Steering stiffer in one direction than the other

[Johnfm]

SO, picked up +2.

Never driven one before.

1) How light, responsive, surgical shuld the sterring be? It isn't as good as I expected (I expected it to be at least as 'on rails with lots of feedback' as my old 911 GT3).

2) Steerign is heavier in one direction than the other - really markedly so.

With front wheels off the ground, how 'free' should the steering turn? There is no noticeable left-right difference with the wheels off the ground.

I have no idea what to look for re: condition of rubber bushes at tie rod end, upper ball joint etc - if visually not perished or torn, are they OK?

Or should I just replace them all?

[elangtv2000]

POSSIBLE issues;

Bent rack
Bent or worn inner tie rod
Worn ball joints
Dry rack
Dry/worn trunnions
Bad outer tie rods

I'd do everything except pull the rack first, but make sure it's lubed up properly. Parts are cheap enough, and it's your car and your life, not to mention the real experience of how an Elan should handle. If replacing/lubing all other parts doesn't do it, check the rack and inner tie rods.

Greg Tatarian
1967 S3 SE Coupe
1971 S4 DHC

[miked]

Unless you have big tyres they are usually quite light. Mine is painful when moving about at very low speed but I have big tyres and a small steering wheel. Once on the move off they should be a joy to behold, very light and sensitive. Wonderful!

A badly worn steering rack that has been rebuilt (should have been scrapped) and re shimmed would normally show with wheels up.
In the past I have dropped track rods off the vertical link steering arms to isolate any stiffness in the rack. I had a sh*tty one (poor recon). Just done one and it is smooth as silk. Went through three old racks to find a good rack and pinion.

What is the maintenance history like? Was the PO a great guys who did all his own stuff and looked after the car. Have the bottom trunions been lubricated? I was shocked when I bought my Plus 2 . They were wasted to hell and all full of water. Ready to snap, scary. Had one go on a Spitfire when I was 17.
Just a few Ideas

Mike

[collins_dan]

Agree that lubrication is the best place to start. My recollection is that you can feel a looseness in the wheel when driving (vague around center)if tie-rod ends are shot. You can also grab each side of the each front wheel when on the ground to check for looseness, although from your description something sounds odd with the rack. When in doubt, take a picture and post. How does ride height look? Same on each side. If the car is nose down, steering gets very heavy. Measure sill height in back of front wheel and in front of back wheel. Should be fairly flat. Someone else might know what the height should be, but if tires are not the same as factory, then height will be off. Good luck. Fun cars to drive and not as hard as a GT3 to get them there. Very intuitive. Dan

[Johnfm]

I think it just needs stripping, lubing and worn bits replacing.

Previous owner was a nice chap, but looking at the state of the bushes (there is NO rubber on one sway bar to drop link connection).

The tie rod ends look like they have seen better days - but it could just be corrosion.

I will post some pictures shortly.

Front tyre pressures 31, rear 27 - not related to this issue but seem a bit high too.

How do I diagnose a rear damper gone bad? Seems to be bouncing around a bit.

[Johnfm]

Near side


Off side



Drop links to sway bars

[jimj]

Johnfm, the PO might have been a nice chap but, judging by your list of woes and the photos, it appears that he was less than thorough. Is that fluid leaking on the offside caliper? I`d certainly look at rebuilding the brakes FIRST, them the suspension bushes, then the steering as a matter of urgency. Other things, gauges, petrol smell etc. you can work through as and when.
Good luck,
Jim

[Johnfm]

I think that dark greasy looking area on both caliper areas is most likely from grease - there is a lube nipple near there for the lower trunnion I think.

Brake pedal is solid - but as to suggest, all four wheels off this week. Checking calipers, pistons, pins that hold the pads in etc.

Might be just as well to replace all the ball joints and bushes - can't be more than ?150 in bushes for all four corners I reckon.

[AHM]

Does it pull to the side that is easy to steer?

Could indicate different castor side to side - Check for bent/worn wishbones ball joints etc

[MickG]

Hi Jon,
I have been following all your posts and the many questions you have on your recently acquired +2. I am sure you are keen to get your hands dirty but keep looking it over and note all the problem areas, then take a step back and decide the best way forward. You really need to formulate a plan on how you are going to proceed. Strip things down before ordering parts as you can be sure you will need more than you first thought
The photos that you have posted show possible signs of quite a bit of work. In my opinion the car would not pass an MOT on the roll bar bushes alone. The steering rack gaiter looks from the photo to be damaged and will need replacement.
I would put on hold all the other little non-essential bits and pieces and concentrate on the basic running gear mechanicals.
Unfortunately you will find that one thing will lead to another, changing the wishbone bushes leads to the trunnions, wheel bearings and all associated steering/suspension parts.
Changing the rear bushes requires the removal of the A frame and you can bet your life the roto flex couplings will be shot along with the diff torque rod bushes.
As you can see you need to be methodical in your approach.
You say that you have bought the car as a project, treat it as such and enjoy working on a car that can be worked on relatively easily.
Take your time get it right: the end result is satisfaction and a smile from ear to ear

Good luck
Regards Mick G

[Johnfm]

Cheers Mick

My only deadline is a short historic rally in France in April.

I am sure I will make it ready for that.

Rotoflexes are going anyway - and I expect I will need to re-bush most of the car.

The cost of ball joints etc is minimal, so may as well just do them all anyway.

Cannot wait to drive it when it is all tight and not clunking!!

[Johnfm]

Well

a little closer to possibly solving his one - or at least correcting poor work.

I measured the distance from the face of the track rod end to the last inboard thread on the track rod. It was about 108mm on the driver's side and only about 80mm on the passenger side. So then I check the number of turns of the steering wheel from central to left and central to right. It was about 1 1/4 to the right and over 1 1/2 turns to the right.

Not sure if this will be a cause of the stiff steering feel, but I reckon it is probably better for it to be 'centralised' so that it is the same number of turns left and right. Pic below shows what I measured - I would expect it to be fairly similar on each side.

[ricarbo]

My thought is that that the two rods should be of identical length to minimise bump steer. So tracking corrections should be done by taking out the error by half the amount each side. In your case, I would take off the rubber boots from the rack in order to measure the track rod lengths more accurately and get them equalised. Then I'd get the tracking done by someone who was sufficiently cooperative, or if I didn't trust them I'd buy one of those Gunson Trakrites and do it myself.
It's not unknown for wrong replacement parts to have crept in over the years of course, so I'd be keen to know the parts are the right ones. Overlength track rods from other cars should not be cut down and the threads extended, because they have rolled threads, meaning the extra tapped thread only has half the tooth height it should have and is therefore weaker than it should be. I believe new track rods of the right length are not around, unless someone else knows better.
regards
Richard

[ricarbo]

My thought is that that the two rods should be of identical length to minimise bump steer. So tracking corrections should be done by taking out the error by half the amount each side. In your case, I would take off the rubber boots from the rack in order to measure the track rod lengths more accurately and get them equalised. Then I'd get the tracking done by someone who was sufficiently cooperative, or if I didn't trust them I'd buy one of those Gunson Trakrites and do it myself.
It's not unknown for wrong replacement parts to have crept in over the years of course, so I'd be keen to know the parts are the right ones. Overlength track rods from other cars should not be cut down and the threads extended, because they have rolled threads, meaning the extra tapped thread only has half the tooth height it should have and is therefore weaker than it should be. I believe new track rods of the right length are not around, unless someone else knows better.
regards
Richard

[Johnfm]

Track comes back tomorrow, all freed off and ready to go.

Basically, the PO had the adjustment all askew.

The manual shows that the distance from the inner tie rod ball to the outer rod should be 10.73".

On mine it was about 10" on one side and 11.3" on the other.

So I will make sure the steering dimension are correct and then adjust for the correct alignment.

Then if the steering is still odd I know it is something else.