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Detaching and reattaching the steering column to the rack

T

tsviatko

Active Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2012
Messages
66
Somebody had apparently done this on my truck before and when they reattached the column to the rack the rack was not in neutral position. As a result the steering wheel could make a fraction of a turn more to the left than to the right.


So I had to do front wheel alignment anyways and I asked the mechanics to detach the steering column and attach it again at neutral position before doing the alignment. They did that. When I tested the car after that turning the steering wheel felt as if I had lost my power steering. Besides the steering wheel won't return to neutral position by itself.


I checked the alignment at at another shop and it was fine. There are no leaks and nothing seems bent. What could have gone wrong. What should i be looking at?
 
The slide adjuster on the steering column may not be adjusted correctly. Try loosening it, turn the steering a few times and then re-tightening.
 
Difficult to see those diagrams on my phone.. If you look just above the flexi joint on the steering shaft you will see a 10mm bolt. If you loosen this it will release any tension, if there is any. When I did my body lift I had similar problems to you and it was because this adjuster had run out of adjustment and the steering shaft was under tension.
 
There are two flexi joints on the shaft. One of them is really close to the steering rack and the other one is higher up and connects the two shafts at different angles. Which one do you have in mind?
 
That joint near the rack is called the Rag Joint. That's not adjustable. It fits onto a splined shaft though, so if you took it off, you could align you wheels and then re couple the shaft. As FM said there is another joint in the wheel arch. This is probably a better bet. The bolt in it, sits in a little keyway so you have to wind it almost completely out to get the joint apart or else it simply slides in and out without coming apart. Essentially, this will disconnect the rack from the steering wheel. I'm just quite sure from memory how you then centre the rack. Probably just by measruing with a tape I guess. Lock to lock and halve the difference.

Chris
 
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No. That's a bolt in the flange by the look of it. Look, just look in the wheel arch., It's right in front of you on the steering column.

But are you sure you need to take it apart? Can't you disconnect the track rod ends, centre the rack. Roughly centre the wheels then wind the track rods to meet the steering arms? Then go and have it finish tracked?

C
 
It sounds like the rack has already been centred but now the steering is stiff and won't centre. Exactly the symptoms I had when the slide adjuster had tension on it.
 
That is what I see in my wheel arch.

AMBA0042.jpg

AMBA0045.jpg

And that is what I see under the hood

AMBA0049.jpg

It looks like no other bolts are accessible but the ones on the Rag Joint.

The problem is the job is done already but I got hard steering right after that. Rag joint has already been disconnected and reconnected. I am trying to figure out where the hard steering comes from now.
 
Is yours right or left hand drive? To get to mine I took the driver side wheel off (rhd), as well as the rubber(rhd)/plastic(lhd) flap/guard inside the wheel arch that hides the engine. You should then see the steering shaft and the 10mm bolt should be accessible from here too.
 
In your last pic it looks like yours is lhd and might be slightly different. It looks like the slide adjuster might be the 10mm bolt at the top of the flexi joint. Otherwise it must be tucked up higher where the steering shaft goes up into the firewall. It's hard to tell from the pics and I can't remember off the top of my head if mine had another 10mm bolt just above the flexi joint.
 
Yep mine is LHD. The only visible bolt, though is the one at the top of the flexi joint.

I am looking at the parts diagrams for the RHD trucks and I see nothing different there. The chances are it's the same bolt for you guys. Can somebody take a picture of the steering column on your trucks?
 
Ahh, now we are getting somewhere. I'd stick with FM's advice. He's spot on. No point two of us telling you the same things. Binding is a classic issue related to the column adjustment. And if uncorrected can lead to damage to the seals in the steering actuator on the other end of the rag joint. There should be enough slack in it to take the tension out once the bolt is slackened off. I have looked but can't find any pictures. SAE is a handy source of this stuff, Steve any chance of a pic my owd mate? Through the arch, slip joint in the splined section of the steering column? Not the rag joint.

BTW when I said look in the arch, I meant through the arch. Not in it. That's there they keep the front wheels.:icon-rolleyes:

Chris
 
Well, I still cannot find that bolt. Any further insights? A picture would be gerat.
 
Last edited:
I'd suggest that if you need a photo to find a joint that should be right in front of you - it isn't. Have look above the pedal box inside the cabin instead maybe

Chris
 
Well I checked out every possible place and I see nothing that fits your description so far. That's why I am looking for a photo now so that I can see how that thing looks like on your trucks. It's either that I cannot recognize the thing or it's never been there to begin with. Just trying to make sure which one it is.
 
Well it's been a long time since I owned a 90 so maybe my memory is playing tricks. But there is a slip joint on top of the rag joint isn't there? Have you undone that? Don't take the bolt all the way out, just slacken it. The joint may not slide straight away, it could need a little wiggling. But that is there to give you that movement. If the column is under tension, like mine was, then when you undo the bolt, the whole thing will 'ping' and move.

Maybe I am wrong, but I seem to remember that there were two such joints and between them there wasn't enough slack so I have to fit a spacer in the joint. I undid mine and it went ping and left a gap of an inch between one end of the shaft and the other. You should have seen my face. It was something like:angry-screaming: Noooooooo!

Two things, I could be wrong, or you just don't have one. But there MUST be one on the top of the rag.

Chris
 
It turned out to be just that - the shaft length. I could find no bolt regulating just that so I slackened the rag joint again and tapped the spliced part open. The shaft sunk 1/4''. Steering became light again after that.
 
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