It's more than a little coincidental that my car which is a Series IV
Alpine and not a Tiger has also developed a very similar problem. Mine
is not that the steering is stiff but that it veers to the left even is
driven along a nice flat and even road. It's not quite as alarming as it
sounds but it does mean that one is constantly having to adjust the
steering in order to maintain a straight course and it also means that
manoeuvring the car at slow or parking speeds is considerably harder
than it might otherwise be.
I intend to get a mechanic friend of mine to investigate the matter for
me fully but if anyone could give me some pointers as to what I ought to
be telling me friend to examine, I'd be extremely grateful.
Many thanks,
Will
------------------------------
William van Zwanenberg
40a Mildmay Grove South
Islington
London
N1 4RL
United Kingdom
Email: willvz@blueyonder.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 7226 6563
Fax: +44 (0)20 7354 8837
Mob: +44 (0)77391 78259
|-----Original Message-----
|From: owner-tigers@autox.team.net
|[mailto:owner-tigers@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Larry Paulick
|Sent: 23 May 2003 17:32
|To: CoolVT@aol.com
|Cc: tigers@autox.team.net
|Subject: Re: Steering question
|
|
|Mark, still sounds like alignment to me if all other parts move free,
|especially since it does not come back to center after turning.
|
|Try another alignment shop, look at the United site article on
|alignment, and go to
|
|> http://www.longacreracing.com/
|
|
|and read the tech articles on alignment.
|
|Larry
|
|
|CoolVT@aol.com wrote:
|
|>For a years now the Tiger has suffered from stiff steering. The
|>steering
|>column has been gone through and moves nicely, the steering U
|joints are fairly
|>new, lubed and free, the steering rack has been gone through
|and moves nicely
|>and easily, the tie rod ends are fairly new, but seem stiff.
|The upper and
|>lower ball joints are about 10 yrs old, but I think the
|stiffness began when they
|>were installed.
|>
|>The symptoms of the car are: seems hard to turn even when
|moving, but
|>is a
|>little hard to judge without another Tiger close by to
|compare with. After
|>some effort to make a turn at any speed the car wants to go
|only in the
|>direction turned. There is almost no self centering of the
|wheels. The steering
|>wheel must be turned to straighten the wheels.
|>
|>It seems like it must be either the stiff tie rods (kind of
|doubt that
|>one)
|>or the upper or lower ball joints. Does anyone have a
|simple test that I can
|>use to compare the turning effort to a known good steering
|Tiger. How about
|>using something like a fish scale to pull on the steering
|wheel at rest to
|>determine pressure needed to turn wheels? How about if the
|tie rod ends are
|>disconnected and the car is raised...how much effort is
|needed to turn a wheel?
|>Would something like pushing on the tire with a bathroom
|scale begin to give
|>some indication of stiffness? Again, I would need something
|to compare it with.
|> I tried some slim wedges to increase caster and it only made
|the car steer
|>harder, but still no better self centering. Have had two
|alignments done and
|>the car is pretty much on specs.
|>
|>I am open to suggestions. Something has to be too stiff! Thanks,
|>Mark L.
|>
|>
|>
|
|
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