rear.

 

When you start mixing parts from different models you really need to keep the left & right pairs of things matching at the very least or you're gonna be chasing your tail later on with some weird handling problems.

 

Yes of course the steering rack can only move so far, I know the UC racks were a different ratio (turns lock to lock) to LX, but I don't know if they have more travel?

 

Maybe part of the reason they have more turns lock to lock is that they also have more travel left to right? Looking at the geometry, I suppose lowering the pivot point of the UCA might allow for a slightly longer rack, but there wouldn't be much in it?

[LH mike]

It was sold to me as a complete uc k frame. Obviously apart from the lower arm

.

.

This is the steering rack # . Will check it’s origin when I can get on the pc

Attached Files

•  F78523BB-EFA7-4966-B9C2-95F24CEDFB97.jpeg   231.77K   4 downloads
•  C4D8A14C-E0F6-4149-A4F7-89298A4668D8.jpeg   169.89K   4 downloads
•  3F327B66-18B8-444B-BE77-B245CE30DF0F.jpeg   226.51K   9 downloads
•  C88A16D9-8B08-4101-8AEF-85E2B60D1175.png   920.29K   1 downloads

[LH mike]

This is the steering rack # . Will check it’s origin when I can get on the pc

[koalasprint]

It is a UC steering Rack. Check here for a really good run down on the matching parts. http://ls2lxhatch.com/suspension.htm

[LH mike]

thanks, so as per the pics the ackerman arm hits the bumpstop when the steering stop is a good 20mm off the stop.

Has just had a wheel alignment- all new bushes tie rods etc

there is roughly 10mm difference in thread side to side in the tie rods.

[Bigfella237]

So maybe the wheel alignment guy just didn't centre the rack? If it had the stop on the other arm, would it be hitting on opposite lock?

[Toranamat69]

Did someone put stops in the steering rack so those will wood calipers don't hit the upper arms?

[axistr]

Got to agree with bigfeller I would check the rack centre first. Drive the car forward in the straight line, put a chalk line across the steering column and steering wheel hub. Turn the steering wheel either direction from the chalk mark and count the turns. This should give you some idea of the rack centring. When I used to get vehicles in that the front end had been apart and showed signs of uneven tie rod end threads I usually dropped of the tie rods first, turned the steering wheel from lock to lock and centred the rack and set the steering wheel to centre. I then clamped the steering wheel and then carried out the wheel alignment.  

[Toranamat69]

I have had numerous wheel aliments over the years where I had to take it straight back because the steering wheel is off centre. Lazy suspension shops everywhere these days.

[Bigfella237]

I've also seen people setup the steering rack/box off-centre deliberately! Granted this was in a truck with a million kays on it though...

 

90% of wear typically happens in the middle 10% of the rack/sector, meaning you might have a heap of "slop" in the straight-ahead position but the mesh is tight everywhere else, so they moved the straight-ahead position to a different (less-worn) part of the gearing, I assume to get it through a roadworthy inspection.

 

But it's a bloody dodgy fix, I drove this truck and the steering was completely unpredictable when you turned the steering far enough to encounter the worn segment, took us a while to figure out where the problem was too, we basically replaced everything else first and looked at the steering box last.

 

Another way to tell is if your turning circle is significantly different between turning left U-turns and right?

[axistr]

Yep see that a few times myself. Many people also throw  4'' spacers under the front springs to get the truck chassis sitting level or more clearance for off road. They move the pitman arm around one spline so now the box is only a quarter of a turn out. The big problem is the drag rod is now at such an angle that when the truck hit a bump or weight transfer on the front axle causes a major automatic steer to the right. I have driven some trucks that have moved over by half a lane or 2 metres. 

 

And not only mechanics have induced this problem but Ford did the same when they made the LTL series trucks. My company managed to rectify the Ford factory mistake, didn't even get a thanks form Ford only acknowledgement, but they did manage to copy my modification and change it on the LTS series. And don't get me started on Western Star Trucks how they set all their drive alignments in the wrong direction.

 

Sorry but it really shits me, 80% of the people carrying out wheel alignments don't have a general understanding of wheel alignment and the effects of common steering angles and the effect they have on vehicles.        

[LH mike]

Even if the steering rack is centered you would think the steering stops would contact first before it hits the bump stop?