Max,
Your right about the ball and socket joint. It also has a spring in it that
can break. I thought the ball was bad and John Twist said that was highly
unlikely. He gave me a spring to put in it - said that was most likely the
cause of the problem.
John Reynolds
1979 MGB (in restoration - nope, haven't fixed the rack yet, either <sigh>)
Max Heim wrote:
> > ----------
> > From: Max Heim[SMTP:MVHEIM@STUDIOLIMAGE.COM]
> > Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2000 6:40:54 PM
> > To: MG List
> > Subject: Re: Steering Racks General, Was Filling steering rack,
> > Auto forwarded by a Rule
> >
> Hmmm, don't know about that. The question is, how does it feel while
> driving? With a worn-out rack, I had free play at the steering wheel of
> almost an inch from side to side. With a new rack, the free play is
> barely discernable. I agree it seems unlikely that the rack could be worn
> out at that mileage. You can always tighten it up slightly by removing a
> shim from under the damper cover.
>
> Also, there is some kind of ball & socket joint inside the rack that
> could presumably make a clunk sound without rack free play being a
> problem. As long as the steering feels "tight" on the road I might be
> inclined to disregard this diagnosis.
>
> Eugene Balinski had this to say:
>
> >Listers,
> >
> > That was certinly good info on filling early racks. My question is
> >somewhat related. I had my 80 B inspected last year (mandatory in PA).
> >The shop doing the inspection said that the rack was going, and that
> >it would need replacing next time around. He determined this by
> >jacking up the front end (both tire in the air), grabbing one wheel
> >and moving it back and forth. As the rack did its thing, there
> >was a slight "clunk" under the rubber bellows. He claimed that
> >this meant that the rack would need replacing. Is this correct,
> >or is it just in need of lubracation ? The interesting part is that
> >the car only had 30k miles. I thought this a little early for a
> >rack replacement.
> >
> >"Inquiring LBC owners want to know"...
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> > Gene 80 B
> >
> >
>
> --
>
> Max Heim
> '66 MGB GHN3L76149
> If you're near Mountain View, CA,
> it's the red one with the silver bootlid.
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