A word of warning to anyone who experiences the steering symptoms that my car had, it could have been a disaster.
I suppose it was over several months that I noticed that the steering was gradually getting stiffer, not centralising like it used to and similar characteristics. The front axle had been rebuilt some 6 months before, so I knew the top & bottom swivel bearings were in good condition, so it couldn't be them. The steering box had also been overhauled recently with new bearings and seals so that was ruled out. Wheel misalignment can cause heavy steering and centralising problems, so I had that checked. Toe alignment was spot on. What else could it be? I applied the "big bar test" to the steering ball joints and there was no excessive play or movement.
It was a Sunday and I did some laning close to home, with some steep sections and more technical rocky parts which are great sport. Anyway, I got back home with no problems. Our house is out of town so in the evening we packed the car up to go back to the city flat. After we all piled into the car, I slowly reversed in an arc to line-up with the gateway and... BANG!.... a bang that shook right through the car, and I was left with a completely "free" steering wheel that felt like it wasn't attached to anything! Reason being, it wasn't!
I jumped out and with a torch ('cos it was dark) spotted the steering arm hanging loose from the steering box control arm. Sorry if my terminoligy is not correct, but this is the only way for me to describe it.
In all my years owning a wide variety of old cars, I have never had a steering ball joint seize up. They have worn and on one occasion one had warn so much that the ball fell out of the socket, but on this occasion the ball joint had seized and the force of the power steering had sheared the pin off just below the taper![attachment=0:3a9pwulr]Steering ball joint 2.JPG[/attachment:3a9pwulr]
Imagine that it hadn't broken in my driveway and it happening at 120KPH on the way home...
Although not visible in the photo, the fracture face showed that it had been bending back and forth for some time before it broke.
My advice, if you have similar symptoms, check for ball joint seizure, it could well prevent a disaster.
Happy laning! Clive
I suppose it was over several months that I noticed that the steering was gradually getting stiffer, not centralising like it used to and similar characteristics. The front axle had been rebuilt some 6 months before, so I knew the top & bottom swivel bearings were in good condition, so it couldn't be them. The steering box had also been overhauled recently with new bearings and seals so that was ruled out. Wheel misalignment can cause heavy steering and centralising problems, so I had that checked. Toe alignment was spot on. What else could it be? I applied the "big bar test" to the steering ball joints and there was no excessive play or movement.
It was a Sunday and I did some laning close to home, with some steep sections and more technical rocky parts which are great sport. Anyway, I got back home with no problems. Our house is out of town so in the evening we packed the car up to go back to the city flat. After we all piled into the car, I slowly reversed in an arc to line-up with the gateway and... BANG!.... a bang that shook right through the car, and I was left with a completely "free" steering wheel that felt like it wasn't attached to anything! Reason being, it wasn't!
I jumped out and with a torch ('cos it was dark) spotted the steering arm hanging loose from the steering box control arm. Sorry if my terminoligy is not correct, but this is the only way for me to describe it.
In all my years owning a wide variety of old cars, I have never had a steering ball joint seize up. They have worn and on one occasion one had warn so much that the ball fell out of the socket, but on this occasion the ball joint had seized and the force of the power steering had sheared the pin off just below the taper![attachment=0:3a9pwulr]Steering ball joint 2.JPG[/attachment:3a9pwulr]
Imagine that it hadn't broken in my driveway and it happening at 120KPH on the way home...
Although not visible in the photo, the fracture face showed that it had been bending back and forth for some time before it broke.
My advice, if you have similar symptoms, check for ball joint seizure, it could well prevent a disaster.
Happy laning! Clive
wow close call, glad it was not as bad as it could have been.
what a mess that was and all on video bless him, how embarrassing!
